As the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine passes the six-month mark and rockets continue to fall on Ukrainian cities, Jews in the United States — many of whom have roots in Ukraine — are stepping up their support of the war’s refugees. For many, however, it’s also proved a way of karmically paying back long-gone … Continue reading
When she was a girl, Yelena Lembersky lived in a high-rise building on the outskirts of Leningrad, the Russian city today known as St. Petersburg. Her grandfather, Soviet artist Felix Lembersky, died in 1970, when she was still a baby and too young to remember him. But his paintings marked her earliest memories. On special … Continue reading
BOSTON — In November, as American hospitals faced dire overcrowding, the US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization to two experimental treatments for COVID-19: Regeneron and bamlanivimab. The medications were fast-tracked for approval based on small studies that indicate that they decrease the odds that patients with COVID will require hospitalization. Initial reports … Continue reading
In the US, Russian Jews almost never get involved in local politics – they are too busy making a living, learning English, and trying to fit in. But on November 5, three Jews with Russian accents will run for three seats on the school committee in this small town. The reason they are doing it? … Continue reading
From Natasha’s Dream by Arlekin Players The Boston area has a large Russian-speaking Jewish community – but you would not know it from the way the Jewish community allocates funds. In the 2018-2019 fiscal year, less than one percent of funding that was distributed by Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston’s largest Jewish donor, went toward programs … Continue reading
BOSTON — When renowned Russian biochemist Vladimir Torchilin immigrated to the United States in 1991, he brought with him a degree from the Soviet Union’s most prestigious educational institution, Moscow State University. He was 45 years old, and his accomplishments included the development of a new medication to dissolve blood clots. The drug, called streptodekaza, … Continue reading
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — All tickets sold out in advance of the opening night of Boston’s first Israeli Film Festival last Thursday. Despite a drizzling rain and newly-thawed roads, moviegoers managed to arrive on time to the festival’s opening screening at the Harvard-adjacent Brattle Theater in Cambridge. At least for the next two hours, the audience … Continue reading
BOSTON — Back in the USSR, Ilya Shapiro’s parents had to fight anti-Semitism to be admitted into universities that discriminated against Jews. Fast forward several decades and legal activist Shapiro has taken on a similar cause in the United States, campaigning to abolish the use of race in the admissions process at Harvard University. The … Continue reading
The Boston-based Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly apologized for marking hundreds of apartments with yellow signs this winter. In December, the Jewish organization marked the doors of apartments where Russian speakers live with yellow circles, the doors of Chinese speakers with red circles, and the doors of English speakers with green circles in its … Continue reading
SAN FRANCISCO — Limmud FSU, the nonprofit that organizes conferences for Russian-speaking Jews around the world, is scaling back its activities due to lack of financing. The Limmud FSU gathering in New York, which attracted more than 1,000 participants this year, will be shortened from a three-day Shabbat weekend to a one day event next … Continue reading
JULIE MASIS 