Problem

 The Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, ending an era of institutionalized anti-Semitism and more than seventy years of religious repression.  Almost 30 years later, the emerging Jewish community continues to face many challenges. With an estimated 500,000 - 2 million Jews remaining in the region, building strong Jewish identity and developing communal leadership is essential to the future of Jewish life in the region. Jewish women lacked the Jewish knowledge, formal training and feminist empowerment to lead social change and better their circumstances and those around them.

Solution

Project Kesher’s programs have successfully engaged a new generation of Jewish women and girls in the region. From teenage youth groups, to programs on college campuses, to working with young professionals, our programs energize young women through a unique combination of Jewish content and social activism.

MAINTAINING JEWISH LIFE DURING THE WAR

Our ongoing Jewish communal programs in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and Israel provide grounding and community during fragile and dangerous times. Ukrainian Jews are swiftly moving away from using Russian language materials and we are committed to continuing to provide them access to meaningful Jewish life. To that end, Project Kesher Ukraine is commissioning the creation of a Ukrainian siddur and haggadah, in addition to translating materials for Shabbat, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. Project Kesher Ukraine and Israel continue to host holiday programming to bring Ukrainian Jewish women and girls together, providing a sense of normalcy.

B’NOT MITZVAH PROGRAM

Project Kesher's B'not Mitzvah program will continue in 2023 with Ukrainian women and girls in Ukraine and those dispersed in Europe training with the same Rabbi - Yulia Gris from Odesa and then, gathering in Europe for their B'not Mitzvah. Registration has officially opened for Project Kesher Ukraine's six month tutoring program. In early 2022, 12 women from Ukraine with Rabbi Yulia Gris and blessed the Torah, which was donated from Project Kesher to the community in 2016. 

BEIT BINAH JEWISH LEARNING

Beit Binah is a training program that teaches women to become Torah study facilitators, with a focus on social activism. In 132 intensive classroom hours, facilitators are taught Bible studies, Jewish ethics & faith, and classroom dynamics to prepare for bringing their Jewish knowledge to their local communities. Project Kesher staffs the training program with Jewish leaders fromo the Progressive (Reform and Reconstructionist), Masorti (Conservative), Modern Orthodox and Orthodox movements to expose particpants to a spectrum of religioous viewpoints and observances. Beit Binah now has more than 90 ongoing bi-monthly Torah study groups in comomunities through Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. Groups meet once a moonth to study text, followed by a second meeting to plan and implement social activists projects inspired by the reading. Pictured: Rabbi Julia Gris at her congregation in Odesa, Ukraine, after receiving a Torah Scroll from PK with Rabbi Olya Weinstein.

Mother-daughter programs

Jewish mother and daughter pairs from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine attend a first-time Project Kesher shabbat retreat, where they become partners in building Jewish life and advocating for women and girls in their communities. Retreats work to improve communications, define healthy relationships and boundaries, and empower women and girls to go back to their towns and create social action projects in the areas of interfaith coalitions, women’s health, Jewish life, and social justice.

In 2019, four Mother/Daughter Jewish Leadership Retreats were held in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. 80 new women leaders ages 14-48 from 20 different cities were trained. In total, the 37 mother/daughter pairs implemented programs reaching over 1,500 Jewish women. Lolita participated in a seminar with her daughter, Anastasia. After the seminar Lolita became a women’s group leader in her hometown of Taganrog, Russia. Lolita shares, “Being introduced to Jewish life has changed my life dramatically. Our family started to celebrate Shabbat and holidays. My daughter shares my passion for Jewish life and helps me organize activities in the Jewish community.”

Pictured: Mother/Daughter pair at Project Kesher’s 2017 retreat.

DOCUMENTING WOMEN’S STORIES

Project Kesher, inspired by the Jewish Women’s Archive in the United States, seeks to “uncover, chronicle, and transmit to a broad public the rich history” of Jewish women in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Project Kesher will document the stories of domestic Judaism that helped women surreptitiously sustain Jewish life during the Communist Era through their stories, family traditions, culture and social activism. Finally, Project Kesher will document the stories of women who, once Judaism could be practiced freely, were instrumental in the rebirth of Jewish life in their region.

In 2019, Project Kesher dedicated its archives at Brandeis University in November 2019 with a day of global Jewish feminist conversation in partnership with Brandeis University Archives & Special Collections, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, and the Jewish Women’s Archive. Surella Seelig, Outreach & Special Projects Archivist at Brandeis University put it best: “I think it is fair to say that the work in which Project Kesher has engaged since 1989 is at its core an act of rebellion. A rebellion against the oppression of communist states, a rebellion against the oppression of women, Judaism, and community. The materials that make up the Project Kesher archives tell this important story and document this rebellion.”

Pictured: Center, Sallie Gratch, Founder, Project Kesher, gathering with potential activists in the late 1980s, Povarovka, Russia.

TORAH RETURN PROJECT

Seventy years ago, Torah Scrolls were exiled from Eastern Europe. At first, the Torahs went underground; Jews passed them from house to house and met in basements to read the Torah. Then, faced with Siberia or death, they smuggled the scrolls out of the country. The practice of Judaism sputtered out in the region. With the renewal of Jewish life in the region, there has been a shortage of Torah Scrolls. In June 2004, Project Kesher brought six Torahs from the United States and put them in the hands of six of their leaders, who brought them home to their communities. In most cases, there had not been a single Torah in those communities. To date, Project Kesher has since sent 37 Torah Scrolls to the region. Wherever they have gone, Jews have come forward to study, to become bar/bat mitzvah, and to celebrate together. They have served as a locus of Torah-centered activism.