COMMUNITY LIFE

Community Life magazine is aimed at those who chose community work as their professional activity. The idea of its establishment was born in numerous meetings and seminars of the community members from different towns. In the 'View' section of the magazine, we publish materials that introduce other articles. It contains a general analysis of the operations of the Jewish organizations in Russia in post-Soviet era. Sara Bogen of the JDC gives a short review of the knowledge and skills the community leaders need in their work. The following sections of the magazine present this in more detail. The 'Legal Ground' section of the magazine publishes laws, decrees, and other official documents helping organize the community work in accordance with the Russian law. It also contains regulations and rules developed by the communities located in the Russian territory. In the current issue, the internal community documents for this section were kindly submitted by the leaders of the Hesed Tikva community in Bryansk. The 'Portfolio' section contains research materials and plans of various projects. The concepts adduced here are related to the community development, community work, management of non-profit organizations, social work, homecare, children's and adult education, planning, psychology, organizations' development. This issue published and excerpt from Dr. Elyasheva Sadan's book describing the ways for communities to achieve local independence. There is also 'How to Foster Moral', a study of Tatiana Kurilova, a teacher with vast experience of teaching the Jewish tradition. The section 'Experience' will naturally contain the experience of the communities in different towns. Practical materials are not less important for professionals than theoretical ones. In this issue, the Hesed Tikva community in Bryansk shares its experience with the readers. In his article 'The Community Walks up the Jacob's Ladder', Igor Zelzburg, community programs coordinator in the Jewish Welfare Community Center 'Hesed Tikva' speaks about the ways to build a productive JCC. How to help a person who has suddenly realized he is Jewish move all the way from an ordinary community member to an active participant, and how to show him the ways to the maximum self-realization. The article by Maria Krasnaya 'Studying the Tradition in a Summer Camp' on the work of the summer camp in the Dnepropetrovsk community is also interesting. A historical review by Robert Haas, editor-in-chief of the Jewish newspaper 'Delet' is devoted to organizing the work of the Jewish communities in Slovakia. The 'Jewish World' section touches upon topics that are of interest to the community workers. The 'Jewish World' concept is quite subjective and vague. This issue suggests discussing the problem of national identity because although over one million Jews live in Russia according to the recent census, only a small part of them attend synagogues, clubs, lecture halls, or sends their children to Jewish schools. The section publishes a conversation with the rabbi Adin Steinsaltz entitled 'Genotype is stronger than phenotype, or who we are and where we come from'. The famous rabbi speaks about the Jewish originality, about forced mimicry among other peoples, and about the Jews preserving their traditions despite all the difficulties. He also reminds us what the Jews living in Israel can lose. At the same time, some Jews in Russia have consciously chosen assimilation. 'Nationality is already a particular' is an interview prepared by Elena Temicheva. In this interview Alexander Makhnach, a practicing specialist at the Institute of Psychology at the Russian Academy of Sciences speaks about psychological problems of inter-ethnic families. Also in this section, excerpts from 'Choose Life' by Ezriel Tauber are published, entitled 'Who can be called a real Jew?' After reading those, you will learn what helped the Jews, despite the hostility of the outside world, bravely resist persecution for centuries; what real value the Jews possess that others don't have. 'The Third Sector' is the name for nonprofit public organizations involved in welfare activities. This section of the magazine is devoted to various non-profit organizations, the laws of their existence and their development prospects. Dr. Mike B. Naftali in his article 'The Third Sector' and Analysis of its Structure. The Civil Society' speaks about various studies conducted in different places connected to the role of non-profit organizations in a civil society in a democratic state. The article by Elizaveta Loginova 'The Activities of Non-Profit Organizations in Contemporary Russia' speaks about the dynamics of the development of Russian nonprofit organizations since the beginning of the 90-s, about their establishment, problems, and victories. The 'Details' section describes some projects in detail. This issue is devoted to projects of the St. Petersburg Institute for Welfare and Community Workers (IWCW) described by the Institute's director Dr. Marina Gildengersh. This September, the oldest and the biggest Jewish Welfare Fund in Russia, Hesed Abraham, celebrates its 10th anniversary. The Fund's director, Leonid Colton, speaks about the history of the establishment of the Fund and of its activities over the years in his interview for the Details section. The 'Petersburg's Judaica' center prepared an exhibition 'The Red Zion' for the Russian Ethnography Museum. The exhibition deals with the project of the Soviet authorities for creating the Jewish autonomous republic in the Crimea and the Far East. Valery Dymshits and Evgeny Moroz report the exhibition in their article published in this section. The polemic section 'Opinions' touches on controversial issues in the community affairs. Irina Kaznelson in her article 'The Ways and Roads to Yourself' recalls her first visit to Hesed: 'Several years passed, but I feel as if it were yesterday. In these years, Chesed became inseparable from my life...' In a way of polemics, Vitalia Averbukh, the magazine editor explains on the next page why she doesn't like Russian Jewish organizations, and why, nevertheless, she participates in editing a magazine devoted precisely to Jewish community affairs. In the 'Publicists' section, well known writers and journalists discuss issues which always provoke controversy. Leonid Zhukhovitsky in his article 'In Search of an Idea' proves that national idea can only emerge in a country whose citizens feel they are a single nation consisting of many ethnicities. 'Patriots are Against Russia' believes Boris Vasiliev, meaning those 'super-patriots' who love only an abstract motherland, resenting real Russia and its people. 'They are ready to tear it to threads, in order to separate the 'clean' from the 'unclean' by 'blood', faith, and even a family name. Evgeny Satanovsky writes of the tragic experience of the terror attack in which the audience of the Nord Ost musical was caught. His article 'The Dubrovka Lessons' contains also the analysis of the Israeli methods of fighting terrorism. In the 'Resource Center' section, information on new publications recommended by the JBH, the Jewish Book House is provided.