Soviet Union, The (Former)

Golda didn't know what to say until finally she blurted out in Yiddish, "adank aich far bleiben yidden". Her words spread through the throng like wildfire, and she felt her limp words were a poor mockery of prophetic incantation. "Thank you," she had told...

Defying rogue regimes, the Rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch and their emissaries risked their lives to keep Judaism alive across the Soviet Union. Their efforts enabled the embers of Judaism to spark the transformation of Jewish life thriving there today.

With restriction on religion being officially released, the ashes, glowing for seventy years, finally burst into flame. The warmth of Judaism began to glow for the millions of Jewish men, women and children across Russia who didn’t even know the meaning o...

Betsheva's father had taken all possible precautions to hide the illegal factory, covering its entrance with large planks of wood. But the approaching footsteps sounded like they knew where they were headed...

Zaidy embraced the Torah for the last time and gently laid it, in its wooden case, under a tree. He lifted his young child in his arms and journeyed on through the forest

When Jews are united as one body, a Jew in a free land can provide life to a Jew living under oppression

"How would I obtain oil and wicks in a sealed-off prison cell? And even if I did get them, how would I hide them from the guards?"

"Thirteen years ago, my parents made two big announcements..." Yakov Danzinger shares what life is like in Rostov, Russia – offering an inside view as the son of the Chabad emissaries there. This video was produced in honor of Yakov’s Bar Mitzvah.

Russian, Belarussian, and Ukrainian peasants were a source for beloved songs, sometimes with Hebrew or Yiddish added.

A sample of local peasant culture can be found in certain phrases, often punchlines of poignant tales told by the Rebbes and chassidim, which have become part of everyday parlance.