The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Yad Ezra (“Helping Hand”) Foundation in the Moscow Choral Synagogue opened with the speech of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress Secretary General Michael Chlenov.

This event, which gathered a large crowd, was led by People's Artist of Russia Avangard Leontyev. Among those who spoke before the guests were the first director of the Foundation, Svetlana Kriger, who flew to the celebration from the USA; the current head of Yad Ezra, Alexander Kirnos; head of the Moscow representation office of the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Alik Nadan. The participants were shown the greetings of JDC Honorary Executive Vice President Ralph I. Goldman, who was at the roots of the former USSR system of Jewish charitable organizations.

During the opening ceremony, Michael Chlenov (a long-standing member of the Yad Ezra Foundation Board of Trustees, alongside with the Head Rabbi of Russia, Deputy Chairman of the EAJC Council of Rabbis Adolph Shaevich) notes, “Twenty years ago, when the Big Aliyah began, we thought that everyone would soon leave, and that would be where the history of Jews in Russia would end. Yet the wave of the Big Aliyah broke, and it turned out that not everyone left, and that quite a few among those who remained require assistance, care, and attention. And then a number of wonderful charity projects was started. One of the first projects that extended a helping hand to the needy was the Yad Ezra Foundation, which has earned unconditional respect and our pride.”