Euroasian Jewish News

Alexander Baron awards photocompetition winners

EAJC Delegation to Central Asia Visits Bishkek

A representative delegation of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress to Central Asia, headed by EAJC Presidium member, President of the Mitzvah Association of Jewish Organizations of Kazakhstan Alexander Baron visited Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, with a working visit. Among the members of the delegation were Almaty Chesed Director Inessa Chugainova and the young leaders of the Kazakhstan Jewish community: Maria Arepyeva, Aleksandra Artyushina, Anastasia Ursolova, Evgeniya Chugainova, and Natalia Trehsvyatskaya. The aim of the visit was to create and develop the partnership between the Jewish communities of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan through joint international projects.

The visit had several goals: to involve the Jewish community of Kyrgyzstan in EAJC projects and the international activities of its representative office, to help the young community leaders of two states make acquaintances among themselves, and to award the participants and winners of the 2012 photo competition “The Jewish Community Through the Eyes of Youth” who were not able to visit Almaty for the opening ceremony.

Meetings were held with EAJC General Council member, Director of a Jewish school Vladimir Kritzman, Bishkek Chesed Director Alla Volkovich, and the Head Rabbi of Bishkek Aryeh Raichman.

The delegation presented EAJC projects in Central Asia: The Freilehe Kinder International Festival of Jewish Children's and Youth Creativity, the educational project competition “From the Depths of the Ages,” an international conference on the evacuations and refugees of World War II and the history of Jews in Central Asian and Western Siberia, the international family summer camp seminar “My Family in the History of the Jews,” the international photo competition and moving photo exhibitions “The Jewish Community Through the Eyes of Youth”, and the new Mitzvah project – the Seminar on Jewish tradition.

As Alexander Baron notes, “Today we have made two working trips to Central Asian countries: to Tashkent and to Bishkek, in which we have made new connections and strengthened old ones. The trip to Bishkek and the meeting with representatives of leaders of Jewish youth of Kyrgyzstan have once more stressed the necessity of an international regional meeting of young leaders and of holding a joint event.