The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah is marked in honor of the creation of the world and symbolizes the beginning of a new year. It is thought that God says in the Book of Life on this day: “Some will live, some will die; some will have peace, some will be on the rove; some will prosper, some will suffer; some will be poor, some will be wealthy.” The Jews must analyze their deeds which have been done during a year and be ready for the new year. In Moscow, the holiday coincided with the send-off of the Israeli Ambassador to Russia, Dorit Golender, who will finish her five-year diplomatic mission in Moscow in September.
On September 8 Moscow hosted the main reception of the year of the Russian Jewish Congress. The Stand-Up club building on New Arbat gathered prominent representatives of the community: businessmen, politicians and cultural figures. Dorit Golender summed up the results of her work: “In my opinion, we managed to bring relations between our countries closer in all spheres. I think the first thing is the economic sphere, on the other hand – cultural relationships, that cultural bridge which links our peoples. And, of course, there are interpersonal relationships. It doesn't matter where I was, I was always treated well. And if I was treated well, the same applies to Israel.”
Answering the question: "What amazed Mrs. Golinder in Russia?" she answered – Jewish life. And literally confirming her words, the Ambassador opened the evening with the national dance 'Seven Forty' in tandem with the President of the Russian Jewish Congress Yuri Kanner.
Mikhail Borshevsky, Vladimir Pozner, Mark Rozovskii, Lyudmila Narusova, the Guzman brothers, Leonid Roshal, the Chief Rabbis of Russia Berl Lazar and Adolf Shaevich, and many others came to celebrate the holiday and express gratitude to the ambassador.
Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov spoke at the celebration with a welcoming speech from the Russian Foreign Ministry: “During these five years there have been a lot of visits, the Prime Minister of Israel was here four times, the President was here twice. Vladimir Putin was in Israel in 2015, we were with him, we met with the leaders of Israel, the people of Israel, we opened the Museum of the Victory of the Red Army in Netanya, and a lot of useful things were done.” Mikhail Bogdanov stated that yesterday the Israeli ambassador was presented with a medal 'For cooperation with the Foreign Ministry of Russia' on behalf of Sergey Lavrov.
Andrey Makarevich with the Cinerama band sang the song 'My Golden Jerusalem'. After the performance the musician told Vestnik Kavkaza how he is planning to celebrate the holiday: “I'm going to the festival 'Tuanika' near Vilnius, because this year the festival celebrates its anniversary. Oddly enough, it has always been a rock, super-rock festival, and this year it becomes almost jazzy, which warms me, because recently I started to play this music. And in general, we were not there for a long time. And after work, we will celebrate New Year.”
The Charitable Foundation of Mountain Jews 'STMEGI' is preparing a new project in the North Caucasus, in Pyatigorsk next year. The assistant to the President of the Foundation, David Mordekhaev shared the plans with Vestnik Kavkaza: “Seven thousand Jews are living there, most of them, that is, 90% are Mountain Jews. There is quite a serious need for a synagogue, in some community center, where you can maintain traditions, where it is possible to teach the Torah to children, to teach Hebrew to children, in other words, what is needed for the community to maintain their culture.”
People's Artist Iosif Kobzon spoke about how Jewish life in Russia is proceeding: “The atmosphere is very nice, friendly, so when they talk about anti-Semitism, do not believe it. I am telling this to everybody, do not believe it. Today in Russia and on the territory of the former Soviet Union in general, Jews are living comfortably.”
