VZCZCXRO4766
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0490/01 0531343
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 221343Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6760
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000490 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KIRF SOCI RS
SUBJECT: JEWISH LIFE IN IVANOVO 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Jewish community in Ivanovo is 
close-knit, active and shrinking, as increasing numbers of 
its young residents emigrate to Israel.  While the Jewish 
community is generally accepted among the wider oblast 
community and relations with authorities are good, two 
Ivanovo residents are currently on trial for attacking 
Ivanovo's Rabbi last year.  A Jewish community leader spoke 
of his efforts to work with one of the alleged attackers, 
during a February 12-13 visit to Ivanovo by Emboff.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Ervin Kirstein, a doctor, leads the Jewish 
community in Ivanovo.  Ivanovo, located 300 kilometers 
outside of Moscow, has been without a Rabbi since last summer 
when its Rabbi (a Canadian citizen) was attacked and he and 
his family moved to Stavropol.  Kirstein said the move was 
unrelated to the attack and merely reflected the family's 
desire to live in a warmer climate in Russia.  Kirstein told 
Emboff during a February 12-13 visit to Ivanovo that Jewish 
life there started "at the end of Soviet times," and was 
formally organized in 1993 with the establishment of the 
Society of Jewish Culture.  In 1999, this organization joined 
the Federation of Jewish Communities, headed by Rabbi Lazar 
in Moscow.  Prior to 1999, their organization survived by 
collecting money "here and there."  Today the community is 
active and close-knit.  They organize events around Jewish 
holidays and feasts in addition to their regular Shabbat 
services on Friday evenings.  They have youth and women's 
clubs, a Torah school and offer Hebrew language courses for 
all ages.  They participate in local community events, and 
present exhibits on Jewish history, Jewish culture and 
Israel.  For 12 years, they have participated in Ivanovo's 
annual cultural festival. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kirstein estimated the actual size of Ivanovo's 
Jewish community at approximately five thousand with many 
more people having Jewish roots -- including the current 
Governor, Mikhail Men, he noted. Kirstein said young people 
in particular are interested in Jewish life but that they 
struggle to keep Jewish youth in Ivanovo.  Most of these 
young people graduate from university then move to Israel, he 
said.  Many people from within the region and outside are 
researching their family history and discovering their Jewish 
roots.  Many of them also decide to move to Israel upon 
discovering their Jewish heritage. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ivanovo's Jewish community occupies a small building 
in the center of the city, which sits behind the city's 
former KGB headquarters.  The city owns the building and has 
notified Kirstein of its desire to sell the property. 
Kirstein has scrambled to find money to purchase the building 
even reaching out via letter to Mayor Bloomberg of New York 
City.  While he had heard the Mayor had been willing to give 
money for such causes, he had not received a response at the 
time of our meeting.  Outside the entrance to their 
headquarters is a small monument to victims of the Holocaust. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) When asked about their relationship with local 
authorities, Kirstein told us that with the Mayor it is 
decent, "but not warm."   While they are able to live a 
traditional Jewish life, Kirstein said authorities do not 
particularly like it when they wear yarmulkes, or "stand 
out," in any way. Kirstein said one young boy "is brave 
enough" to wear his yarmulke in school.  He said their 
relationship with the Deputy Mayor improved after he made a 
trip to Israel. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Kirstein said that law enforcement officials were 
responsive in the wake of the attack on Ivanovo's former 
Rabbi by three young people, one of whom fled the scene and 
was not apprehended.  A trial is in progress against the 
other two suspects who were charged under Russia's ethnic 
hatred article of the criminal code.  At the time of the 
attack, Kirstein told us, people in Ivanovo were furious. 
They called television and radio stations to vent their anger 
regarding the incident.  Kirstein was given free time on 
television to discuss the attack.  He said they expected a 
strong reaction from Governor Men but were disappointed when 
Deputy Governor Yuliya Zhukovskaya, whose portfolio includes 
civic and religious organizations, responded that there would 
be no statement until there was a court decision. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Both suspects in the attack, Sergey Novikov and Ivan 
Novikov (not related), have stated their regret over the 
incident.  Sergey Novikov claimed he was drunk at the time of 
the incident and emphasized he had no affiliation with any 
extremist groups.  The other suspect, Ivan Novikov, is a 
student in the history department of the local university and 
has espoused extremist views both directly to Kirstein, who 
visited him in jail after his arrest, and in court.  Despite 
 
MOSCOW 00000490  002 OF 002 
 
 
this, Kirstein has opted to work with him by providing him 
with books about Judaism and inviting him to Jewish community 
events.  Kirstein argued for his release from jail pending 
trial and said he does not believe he should be sentenced to 
prison if convicted.  "Prison is not a school of life," 
Kirstein told us.  Kirstein sat in on the first day of the 
trail and said he felt the judge was objective and that the 
authorities were not pressuring the court in any way. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Kirstein said there are nationalist and fascists 
groups in the region, with some incidents of vandalism and 
anti-Semitic graffiti. In 2007, a Muslim cemetery in the 
region was desecrated.  Some of these cases have been 
prosecuted while others have been ignored by law enforcement. 
He said the situation has improved somewhat under Governor 
Men, who was appointed in December 2005. 
BURNS