The difficult history of Russian Jews

How can it be that there are so few religious Russian Jews left, when the vast majority of 18th century Jews lived in the Russian Empire? In fact, it is estimated that the Russian Empire had a population of 5.25…

Russian Shabbat at Chabad

For the attendees of this past week’s Shabbat dinner hosted by Chabad at UCLA, the Russian-themed Shabbat was a welcomed comfort, especially at a time when, for many college students, stress has increased with midterms. The theme of Russian Shabbat…

Jews United Part 2—Laughing All the Way to Freedom: Social Functions of Jewish Humor of Modern Day Exodus

“Rabinovich [the recurring butt of Russian-Jewish jokes] is taken into custody by the KGB. ‘Why do you want to leave the best country in the world?’ the KGB agent asks him. Rabinovich responds, ‘Well, I only have two reasons. My…