Chagim and the Jewish Community

An out-of-towner's attempt at a comprehensive overview.

The first thing to realize about the Saint Petersburg Jewish community is that Chabad is the most prominent face of Judaism here. They control the main synagogue and kashrut, and the chief rabbi is a Lubavitcher. They also have the right connections in the government that help ensure their prominence in Russian Jewish life. There are smaller Litovskii (Lithuanian) and Gruzinskii (Georgian) communities here as well, but no one else can compete in terms of money, experience, and overall organizational experience.

Just like in America, the vast majority of those Russians who know they're Jewish don't really know anything about Judaism. So far I have not met a single Russian Jew (ie born and raised in Russia) who was born into a religious family -- they're all baalei teshuvah. So if none of the Russians were religious, who's teaching them now, running the synagogues, schools, and social organizations? Mostly Israelis, of course. Chabad has a kindergarten, school, yeshiva, and additional youth groups, all of which are generally headed by Israelis. The rabbis at the Litovskii synagogue are all Russians and the Chabad chief rabbi is American, but the rest are Israeli. 

On Erev Rosh Hashana, I arrived at the main shul to find 4 Americans from my program and lots and lots of Russians. Of course, no one knew what was going on and the davening was basically inaudible. The Russians were dressed to the nines in skinny jeans and stilettos, using their cell phones in the stairwell, talking in the pews. On the first day of chag, tons of people came literally just to hear the shofar -- they all left after the first set before mussaf. It made for quite an odd scene. I can't imagine so many unaffiliated Jews walking into an Orthodox synagogue in America, without any knowledge of even the most basic customs (like no talking). But here in Russia, if you're going to go to a synagogue, where else are you going to go? 

The Grand Choral Synagogue

The Chabad shul is located in the Grand Choral Synagogue. The inside has been restored and repainted and is absolutely beautiful. I kind of imagine it's what the inside of one of the big Rusisan Orthodox cathedrals looks like on a small scale, without crosses. If anyone speaks above a whisper, their voice reverberates throughout the entire shul. The space is also meant to hold at least 300 people, so it's rather large for the size of the group that usually gathers there on shabbos. The congregation is mainly composed of the Chabad rabbis, their families, and additional Russians who have become Lubavitchers themselves. There's also a sizable quotient of babushkas, who like to get there early and proceed to talk through all of shul. Unfortunately, not so many people my own age. Then again, not so many young religious people have a reason to stay.

The second day of Rosh Hashana and shabbos were much quieter. Yom Kippur was also relatively quiet, as were the first days of Sukkos. I was prepared for the worst, since everyone told me that it's always freezing cold and rainy here on Sukkos. Luckily we had beautiful weather for the first three days and it was almost nice to sit in the sukkah. Unfortunately it's been freezing for the past two days, so I doubt the second days will be so nice. But hopefully the second days will be nice in a different way. I'm finally going to spend a chag/shabbos at Migdal Or, the Lithuanian synagogue! I'm really looking forward to getting to see the other part of the Jewish community here (and nusach ashkenaz, and shalos sheudis, and tunes I know, and people my age...)

I hope everyone else is having a wonderfully sunny and warm chag!