Jewish communities in southern Russia have rejected media coverage of their Passover celebrations.
Jews in the Southern and North Caucasus Federal Districts are celebrating Passover with festive meals and community charity events. In Krasnodar and Stavropol, Seders attracted new community members, while in Makhachkala, the celebration was postponed due to flooding and space issues.
Passover (Jewish Passover) is considered one of the most important holidays in Judaism. It is celebrated by the Jewish people in honor of the Exodus of the Jews from Egyptian slavery, which lasted several centuries. In 2026, Passover will be celebrated from April 1 to 9, according to the "Caucasian Knot" reference material "Passover in Southern Russia and the North Caucasus".
Representatives of Jewish communities in southern Russia celebrated the beginning of the eight-day Passover holiday by holding their first seders (ritual meals). In Volgograd, festive community dinners were held in the synagogue courtyard, reported the head of the city's Jewish community, Yael Ioffe.
"All prayers were held in a minyan (the required number of Jewish worshippers, note from the "Caucasian Knot"), despite it being a weekday. Between 45 and 60 community members participated," she told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Mila Ganina, a member of the Volgograd Jewish community, said that her family goes to the synagogue for prayers, while celebrating Passover at home is more informal.
“A month before Passover, my mother did a thorough cleaning of the apartment; we spent two days making everything sparkle. Well, of course, we got rid of chametz (leavened products, - Caucasian Knot note), but we didn’t say prayers at home; we came to the synagogue for the Seder. The rabbi and knowledgeable members of the community read all the necessary prayers and the Haggadah (parables and legends about the exodus from Egypt, - Caucasian Knot note). At the family’s holiday dinner, we remembered our great-grandfather, who was awarded for the defense of Moscow. He’s been with us for a long time; I don’t remember him alive.” "I saw it," the girl said.
Jewish communities in Krasnodar and Stavropol have been replenished with new members
A representative of the Krasnodar Jewish community, Mordechai Fass, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that there were noticeably more people willing to participate in the Seder than in previous years. "There were 150 people at the Seder, but twice that number, 300, signed up. We simply couldn't accommodate everyone due to space limitations," he said.
Mordechai noted that the Krasnodar Jewish community never resorted to advertising in non-Jewish media, using only an internal newsletter for community members.
In other cities in Kuban, ritual meals failed to attract new participants. In the city of Goryachy Klyuch, the Seder was cancelled because "we couldn't gather the people," said local community chairman Lev Shneiderman. "We celebrated the holiday by distributing food packages," he noted.
Galina Danilchenko, head of the Temryuk Jewish community, said that all members of the small community attended the seders. "There are only 15 of us, three of whom are bedridden. Everyone else was present," she noted.
In Maykop (Adygea), 30 people attended the seder. "We could have invited more, but the building couldn't accommodate," said a representative of the local Jewish community.
In Mozdok (North Ossetia), the seders were held in the local community office. According to community head Tatyana Nazarova, they went "as well as always." "Every member of the community who could walk came. We also congratulated the elderly at home, distributing food packages," she noted.
The head of the Stavropol Jewish community, Gennady Davydov, also noted the influx of new people, primarily young people. "Young people have begun to show more interest in their roots," he said, adding that the first seders were "fun and friendly."
He also noted that the community did not announce the seders because it saw no need to announce them. "Normal Jews already know what is supposed to happen and when," he concluded. Tatyana Yakubovskaya, the chairperson of the Kislovodsk Jewish community, in turn, reported that the celebrations went off "as usual," and "everyone who could" came. Elena Markova, the head of the local Jewish community, described the Seders in Kizlyar (Dagestan) in the same way.
Seders in Makhachkala have been postponed
Seders have not yet been held in Makhachkala, but are planned for the coming days, said Valery Dibiyaev, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities of Dagestan and head of the Jewish community of Makhachkala. “There was flooding, so there was no time for that. We had a choice - either drown in this water or not hold the Seder,” he noted.
According to Dibiyaev, approximately 50-60 people are expected at the first Makhachkala Seder, scheduled for April 7.
“There could be more, but we have a small space, and we simply can’t accommodate everyone. The problem is that the synagogue renovation has been ongoing for a year and a half: it started, but now it’s unclear when it will be postponed. Honestly, I’m tired of it,” he admitted.
On June 23, 2024, militants attacked synagogues and Orthodox churches in Derbent and Makhachkala. Twenty people were killed and 46 were injured. The attack on the synagogue came as a complete surprise to the Jews of Makhachkala, said Valery Dibiyaev, chairman of the Centralized Religious Organization of Jewish Communities of Dagestan. The Federation of Jewish Communities reported that Torah scrolls were destroyed in the fire at the synagogue in Derbent, and the Russian Jewish Congress announced plans to assist in the restoration of synagogues. In December 2024, repairs began on the synagogue in Derbent. The "Caucasian Knot" prepared reports "Key Points on the Participants in the Makhachkala and Derbent Attacks" and "Attacks on Churches, Synagogues, and Security Forces in Dagestan".
At the end of January, when Jewish communities commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dibiyaev noted that space issues created uncertainty for Makhachkala Jews about how to plan their Passover celebrations. He also noted that the main sponsor of the synagogue restoration was Dagestan State Secretary Magomed-Sultan Magomedov, but after his arrest everything stopped.
"For now, of the five floors and the basement, we can only use the basement, where the dampness is unbearable," he noted.
The lack of announcements has become one of the security measures.
Representatives of almost all the communities interviewed by a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent noted that they did not advertise the Seders for one reason or another. Some are convinced that announcements are unnecessary: for example, according to Tatyana Yakubovskaya, all interested people "already know" about the event. Elena Markova noted that information about the Seder was spread among community members. "It's convenient for us," she explained.
In some cases, risk considerations prompted the decision not to make public announcements. Galina Danilchenko, for example, noted that she didn't advertise the Seder "due to a difficult situation."
Tatyana Nazarova, in turn, reported that after October 7, 2023, she received multiple threatening calls from a local resident, who "has now been convicted," but the risk of provocation from others remains. “We are close to Dagestan, Mozdok is a heavily Muslim city. Even the police warned us: ‘Don’t take any risks,’” she explained.
Muslims of the North Caucasus reacted sharply to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that began in October 2023. From October 26 to 29, 2023, mass anti-Semitic protests took place in three republics of the North Caucasus: Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachay-Cherkessia. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared reports "Anti-Semitic Protests in the North Caucasus: How It Happened" and "A Wave of Anti-Semitic Protests in the North Caucasus".
In Volgograd, the Jewish community leadership coordinated the schedule of festive events with the city police in advance. According to Yael Ioffe, these preventative measures allowed the Seders to be held without provocations or violations.
“Everything went according to plan. I spoke with law enforcement officials, and we developed a schedule for all days of the holiday with varying levels of security. When we had Seders, we had a constant police presence, and now we have a mobile post—police officers stop by periodically. “They respond positively and appropriately to our requests and are interested in crime prevention,” Yael said.
Anti-Semitic crimes are rare in the Volgograd region, although their manifestations occur at the everyday level, members of the Jewish community previously indicated. They also noted that local Jews try to keep their religiosity low-key. The "Caucasian Knot" reported that a Volgograd court sentenced Gasan Abukov, a native of Dagestan, to two and a half years in prison for assaulting and beating a Jewish man on the street. The attack occurred in July 2024. The state prosecutor appealed the sentence, demanding that Abukov be sentenced to four years in a maximum-security prison, but the Volgograd Regional Court upheld the sentence after reviewing the appeal. Unchanged.
Student Mila Ganina hasn't encountered any anti-Semitism either in her everyday life or at the university where she studies, but her friend Elena noted that she was recently insulted by students from Palestine.
"But there didn't seem to be any overt anti-Semitism there, they were just rude. I don't know if it's connected to some kind of nationalist hatred," the girl told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.