Today, about 15 million Jews live in the world. Of these, only 43% is concentrated in the territory of their historical homeland, in Israel. The vast majority of the remaining 57% live today in 17 countries: in the USA (their number exceeds 5 million people (39%), which is more than in other countries), Canada, France, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, Germany, Australia and a number of other countries. Despite this distribution, experts argue that numerical equality between Israeli Jews and the global diaspora is possible and will come by 2026, provided that the current trend of "return" to their historical homeland continues.
In this article we find out how many Jews currently live in Russia.
The end of the twentieth century
The Jewish population has long been in our country in a suppressed state. And Brandeis University professor Jonathan Sarna, who devoted many years of his life to studying the history of the Jewish people in the United States, wrote after a trip to Russia in 1986: “All Jewish life in Moscow turned out to be driven underground. Hebrew Learning Announcedillegal, most Jewish gatherings are banned, the Choral Synagogue (the only officially permitted synagogue in the capital) is overrun with spies, and the most prominent representatives of the Jewish people are declared criminals and are in a hurry to leave Mother Russia forever.”
What has changed today?
With the advent of the new millennium, attitudes towards Jews have improved significantly. Now, visiting Russia, Professor Sarna notes that Jewish practice is found everywhere. At least four Jewish schools exist in Moscow. Jewish children are taught a range of religious and educational subjects, including Hebrew. In 2005, on the basis of the Center for Judaic Studies and Jewish Civilization at Moscow State University, the Department of Judaic Studies was created, whose employees study Jewish history, Jewish languages, literature, politics and economics.
As for synagogues and religious communities, there are currently 15 of them throughout Moscow. In general, this number of religious centers is enough to meet the needs of the Jews living in the Russian capital. But what is their number throughout the country? How many Jews live in Russia?
Tough question
In order to answer the above question, it is necessary to refer to several years of population census data. However, there is a problem here. It is not easy to say exactly how many Jews there are in Russia. Why? First of all, because the most striking indicator in this matter is matzah - a traditional Jewish flatbread - or rather,the number of its customers. However, this figure is quite relative and does not show how many Jews there really are in Russia.
Another evaluation factor is the number of people who identify themselves as Jews and those who reveal their Jewish roots on the maternal side. Such people are called halachic Jews. But what if, when estimating "by feeling" how many Jews live in Russia today, we also take into account those whose Jewish roots can be traced back to their father? It is obvious that the set indicator can be exceeded at least twice!
Official figures
Now let's turn to the census data for previous years.
Analyzing official figures, we can conclude that the Jewish population of Russia is gradually decreasing and today is about 180 thousand people. At the same time, it is important to note that the downward trend began in the late 1980s, when a significant number of Jews emigrated to Israel from the territory of the former USSR. Representatives of national communities living in Moscow believe that many Jews who remained in the Soviet Union renounced or concealed their identity in order to avoid persecution by the Soviet authorities and save their lives.
According to the latest Soviet census, which was conducted in 1989, the number of Jews is estimated at 570 thousand people. Of these, 176,000 lived in Moscow, and 107,000 lived in St. Petersburg. In the photo above, this data is presented as a percentage.
Jews aftercollapse of the Soviet Union
A small increase in the number of the Jewish people in the territory of the former USSR falls on the first years after the collapse of the Union. This is primarily due to the fact that people have ceased to be so afraid to openly report their Jewish roots.
But, according to 2001 data, the number of Jews dropped to 275 thousand people, which means that in percentage terms their number decreased by more than 50%.
Census results from 1989 to 2001 are shown in the table below.
| Year | Moscow (thousand people) | St. Petersburg (thousand people) | Total (thousand people) |
| 1989 | 176 | 107 | 570 |
| 1994 | 135 | 61 | 409 |
| 1999 | 108 | 42 | 310 |
| 2001 | … | … | 275 |
How many Jews are there in Russia today?
According to the results of the 2002 census, it was possible to establish that Jews at that time made up only 0.16% of the total Russian population, and the Jewish community continued to decline as before.
How many Jews in Russia in 2002? Officially, 233 thousand people were recorded. Thereafter, the rate of decline remained almostremained unchanged, and by 2010 only about 158 thousand representatives of the Jewish people remained in Russia.
Currently, about 180 thousand Jews live in the Russian Federation. At the same time, fewer and fewer people are ready to identify themselves as Jews. More than 80% of the representatives of this people living in our country prefer to marry non-Jewish spouses. But how many percent of Jews are in Russia? Relative to the total number of this people around the world, the number is not at all large: only 1.3% live here.
Revival of Jewish culture
Jewish life and culture began to experience a certain revival with the collapse of the Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, Russian Jews began to show interest in a deeper study of their religious heritage. In January 1996, the main event in the life of the Jewish community was the publication in Russia of the Russian translation of the Talmud. This was the first publication of a holy book since the Bolsheviks, which marked the beginning of the preparation of a whole series of Talmudic translations that allowed Russian Jews to return to the study of the religion of their ancestors. There was nothing like this in Soviet Russia before.
Then, in 1996, the first synagogue in Moscow since the revolution of 1917 was founded. In honor of this event, the British newspaper Time published an article with the following words: “Six years ago, Jews were still beaten in Minsk. Now three religious communities are organized there: a Sabbath school, a youth movement and a voluntarycharitable organization.”
Finally, one cannot deny the fact that, in part, it was the Jews who played a significant role in the process of economic recovery in post-Soviet Russia.
Jews and politics
Do you know how many Jews are in power in Russia? If we take into account that the economy is somehow connected with politics, then we can say with confidence that this number is quite significant. Suffice it to recall that at least six of Russia's most famous oligarchs had Jewish roots:
- Boris Berezovsky.
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
- Alexander Smolensky.
- Vladimir Gusinsky.
- Mikhail Fridman.
- Rem Vyakhirev.
It should be noted that an important factor in the revival of Jewish life in our country is the "pro-Jewish" sentiments of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Berl Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia, has fairly close ties with the head of state and explains that V. Putin's views and his attitude towards Jews were formed over a long period, starting from childhood, as the future president grew up in a fairly poor family and spent a lot of time with Jewish neighbors. While holding the post of Deputy Mayor of Leningrad, V. Putin tried to help the Jews in various matters. He gave permission for the opening of the first Jewish school in the city. Later, when the construction of the Jewish Museum began in Moscow, he donated his monthly salary to this cause. Today, the name of the President of Russia is indicated on one of the museum stands inas a thank you for your assistance to the Jewish community.
Jews and opposition
However, this is not limited to the involvement of Jews in the political life of Russia. "Almost all leaders of the liberal opposition are either fully Jewish or have Jewish assistants," said Michael Edelstein, a professor at Moscow State University.
Thus, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who died under mysterious circumstances in 2015, had Jewish roots: he was a full-blooded Jew, although he considered himself a Christian.
Another well-known opposition politician, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is a Jew on his father's side. In 2001, he founded the Open Russia Foundation in support of liberal values. Two years later, Khodorkovsky was arrested on corruption charges and sent to prison. He was soon released and emigrated to Europe.
In this case, it is important to emphasize that, as a rule, many Russian businessmen are not afraid of being accused of corruption fraud, which cannot be said about the Jews. They often find themselves at the crossroads of government repression. This is explained by the fact that despite a certain revival of Jewry in Russia and the obvious pro-Jewish sympathies of Vladimir Putin, anti-Semitic sentiments are still strong in the country, which at times become aggravated and cause alarm.
What are the causes of Russian anti-Semitism, a serious question, but this is not the topic of this article. Today wefound out how many Jews there are in Russia.
