April, 2016

I came to the Baltic Jewish Network (BJN) conference in Riga on last April, as part of the Junction team. BJN is a Junction-affiliated program, organised by a group of dedicated young professionals from the Baltics.

 

The Baltics states are three countries - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - located in the northeast corner of Europe, bordering Russia on the east and the Baltic Sea to the west. The Baltics, or more renowned for their main cities - Vilnius (in Yiddish, Vilna), Riga and Tallinn - used to be the centre of Jewish life. Jews have lived in the Baltics since the 14th century, new trends in Judaism developed in the Baltics, and Vilna was known among Jews as “Yerushalayim de Lita,” the Jerusalem of Lithuania. One can trace footsteps of Jewish innovators- the Vilna Gaon, Baal Shem Tov and Rabbi Kook here.  

 

For the second half of the 20th century these countries existed in relative obscurity as republics of the Soviet Union. The breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of Communist domination in Eastern Europe opened a new chapter in the history of the Jewish communities in that part of the world. For the first time in decades, Jews were free to practice their religion, create meaningful Jewish communal institutions, and provide significant Jewish education. People who are now in their 30s witnessed these changes, and are now taking part in the lead. 

 

Aleksandr Zdankevitch (Estonia) and Ilja Hagin (Latvia) are these kind of leaders - local young professionals who identified the need for connecting professionals and entrepreneurs of Jewish origin from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in a common platform where they can develop their own Jewish expression within their professional world.

 

BJN was a weekend of learning and shared experiences that inspire your professional and personal growth. Professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners established connections, exchanged ideas and built partnerships. 

 

I feel fortunate I could join BJN and also lead one of its networking activities. Before arriving to BJN I was afraid to admit I don’t really know much about the Baltics and about the Jewish community there. I found a community of opinionated Jewish professionals that care about their community. We live today in such an interconnected world, and its a great privilege to take part in building these connections in the Jewish world.

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Junction, an initiative of the JDC, YESOD and the Schusterman Foundation, helps to support young European Jews in taking an active role in strengthening European and global Jewry.