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Growing up in Baltimore, I had always been impressed by the diverse and impressive initiatives run by the THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. Yet, it was not until I went on the Diller leadership and service trip to Israel in the summer of 2007 that I realized how far-reaching the work of The Associated truly is. As a Diller Teen Fellow, I was amazed that The Associated could be simultaneously running an after school program at a middle school in Mt. Washington and recording oral histories of Ethiopian refugees at a center in Ashkelon.
The Diller Program taught me a great deal of lessons, but the one that has impacted me most strongly was that as challenging as it is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, those experiences become the ones that are the most worthwhile. When I began my freshman year at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York I signed up for Russian 101. I had always been drawn to the culture, especially considering the large Russian community in Pikesville, but knew little about it. That first Russian language course led to another and another until I decided to major in Russian Studies, with a focus on the history of the Jewish communities of the former Russian Empire and Soviet Union.
During the spring of 2011, I studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. I received a grant from Colgate to research the effects of emigration on the Jewish community of St. Petersburg. I was expecting to find an aging community with few organizations and little hope. Instead, I found a community that was diverse and vibrant, a mix of local organizations designed and run by Petersburgers and those funded and staffed by American and Israeli organizations. As I researched the community, I remembered that The Associated’s efforts also reached the Former Soviet Union, specifically in Baltimore’s sister city of Odessa, Ukraine.
At the end of my senior year, with help and support from Jewish community organizers in Russia, Ukraine, and Baltimore as well as the faculty and staff of Colgate University, I received a Fulbright grant to travel to Odessa, Ukraine to study the prospects for rebuilding Jewish community in the Former Soviet Union, with Odessa as a case study. My research will involve immersing myself in the community and trying to answer the many questions that post-Soviet communities raise. Part of my research will focus on the role of international Jewish organizations, such as The Associated. Many of you are personally invested in the amazing global projects that The Associated makes possible, including those in the former Soviet Union. I hope this blog will help you all learn more about the amazing work The Associated does and get some insight into the dynamic Jewish community of Odessa, Ukraine. I arrive in Odessa on September 14 and will return to Baltimore in July 2013. If you have any questions for me or suggestions for my research, I would be happy to hear from you. My e-mail is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).