World Jewish News

"Jews in the Land of Kazakhstan" exhibition in Ust-Kamenogorsk.

"Jews in the Land of Kazakhstan" exhibition has been inaugurated in Ust-Kamenogorsk. The event is organized by the "Mitzvah" Association of the Jewish National Organizations of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the Republican Jewish library, the "Faina" Hesed, the history center of "Rimon" JCC, along with the ethnographic museum of VKO. This exhibition is a result of the team work of people who studied the history of Jews of the region for several years. The exhibition provoked the interest of the members of the Ust-Kamenogorsk Jewish community, town dwellers, mass media, as well as that of the Assembly of Kazakhstan ethnic groups, which representatives participated in the inaugural ceremonies.
The dwellers of the town will be able to enjoy the exhibition for the entire month. They will be able to get to know better the Jews, their neighbors for quite a long time. For the members of the Jewish community, the exhibition is a chance to discover the roots and become closer to one another.
Why was Ust-Kamenogorsk appointed to be the first town to host the "Jews in the Land of Kazakhstan" exhibition? There are many answers to this question. Here is one:
- the Ust-Kamenogorsk community is in state of constant search, told us the inspirer of the exhibition, the director of the Jewish Republican library Yevgenia Karyakina.- The representatives of this region took a very active part in publishing the first and the second story collections titled "From the History of Jews in Kazakhstan". They also contributed greatly into the "Jews in Kazakhstan: History, Religion, Culture" International conference. We have decided to thank them and hold the exhibition in Eastern Kazakhstan.
A great portion of the exposition is dedicated to books. The book has always been the sacred thing to Jews. It still is in the 21st century. Scientists still find Jewish written sources along what used to be the Great Silk way. We know now that, as far as the 11th century, the town of Turkestan already had a synagogue. Turkestan is the place our region's oldest Torah roll was found.
- as soon as Kazakhstan turned to be independent, the Jewish community of this country was given a possibility of free development. You can see the results of the cooperation of scientists of the independent Kazakhstan and Jewish Diaspora, said Alexander Baron, the President of the "Mitzvah" Association of Jewish Ethnic Organizations of the Kazakhstan Republic, at the opening ceremonies of the exhibition.- Thousands of prominent compatriots of mine have given their lives for this land. By accident, we received the folder of personal files of the Jews

Источник: mitsva.kz