For the fun of it

I decided to search in Russian for news of Stavropol Jewry.

Well, the fight is still going on out there. Yefim still up to his dirty tricks. As mentioned, his girlfriend works for one of Stavropol's local newspapers. Here is an excerpt from an article in there:

You can clearly see that the new experts of local government in international work J. Shepelin and V. Novikov don't know how to cope with a situation. They divide diasporas choosing which ones are "close" to city administration and which ones are now "far" from it. As it is known, such divisions are peculiar to people and the result of mafia-like activity.

Take the scandal of today, September 20. At a government meeting, the local officials didn't call the original city Jewish organisation "Shalom" which established Judaism back in the city. On the contrary, instead they called the newly appeared rabbi, the Chassid Nesterov, who only represents the Stavropol mountain Jews and an other fringe Jewry. Novikov defines now to whom and how to participate in city life.



Note: Novikov is the mayor, I believe.

Source: http://pan.ru/index.php3?tp=2&bid=30908&id=30890

I may be wrong

But I'm pretty sure this guy (Alexander Ridchenko) is the FSB guy who interrogated me the Friday night when I was thrown out of Russia.

I have this photo because he 'visited' my odnoklassniki page (and you can see guests on that website).

Again, I'm not sure if it's him. I only vaguely remember him, but I'm pretty sure it was an officer Ridchenko.

Rosh Hashana in Stavropol

STAVROPOL, Russia – This year, Jews of Stavropol welcomed the new year at the Intourist Hotel. The Chief Rabbi of Stavropol Alexander Nesterov, the Jewish community of Stavropol, and the charitable fund Chesed Bentsion, were the sponsors of the pre-Rosh Hashanah celebration.

Representatives of many communities attended the celebration and extended their best wishes to the Jewish community for the upcoming year. Among them were representatives of the Ossetian, Georgian, Armenian, and Dagestani peoples, the Slavic national-cultural autonomy, the Chief Mufti of Stavropol Region, and Father Vladimir Volkov, a representative of the Stavropol and Vladikavkaz diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. Local officials also came out on this occasion, with words shared by V. Novikov, the chairman of the Nationalities Committee of Stavropol, A. Selyukov, who represents Russia’s President on human rights issues in the Stavropol Region, Deputy Governor S.N. Erin, and other regional government representatives.

Rabbi Nesterov gave the opening speech, wishing everyone a happy and sweet New Year. Both the Mufti and Father Vladimir congratulated all Jews on this holiday, noting that such events contribute to the strengthening of friendship between communities, faiths and society in the North Caucasus region.

Rabbi Alexander then blew the shofar, after which guests enjoyed apples with honey, pastries, and other refreshments. The evening featured a concert by students from the Sunday school, who sang Jewish songs of the High Holiday season and danced, and a musical performance that included both traditional Jewish tunes as well as popular hits.

"The Jewish community is confident that the New Year will bring mutual understanding and friendly relations, in the spirit of tolerance which is so much a part of our Jewish tradition,” emphasized Rabbi Nesterov.

Source: http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=1305122

Note: the pitcure used in that source is not one of Stavropol...

The photo at the top is an actual photo someone took on Rosh Hashana of Rabbi Nesterov blowing the shofar. :-)