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Riga Today MENU - Riga Introduction Special Events Jewish Museum Synagogue Chabad Center for Judaic Studies - University of Latvia Jewish Hospital Union of Jewish Youth in Latvia Virtual Tours Research More About It Related Pages  Riga is Latvia’s capital and largest city, with about 800,000 inhabitants and 9,000-12,000 Jews, a large percentage of whom are Russians who fled the former Soviet Union. Aptly called Little Paris at the turn of the century, Riga’s European beauty has been renewed in the post Soviet era with the restoration and renovation of its wonderful buildings. The struggles of today’s Jewish Latvia are largely settlement and economic issues. Many of Latvia's Jews need food, medical attention, skills, jobs and education in Judaism - which could not be practiced in the Soviet Union. These needs are met through organizations that continue to exist, in good part, through outside support from people like us. See Support Jewish Latvia.
 Israel: History in Pictures - Exhibition Exhibition - Children Draw and Write About Holocaust and Discrimination click here for more information
Jewish Museum and Documentation Centre Days: Open Sunday - Thursday, Closed Fridays and Saturdays The Jewish Museum and Documentation Centre is located in the Jewish Community building at Skolas 6 in downtown Riga. The building also houses Jewish social service and community activities, and you'll enjoy reviewing the posterboards throughout the center displaying photos of community activities and celebrations including children's activities. This building was home to Riga's Yiddish Theatre before WWII and includes a beautiful theatre from the prewar era. It's worthwhile to take a look, especially from the balcony, accessed from the upper floors. The museum occupies a few rooms on the third floor of the building. As you ascend the rather majestic staircase (as one would expect in a theatre) you'll view, above the landing, names and photos of Latvian Righteous Gentiles who saved Jewish lives at their own peril during Nazi occupation in WWII. The museum exhibits are in Latvian and English. They document Jewish life in Latvia beginning in the 18th century. The museum also shows the film Kaddish, about the Shoah in Latvia. The museum is involved in publishing a number of books about Jewish Latvia, which are for sale there. (see book listings at our Jewish History of Latvia - Overview Page, http://www.rumbula.org/history_of_latvian_jewry.shtml#readmoreaboutit). These include books with abundant photos about famous Latvian Jews, Jewish cemeteries in Latvia and more. Two books that are very closely identified with the museum are:
Peitavas Street Synagogue Built in 1905, this is Riga's only surviving synagogue and one of only two operating shuls in Latvia. Most believe it was not burned to the ground on July 4, 1941, as were most of Latvia's synagogues, because it is directly adjacent to so many other buildings in Riga's Old Town. During WWII it was used as a warehouse. However its Torahs and other sacred scrolls and treasures were hidden and survived. A restoration of the synagogue is underway in commemoration of its centennial.
Chabad Latvia English: http://www.chabad.lv/en/index.html Chabad operates the Riga synagogue, a Jewish preschool, a Jewish day school, a Kosher restaurant (L'Chaim at Skolas 6, the Jewish Community building, entrance around the corner), the mikvah, a soup kitchen and social welfare center, camps, a Judaic shop (at Skolas 6, the Jewish Community building) and a burial society. Rabbi Mordechai Glazman - Co-director, Rabbi Shneur Zalman Kot and Mrs. Rivkah Glazman - Co-director. Chabad Sponsored News of the Jewish Community of Latvia
CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES - UNIVERSITY OF LATVIA Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Latvia Director: Prof. Ruvin Ferber, ferber@latnet.lv Official Site: http://www.lu.lv/eng/general/structure/study/cjs/index.html Founded in 1998, the Center for Judaic Studies (CJS) offices include a library that is utilized by teaching staff, scholars, students, and people interested in Judaic subjects. Holdings include books on the State of Israel, Zionism and emigration to Israel, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Talmud, Torah and commentaries on Torah. Its priority is the History of Latvian Jews, Holocaust, Antisemtism and history of Eastern European Jewry. There are bulletins about Israel, journals about Jewish worldwide culture and history and access to reference material (dictionaries and encyclopedias). Books available are in Latvian, Russian (majority), German, English and French. The Center offers 10 lecture courses for students working towards B.A. and M.A. degrees in History and Philosophy, Theology and in other disciplines, both at the University of Latvia and other universities. The lecture courses span thousands of years of Jewish history, 20th Century Judaism, Hebrew Bible, Rabbinic Literature and Jewish Philosophy. Guest lectures have addressed topics ranging from Jewish Mysticism to Midrash, History to Music, Egyptology to Ashkenazim and Sepharidim. The CJS's Oral History Project has taped interviews with Jewish individuals who were born in Latvia, building up a series of oral histories that give a picture of life in Latvia for Jews during the interwar period. The interviews are conducted in Russian or Latvian. The Latvia Holocaust Jewish Names Project is an independent research project of the Center. Its purpose is to recover the names and identities of the members of the Latvian Jewish Community who perished during the Holocaust in Latvia from 1941-1945. About 70% of the names were undocumented due to the rapid murder of most of Latvia's Jews in a matter of months. Every 2 years CJS sponsors the international conference on Baltic Jewry, Jews in a Changing World. It was also a co-sponsor of the International Conference, The Issues of the Research of the Holocaust in Latvia. Publications of the Center for Judaic Studies include:
 Jewish Hospital "Bikur Holim" (founded 1924) - Learning Center
UNION OF JEWISH YOUTH IN LATVIA Union of Jewish Youth of Latvia
Remembering Rumbula - especially Rumbula Memorial Virtual Tour Bikernieki Forest - especially Bikernieki Memorial Virtual Tour This site links to information on the web about Rumbula and related topics. We are not responsible for the information provided at linked pages.
Copyright 2002- by Rumbula.org, a project of Luminescence Media Group NFP, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation.
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