Geula is 21, born and raised in Djerba, Tunisia, to a Jewish family whose roots here go back for centuries. But in the spirit of the times—and her country—she isn't spending much time looking at the past. Instead, she sets her sights on her work as a teacher, equipping her female students with the tools to be the next link in the unbroken chain she believes makes her community special.
![“Our rikudim [Israeli folk Dance] groups are the pride and joy of the community,” says Marlen, Director of the island-wide, JDC-supported rikudim program and President of the Association of Jewish Women in Cuba.](/assets/images/fsi-250x165/step-by-step-women-lead-1.jpg)
When Marlen Fernandez Barroto was born 40 years ago to a peasant family in Havana, Cuba it was anything but predictable that she would become a central figure in the island’s Jewish community of 1,500 members. Growing up during Fidel Castro’s era, religion was nowhere to be found in Marlen’s home, though she says, “My mother always told me that I was curious about religion from a young age.”
Just one generation ago, Jewish life in Bulgaria and throughout much of Europe and the former Soviet Union had been nearly silenced by decades of Communism and the preceding war years; today Martin is among thousands of young people growing up practicing Judaism openly in renascent Jewish communities across the region.
In Kazakhstan, a country the size of Western Europe and where religious expression was suppressed for decades under Soviet rule, a huge spiritual resurgence is underway. And while the local population is almost evenly split between Russian Orthodoxy and Islam, the local Jewish community—50,000-strong, and by far the largest in the region—is undergoing a vibrant renaissance of its own, one Jew at a time.
Despite the challenges of growing up Jewish in Mumbai, Meirah’s family ensured she’d have a strong Jewish identity. Find out how JDC’s leadership training programs empowered this dynamite community leader.
Following her mother’s death, Katya was left alone to care for her blind father in their run-down apartment in Ukraine. Learn how JDC rescued this family and is reviving Katya’s Jewish future.
A life-changing first trip to Israel inspired Anna to get involved with her Jewish community in Poland. Read how she and other dedicated volunteers teamed up with JDC to bring hundreds of Jews together for a record-breaking Limmud learning fest.
After a lifetime of hardship and loss, Zhanna was battling poverty and Ukraine’s brutal winters alone. Find out how a JDC Hesed social welfare center became her lifeline and helped break her isolation.
Luciana, the 34-year-old president of the Timisoara Jewish community, is passionate about strengthening local Jewish life. Read how a pioneering JDC learning initiative inspired her community’s largest Shabbat ever.
This summer, thousands of young Jews across Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union are coming together to explore their Jewish identities—many for the first time. From Belarus to Bulgaria, take a virtual tour of JDC’s acclaimed camp programs.