JDC has supported the development of these centers in partnership with the Jewish communities in both cities and also the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which will provide resources for services to aid Nazi victims in both cities; the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, which have provided capital support, programmatic funding and professional guidance for the St. Petersburg center; and the UJA-Federation of Greater Toronto, which has provided capital and programmatic support for the Kishivev facility center. Both the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation have provided capital support for the St. Petersburg facility.

Additionally, several individual philanthropists provided capital support for these projects. They include Eugene J. Ribakoff, who supported the development of the St. Petersburg center and Richard Goldman and his late-wife Rhoda, who also provided support for the St. Petersburg project. Joan and Irwin Jacobs supported the development of the Kishinev campus.

"The renewal of Jewish life has been an integral part of JDC's work in the FSU since the fall of communism," said Judge Ellen M. Heller, JDC's president. "These wonderful new Jewish Community homes symbolize the rebirth of the Jewish people in the FSU and will provide an environment where Jewish culture and activities can flourish. The buildings are open to all Jews of all ages and will greatly strengthen Jewish community life."

The St. Petersburg center will open on September 9 with a public dedication ceremony, and the Kishinev center will hold a public dedication for its opening on September 13. Judge Heller will speak at both events.

St. Petersburg

After 70 years of Soviet repression, the Jews of St. Petersburg – despite having pioneered the refusenik movement – were left with little Jewish knowledge and no community infrastructure. In the late '80's, however, they began reviving their community. Meeting in each other's homes and then in cramped rented space in the city, they once again started to celebrate, study, and grow together.

As Jewish life in St. Petersburg flourished anew, it became clear that this large, dynamic community of 100,000 would need a major building to fully realize its potential. The center in St. Petersburg, called YESOD, is an 80,000 square-foot campus that features a modern performance hall, a sun-drenched atrium, a cafe, a two-story reading hall and Jewish library, a winter garden, a gymnasium and a fully-equipped fitness center.

In addition to these amenities, YESOD will house several Jewish organizations, including a community center, a welfare center for Jewish elderly, a family center, Hillel and the Petersburg Institute for Jewish Studies, The William Rosenwald Institute for Communal and Welfare Workers and ORT St. Petersburg.

Kishinev

At the turn of the century, Kishinev was a thriving Jewish center with a large number of Jewish schools and synagogues. This vibrant Jewish life was irreversibly altered by pogroms in 1903 and 1905 which caused devastation, upheaval and a mass exit of Jews from the city. Just as more relaxed Romanian control allowed for the rebirth of Jewish life in pre-war Kishinev, the onset of World War II brought more desolation. 53,000 of 65,000 of Kishinev's Jews were annihilated, almost wiping out the city's Jewish community.

Those who did survive were cut off from their Jewish heritage during Moldova's 50 years of Communist rule. Today, as Jewish life returns to Moldova, JDC is working with the community to restore Kishinev as an animated center of Jewish life. Housed on the grounds of the Lemnaria (Woodcutters) synagogue – one of over 70 synagogues that existed in the city before World War II – the campus is a link to the community's past. Its history is evident in the preserved façade and the building, which dates back to the 1830s, is located in the heart of Kishinev.

The campus, called the Kishinev Jewish Center, will house a welfare center for Jewish elderly, Hillel, the Jewish Family Service, ORT Computer Center and the Center for Training and Professional Development. Many other community groups and educational institutes will use the center's facilities, among them the JCC. Kishinev's well-known Jewish library will remain in its current premises across the street from the campus in the municipal library, enabling full cooperation between the organizations.