‘Visiting’: A Small Community Takes to the Road

Before their nation’s collapse changed everything, Yugoslav Jews maintained ties with other Jews around the country through secular communal activities, even as they assimilated and intermarried. The wars in the Balkans though physically cut communities off from one another, and it was Serbian Jews, who lived under sanctions and closed borders, for whom the isolation cut the deepest. Only in the post-war era – with JDC encouragement and funding – did communities gradually begin to reach out to one another.

Today, Serbian Jewry spearheads inter-Balkan programming, such as the Balkan Women’s Group for middle generation women and "Evolution," an international Jewish student seminar. Serbian Jews also participate in the Beyachad family gathering in Croatia, the JDC-organized regional Esperansa Sephardic cultural jamboree in Bulgaria, the Lauder/JDC Camp in Szarvas, Hungary, and an all-Yugoslav JDC Buncher Leadership Training program.

Locally, JDC efforts to revitalize Jewish life in the smaller Jewish communities outside Belgrade have borne fruit. The Niš community initiative, "Visiting," has community members on the road, overcoming their geographic isolation by establishing ties with other communities around the country. The Jews of Kikinda, once an adjunct of the community in Zrenjanin, have coalesced into a small, but strong community in their own right. JDC also encourages direct cross-border small community cooperation between Serbia and neighboring Croatia.

For the small Jewish community of Niš, local Jewish life was all its 45 members knew. They rarely left town and were basically isolated by distance from the rest of Serbian Jewry. That was before community activist Jasna had a simple idea that has since broadened their Jewish horizons. "Nobody comes to visit us," she said. "So we'll go visit them."

Members of the community, which benefits from JDC support and encouragement, began reaching out to fellow Serbian Jews. "Visiting" has already been on the road to the capital, Belgrade, Zrenjanin and Novi Sad, but it is an ongoing activity that will have them traveling regularly. The visits provide a forum for an exchange of ideas and experiences, while building friendships and bridges between communities for future cooperation.

"‘Visiting’ is helping us develop a strong community identity here in Niš," says Jasna. "And it is also giving us an invaluable sense of belonging to the larger Jewish community in Serbia."