In the 1990s, the Jewish communities of Romania and Bulgaria began to revitalize Jewish life after decades of communism and the devastation of World War II.
Now, the recently revived Jewish communities in Romania and Bulgaria — only in their fourth decades — are flourishing.
Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City, working with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), helps support the Jewish communities of Romania and Bulgaria. Jewish Federation designates allocations to specific programs in the two countries, and the allocations are then given to JDC to benefit the communities. Between 12% and 18% of funding for JDC’s support of the Romanian and Bulgarian Jewish populations comes from Kansas City’s Federation.
Earlier this month, Federation representatives joined a JDC trip to see in person what Federation helps fund and to build relationships with the communities. Federation’s delegation consisted of Board Chair Beth Liss, Financial Resource Development Chair Sondra Friedman, board members Barry Kaseff and Michelle Goldsmith, and Chief Planning Officer Andi Milens.
The Federation delegation returned in unanimous agreement that the Jewish communities of Romania and Bulgaria, despite their smaller populations, are vibrant and active — able to provide support to their members socially, religiously and even medically, despite the situation that history had left them.
“Before the trip, somebody had spoken to us and said that in the ‘80s… they were struggling to even have Jews in the community, and the ones that were there were just struggling to exist,” said Sondra Friedman.
Judaism was so repressed that many people didn’t learn that they were Jewish until after the Iron Curtain fell.
Echoes of the countries’ unpleasant pasts are still felt across their entire populations. Both countries lack an adequate welfare system. Bulgaria remains the poorest country in the European Union. Infrastructure outside of main cities is poorly maintained, and both countries’ current governments were established only in the past few decades.
Despite the circumstances, the local Jewish communities, with the support of Federation and JDC, step up to provide care for their members far beyond what their countries’ governments do. The Romanian community, centered around the capital city of Bucharest, provides welfare programs to its members throughout the city. Support structures include small medical centers, a geriatric care facility, food vouchers and packages, home care, winter relief, and day care centers. It is even supporting refugees from Ukraine.
The Kansas City delegation was also able to visit the centers of Jewish life in both Bucharest, Romania, and Sofia, Bulgaria. The group was in Bucharest, Romania, over Purim, so they were able to celebrate with the community. Federation representatives attended a carnival for students and enjoyed a “nightclub-style” party at the Bucharest Jewish Community Center with a band and dancing, and they celebrated with residents of the Moses Rosen Old Age Home.
Andi Milens, Michelle Goldsmith, Sondra Friedman, Beth Liss and Barry Kaseff celebrated Purim in Bucharest with the local Jewish community.
Later in their trip, they were able to visit Bulgarian support centers, including the “Beit Ha’am” community headquarters, the Ronald S. Lauder Jewish Day School, and the Gan Balagan kindergarten.
Federation representatives also had the opportunity to visit those directly supported by the JDC, with help from Federation. Milens described visiting a two-room apartment that housed four generations of a single family. The youngest, a great-grandchild of the oldest resident, has serious health problems which were causing stress and financial strain on the family. Federation’s donations help provide the family food vouchers, reimbursement for medicine costs, medical equipment, and help for buying school supplies and clothes.
The trip also coincided with the Bulgarian Jewish community’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jewry during the Holocaust. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was instrumental in preventing the deportation of most of Bulgarian Jewry. Beth Liss and Sondra Friedman participated in the commemoration by placing a wreath on behalf of JDC in Plovdiv.
The next day, in the capital of Sofia, they attended the Tolerance March, which was organized by the city and the Shalom Organization of Jews in Bulgaria. The ceremony that followed was attended by state officials, individuals and representatives of organizations appealing to end discrimination through tolerance and understanding.
The Federation delegation, already passionate about their support of these communities, returned with a renewed passion and understanding of how much the Kansas City Jewish community’s support matters.
“I feel like we are a global society today, and we can no longer just think it's all about us here in our little microcosm of Kansas City,” Friedman said. “We all have to support one another, and there is strength in numbers doing that. There's a connection in doing that with world Jewry.”
Milens and Friedman said that both JDC staff and the Bulgarian and Romanian community members were exceptionally gracious and grateful.
“They were all so thankful for everything, financial and relationship-wise, and just [for us] being there for them from Kansas City,” Friedman said. Milens emphasized that Federation representatives being there in person to show their support was greatly appreciated.
Although far from trouble-free, the Bulgarian and Romanian Jewish communities are strong, growing, and benefiting from the support that the Kansas City Jewish community provides.
“It's very easy to still have a Cold War picture of what those communities are like,” Milens said, “and there is still great need in those communities. But that need is being responded to locally… [the Jewish communities] do the best they can, just like we do.”
Milens and Friedman both said that the biggest unifying factor between the Kansas City and Bulgarian and Romanian Jewish communities is their Jewishness. From celebrating Purim and singing Hava Nagila to praying and commemorating the past, the Federation delegation felt a deep connection to their new relationships far beyond monetary aid.
“There’s just that Jewish connection,” Friedman said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re from Kansas City, if you’re from Bucharest, or from Sofia — you immediately are connected because you have your Jewishness in common.”
