The Russian-speaking Jewish Division (RJD) connects Jewish Russian-speakers in Chicagoland, focusing on outreach to professionals and families through leadership development, community engagement, volunteering, and charitable giving.

YLD’s Russian-Speaking Jews Committee

Join YLD’s Russian-Speaking Jews Committee! Mix and mingle with other Russian‑speaking Jews in the city and learn how you can get more involved in our growing community.

Interested in joining? Contact us at [email protected].

Young Families

JUF’s Russian-speaking Jewish Division offers social, educational and cultural events for Russian-speaking young Jewish families with small children. Families get together for holiday celebrations, arts and crafts, play dates, story time and Russian Book Buddies. RJD also organizes a weekend family retreat which features a Shabbat celebration, discussions on various Jewish topics, activities and workshops for children and parents. Activities for small children are usually held in Russian. Check out upcoming events for young families and other projects.  

To join Russian Play Dates or other events email [email protected]. 

L’Dor V’dor: A Volunteer Project

L’Dor V’Dor – from Generation to Generation – is a volunteer project by the Russian-speaking Jewish Division in cooperation with the Management Board of WWII Veteran Association in Chicago. 

The project includes:

• Home visits to Russian-Jewish WWII veterans and Russian-speaking Holocaust survivors on their birthdays 
• Home visits and help on Victory Day Celebration 
• Home visits to deliver food packages during the holidays 

Every month a group of volunteers from the Russian-speaking Jewish community visits 2-4 veterans, and visit over 150 veterans during Victory Day Celebrations. Our volunteers deliver around 430 packages during the holidays to veterans’ apartments. Young adults and young families bring flowers and smiles and spend up to an hour with veterans, congratulating them and listening to their stories. More than 500 Russian-Jewish WWII veterans in Chicago area are visited every year. 

Veterans of this project are all heroes who deserve much more attention than they have received, and very often, even with family around the block, they still feel very lonely. We need your help to make veterans’ day THE DAY. We have those who turn 90 and even 100! Time for the visit can be arranged based on availability. Volunteers will be reimbursed for flowers if needed. 

Join our volunteer crew for a great mitzvah of loving-kindness! 

For more information about this opportunity, please email us at [email protected]. 

Excelsior Networking Committee

RJD’s Excelsior Committee provides opportunities to network with like-minded Russian-speaking Jewish professionals, learn more about industry-related Chicago happenings, and join business leaders who come together to make a difference.

Contact: [email protected]

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