The Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia Represents the Jewish community of Serbia at home and abroad and conducts its assigned tasks to achieve common goals of interest to the entire community. Our community has about 3,300 members.
The head office of the Federation is in Belgrade.
The bodies of the Federation are the highest body of the Jewish religious and national community in Serbia. The main goals of the Federation of Jewish Municipalities of Serbia are:
- Preserving and nurturing the traditions and customs of the Jewish people;
- Fostering Jewish national identity;
- Initiating and supporting activities in the field of Jewish culture and education;
- Creating conditions for getting to know and practice the Jewish faith for all members;
- Active work on the education of children and youth in Heather and Talmud Torah following the basic principles of Jewish faith and tradition;
- "Cedaka" - humanitarian work and social activity based on the principles of Jewish solidarity;
- Confronting the assimilation of the Jewish community, with respect for the religious, national and ethnic rights, traditions and cultures of other nations; opposition to anti-Semitism, racial intolerance and any form of hatred and discrimination, and violation of basic human rights and freedoms;
- Preserving Holocaust Remembrance
- Maintaining special links with the Jewish communities of the surrounding countries, the association of Jews from the former Yugoslavia in Israel, with the State of Israel and other parts of the Jewish people in the world;
- Cooperation with Jewish and other religious, national and humanitarian organizations at home and abroad.
The Jewish community has a developed cultural, educational, religious and social life, which is realized through the institutions of the Federation, with the help of organized permanent groups gathered around common interests and preferences, as well as through previously verified projects.
Within the Federation, it operates a Jewish History Museum, which has a significant and valuable collection. Within the museum, there is a Depot containing 1000 m of archival material relevant not only to our community but also to Serbia and the wider international community.
JIM organizes notable exhibitions significant to Belgrade and the wider community, such as the "Life Cycle - Customs with the Jews" held at Princess Ljubica's Konak, "Neighbors No More", set up at the Oneg Shabbat Building in Dorcol, now Rex, a significant exhibition Philatelic Judaica Documents I and II, the only ones of its kind in this part of Europe… All these exhibitions are accompanied by rich prints and CDs.
We regularly issue the BULLETIN (since January 2009, changing its name to “Jewish Review”), a newsletter of our community, distributed to all Jewish households in the country, to a large number of Jewish readers abroad, as well as to significant institutions and institutions in our country and worldwide.
We also have some notable publishing. A large number of titles have been published, including four books "We survived" (poignant testimonies of Holocaust survivors), in Serbian and English, "Kladovski transport" - a roundtable collection of works dealing with the suffering of refugee Jews from Vienna. as well as the Jews from Sabac who came to the aid of their brothers.
Every year we publish a Literary Competition. Many of today's famous writers such as David Albahari, Filip David, Ana Somlo, Danilo Kisch have participated in the contests so far…
The Jewish community has two choirs: the "Baruch Brothers" from Belgrade and "Hashir" from Novi Sad, whose guest appearances at home and abroad have been very successful.
Two folklore ensembles “Nahar Haesh” from Belgrade and “Maajan” from Novi Sad are also successful.
The community also has an amateur theater called "King David" in Belgrade.
Traditionally, every year, we organize a celebration of European Children's Day. Apart from ours, children from the Slovak, Hungarian, Roma, Bosniak, Ruthenian minorities, children with special needs, children without parents also participate in this event. After appearing on the plateau in front of the Belgrade showcase, an all-day gathering is organized in the courtyard of our Synagogue.
We have held Hebrew courses in several of our communities for years.
Religious life takes place through regular services at the Synagogue, feasting, lectures and religious education led by Rabbi Isaac Asiel.
Every year, in all cities where there are Jewish municipalities, in early September we organize an event called European Days of Jewish Culture.
We regularly hold gatherings organized by our Jewish municipalities, bringing together hundreds of Jews from Serbia as well as from neighboring countries. In February we gather in Novi Sad for an event called Sholet, in May there is a gathering at Ada Ciganlija where we celebrate Lag Baomer, in July in Zrenjanin a rally of Maccabees is held, in September for the Berbani days we gather in Subotica, etc.
Every year, a large number of our members participate in the Bejahad, a gathering organized by the Jewish Community of Croatia, in September, which gives us the opportunity to meet with the compatriots of the EX-YU area and those who have moved from there to different parts of the world. We also regularly participate in a rally in Osijek that gathers between 200 and 300 participants.
This does not cover by far all the cultural, educational, religious, social and other activities of the Federation of Jewish Municipalities of Serbia. A regular visit to our site is an opportunity to be informed in due time and in detail.
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