Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS
Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS is a Jewish organisation dedicated to restoring Jewish life, culture and religion in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the former Soviet Union. The FJC was founded on August 1, 1997, with sponsorship of Ohr Avner Foundation.
Current heads of the organization are:
- Lev Leviev, President of FJC of the CIS
- Rabbi Berel Lazar, chief rabbi of Russia, head of Union of Rabbis of CIS
FJC have a total of 454 affiliated member communities throughout the former USSR.
In 2009 there were 171 member communities of FJC in Russia.
Haaretz and several other sources maintain that it is a pro-Putin organization, established to counter the Russian Jewish Congress formed by Vladimir Gusinsky in 1996, which was sometimes critical of Putin.