{"id":303182,"date":"2026-02-21T17:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T17:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303182\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T17:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T17:43:29","slug":"how-finlands-850-jews-survive-and-thrive-in-the-diaspora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/303182\/","title":{"rendered":"How Finland\u2019s 850 Jews survive and thrive in the Diaspora"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou can be born Jewish in Finland<\/a>, get circumcised, married, divorced: it\u2019s a one-stop shop,\u201d Chaya Votkin, president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, told The Jerusalem Post at the Yael Foundation conference earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Finland\u2019s Jewish community is small. There are at least 850 registered members, but, of course, there may be many who choose not to register. Then there are people living in Helsinki who are part of the wider community, such as spouses who are not Jewish.<\/p>\n

Demographically speaking, the community is quite unique. It began in the first half of the 19th century, when Jewish soldiers (known as cantonists) serving in the Imperial Russian Army in Finland were granted permission by Russian<\/a> military authorities to stay in Finland after completing their military service.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey stayed there, and then they brought some spouses from Baltic countries because they were men who finished the army service. And then they started their families. I think that it was quite homogeneous for generations,\u201d said Votkin.<\/p>\n

Today, it is more diverse. \u201cI think that today our beauty is the fact that we are a very diverse community, and we are still all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe rally marching on H\u00e4meenkatu, the main street in Tampere, Finland. (credit: Courtesy)<\/p>\n

Votkin was elected last May, and is the first female president of the community. She explained that the benefit of a small community such as hers is that everyone is together regardless of background, religious level, or age.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we were in New York<\/a>, in Israel, everyone would go to at least 20 different synagogues. And in Finland, we all go to the same two [the Orthodox synagogue in Helsinki and the Orthodox synagogue in Turku].<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just need to find a common ground. I don\u2019t want to always focus on the negative idea, about having a common enemy \u2013 this is not enough. We have so much more than a common enemy. We have a long tradition, and we have a long future and a beautiful present day.<\/p>\n

Finnish community celebrates Jewish diversity<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think that we have to really celebrate, first of all, diversity. Be proud of the fact that we are so different \u2013 different ages, different backgrounds \u2013 Ashkenazi, haredi, Mizrahi, you name it. And different languages. And I think there is beauty in it. If we can work together, we can be a model to the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Votkin\u2019s goal is to have a Jewish hub that is \u201cwarm and welcoming, and where we celebrate Jewish life and culture.\u201d She has already opened a pop-up caf\u00e9 called Cafe Kesher, and is set to open a bar soon. She also dreams of a restaurant, because then she will have a \u201cbase, a warm place where people want to come, not just because it\u2019s religious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see that it\u2019s a community project, kind of like a homemaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a well-established Jewish school with about 80 students, and a kindergarten with around 40 children. The school follows the Finnish curriculum but also teaches Hebrew language and Jewish religion (with advanced options: advanced religion for those who come from more religious families and know the basics already, and advanced Hebrew for those who speak Hebrew at home) and Jewish history.<\/p>\n

The community also has kosher food, and frozen kosher meat is imported. There is also a cemetery and a hevra kadisha, which is the oldest association in Finland.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you can be born Jewish in Finland. You get a circumcision. You get married. You can also get a divorce.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, basically, the idea is that we can enable a full Jewish life in Finland, with kosher food and holidays and Shabbat and prayer and education. We are fewer people, but it makes it more powerful sometimes because there\u2019s more effort to keep it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

THE STRONGER the community is, the better it will be able to face the modern-day threats of Jew-hatred and hostility, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is affected after October 7. Everyone has been kind of in a state of shock and mourning. And it\u2019s very important for people to have a place where they can freely be who they are. Come with a kippah, with a hai, or with a Magen [Star of] David. Speak Hebrew. Talk about Israel. And feel completely like you don\u2019t have to pretend. A physically safe space, but also a mentally safe one.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter October 7, we have more posts online that are not friendly. Demonstrations and all kinds of boycott campaigns for Israeli products and this and that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been some incidents in Finland involving the Jewish community. A stone was thrown through the window of one of the members, someone graffitied the Turku Synagogue wall, and there is one demonstrator who turns up to shout about genocide and child murder.<\/p>\n

However, Votkin said that the Finnish government has been \u201cvery\u201d supportive of, and involved with, the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been very supportive. They are really helping us with security. And also, we have a good connection to the police forces and government officials. I was speaking to 160 government officials about the Holocaust on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. And I think it was very positive that people want to know more and they want to support the Jewish minority.\u201d<\/p>\n

Votkin did stress that after the graffiti incident, the president of Finland took it very seriously, and locals brought flowers to the synagogue to show solidarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Finland, we have to talk a language that they understand. I think it\u2019s important to talk about the fact that we are a minority culture. We need to preserve the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stressed the importance of teaching Finnish children about Judaism, as most may never meet a Jewish person.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would need more education about Judaism to regular Finns. They need to know we exist between all the sad incidents and sad memorabilia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Votkin spoke extensively about this: the importance of the Jewish story not being just about suffering, but also achievement, success, and creation.<\/p>\n

She explained that Finnish media are mostly focused on Jewish deaths, like of Holocaust survivors. \u201cThen they\u2019re like, \u2018now we remember the Jews because six million died.\u2019 Or after Sydney<\/a>, they call us. How do you feel now that Jews died? But they forget you exist when you\u2019re happy. I want them to write about Jewish life, what we do when we are living. We\u2019re full of Jewish life, with all the beautiful holidays and Shabbat and culture and food and a feeling of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media\u2019s view is not so friendly toward Israel, she added. \u201cThey emphasize the human side of Palestinian suffering, and then the Jews are just the attackers and the naughty ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes that the biggest form of antisemitism in Finland at the moment is anti-Zionism, but that, comparatively, Finland is not the worst place when it comes to Jew hatred.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf something really big happens, then we\u2019ll leave.\u201d People from Finland do make aliyah, especially young people, but Votkin said \u201cit\u2019s not something that we do in masses right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if the situation changes, I think it\u2019s still very important for every Jew to know that there\u2019s a homeland. If something happens, then we\u2019ll go together. So I think that if there will be a global aliyah, then maybe Finland will join. But I think otherwise if everything is calm and peaceful. I think there is a Jewish future.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as there is a future for Jews in Europe, there is a future for Jews in Finland,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cYou can be born Jewish in Finland, get circumcised, married, divorced: it\u2019s a one-stop shop,\u201d Chaya Votkin, president…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[111,1903,63,3127,42,43,1593,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-303182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-antisemitism","9":"tag-diaspora","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-finland","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-russia","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}