From the Boston Globe 1999

At the concert, Violetta Karpenko, the chairwoman of the Reform Jewish congregation in Zvenigorodka, performed the Yiddish song "Shpilt a Freilakhs." Since it repaired and remodeled its own synagogue, her community has become one of the major spiritual centers of the region. Elena Mironova, a Jewish community worker, was born in Zvenigorodka. She leads Shabbat and holiday services at several of the communities in her region, and also works as the teacher of Jewish tradition. She said the small-town association is responsible for the growth of interest in Jewish tradition among those Jews who live in communities with no permanent Jewish facilities. "Jews, who previously had no knowledge of Jewish religious life, are now coming to the Zvenigorodka synagogue, some from as far as 200 kilometers away. Our own community is quite small, so the very fact that every holiday brings together 100 to 150 Jews from as many as 10 nearby towns is a holiday in itself." Click here

Temple Shalom, Zvenigorodka

Temple Shalom is in Zvenigorodka...:

The Reform movement is referred to as the “Progressive” movement throughout Europe The Jews of Zvenigorodka had established a Progressive congregation shortly after the Republic of Ukraine broke free of the Soviet Union in the mid 1990s. The congregation had successfully petitioned the government for the return of a building that had been a synagogue prior to the Nazi occupation of Ukraine during World War II. Used as a stable by the Nazis and as an eye clinic by the Soviets, the building was in disrepair, but it nonetheless served as a magnet for the reborn Jewish community of Zvenigorodka

Jewish Life in Independent Ukraine Fifteen Years After the Soviet Collapse

One researcher, Gidwitz, B, Jewish Life in Independent Ukraine Fifteen Years After the Soviet Collapse (2007) , notes:

The official Ukrainian government census in 2000 reported 105,000 self-identified Jews, a figure that Ukrainian scholar-activist Iosif Zissels estimates had decreased to 92,915 by 2006. Mr. Zisselsnotes that: (1) some Jews are reluctant to acknowledge their Jewish heritage, and (2) whereas Jewish law (halacha) defines Jewish identity by matrilineal descent, many Ukrainians define ethnicity in offspring of mixed marriages according to patrilineal ancestry because most offspring bear the father's name.For both reasons, Mr. Zissels observes, halachically Jewish offspring of mixed marriages may not identifyas Jews. He estimates the actual number of halachic Jews in Ukraine as close to 200,000, and the number of Jews eligible for immigration to Israel under the Israeli Law of Return as 400,000.

Zvenigorodka was recently adopted by a temple in New Jersey!

Over Memorial Day weekend 2000, ten members of Temple Shalom, Succasunna, New Jersey, traveled to Ukraine to bring a Torah scroll to the Zvenigorodka Jewish community and to participate in a B'nai Mitzvah ceremony there for 17 young people and one adult. Zvenigorodka is a small town southeast of Kiev, a journey of some four and a half hours by bus. The Reform/Progressive congregation there is one of approximately 34 burgeoning congregations throughout Ukraine. Just before the Temple Shalom visitors arrived, the congregation had successfully petitioned the government for the return of its synagogue. Among the congregation was a thirteen year old girl who joined the B'nai Mitzvah service, a newly-accepted rabbinical student, and an amateur Jewish genealogist. In addition to the Torah scroll, a gift to the entire Jewish community, the travelers from Succasunna brought a tallit and a kiddush cup for each Zvenigorodka Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Each set of these items was donated by an up-coming Bar/Bat Mitzvah family from the congregation. The travelers found it truly inspiring to dance in the streets of Zvenigorodka with the congregants and their new Torah, especially since, less than ten years earlier, being a Jew, let alone openly practicing Judaism, was dangerous. The B'nai Mitzvah ceremony which followed was equally inspiring and had a decidedly international flavor with rabbis from Kiev, England and New Jersey conducting the ceremony in Hebrew, English, Russian and Ukrainian... CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE

The new temple in Zvenigorodka is now named "Temple Shalom."

"Letters from Memory" Zvenigorodka

A search of online videos reveals that Zvenigorodka today is known for (1) the annual Summer Theater School, (2) its Spruce trees in Winter, (3) a monastery and (4) the old Church. This video, from the theater school, is called "Letters from the Memory." 3rd International Summer School of Theatrical STD Russia, Zvenigorod, 2009 Performance "Letters from the memory." Director - Oleg Nikolaev. It comes complete with scenes of drunken soldiers. Interesting, but not helpful in this genealogical search for the Jewish families of Zvenigorodka - the Bernstein, Kanefsky and Rikowski families.

Поиск в сети видеороликов, показывает, что Звенигородка сегодня известно, для (1) ежегодный Летний театр школа, (2) его ели зимой, (3) и монастырь (4) старой церкви. Это видео с театром школе, называется "Письма памяти". 3-я Международная летняя школа театрального STD Россия, Звенигород, 2009 Спектакль "Письма памяти". Режиссер - Олег Николаев. Она поставляется в комплекте с сцен пьяных солдат. Интересно, полезно, но не в этом генеалогического поиска для еврейских семей Звенигородка - с Бернштейном, Kanefsky и Rikowski семей.


חיפוש של סרטוני וידאו מקוונים מגלה כי Zvenigorodka היום ידוע (1) את בית הספר לתיאטרון קיץ שנתי, (2) לסדר את העצים בחורף, (3) של מנזר ו (4) הישן הכנסייה. סרט זה, מבית הספר לתיאטרון, נקרא "מכתבים מן הזיכרון." 3 קיץ בבית הספר הבינלאומי של תיאטרוני std רוסיה, Zvenigorod, 2009 ביצועים "מכתבים מן הזיכרון." מנהל - אולג Nikolaev. זה בא להשלים עם מראות של חיילים שיכורים. מעניין, אבל זה לא מועיל לחפש את המשפחה היהודית של משפחות Zvenigorodka - את ברנשטיין, Kanefsky ו Rikowski משפחות.
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Translations courtesy of http://translate.google.com/?hl=en#

When our families left in the early 1900's, there were just a few thousand Jews living in Zvenigorodka. There were only 2000 Jews living in Zvenigorodka before the Einsatzgruppen arrived around 1944 to murder.

With so few in the town, our genealogical research should intersect. The point of this blog is to find the other descendents of Zvenigorodka, and to share the oral and written history of our grandparents.

A good place to start is Sharon's genealogy blog:

...Based on the records I've found for several branches of the family tree, we have cousins from Zvenigorodka (also spelled Zvenyhorodka, Zvenyhorodka, and Zwienigorodka), Ukraine. Dr. Saul, Solomon Lutsky, and his family listed this town as their last residence when they came to America in 1921. It's also the last residence listed for some Hochfeld cousins (Belinsky branch of the family tree) when they came to the US in 1909. Zvenigorodka is located 41 miles NE of Uman, 72 miles NW of Kirovohgrad (fka Elizavetgrad). It is also located only 13 miles from Lysyanka, the town where my g-grandparents Louis Lutsky and Lena Belinsky were probably born. Zvenigorodka is located in the Kiev district/province... CLICK HERE FOR FULL POST