Editing Jewish Autonomous Oblast (section)

=== Post-Soviet history ===
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Jewish Agency Representatives.jpg|thumb|[[Birobidzhan]]ers [[1990s post-Soviet aliyah|arriving in Israel]], 23 March 1993.]]
In 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast became the [[Federal subjects of Russia|federal subject]] of Russia and thus was no longer subordinated to [[Khabarovsk Krai]]. However, by that time, most of the Jews had emigrated from the Soviet Union and the remaining Jews constituted fewer than 2% of the local population.<ref name="jewishcurrents">{{Cite web |last=Henry Srebrnik |date=July 2006 |title=Birobidzhan: A Remnant of History |url=http://jewishcurrents.org/old-site/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Birobidzhan.pdf |publisher=[[Jewish Currents]]}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In early 1996, 872 people, or 20% of the Jewish population at that time, emigrated to [[Tel Aviv]] via chartered flights.<ref name="jamesbrook">{{Cite news |last=James Brook |date=July 11, 1996 |title=Birobidzhan Journal;A Promised Land in Siberia? Well, Thanks, but ... |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/11/world/birobidzhan-journal-a-promised-land-in-siberia-well-thanks-but.html}}</ref> As of 2002, 2,357 Jews were living in the JAO.<ref name=atlas/> A 2004 article stated that the number of Jews in the region "was now growing".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Julius Strauss |date=August 17, 2004 |title=Jewish enclave created in Siberia by Stalin stages a revival |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1469623/Jewish-enclave-created-in-Siberia-by-Stalin-stages-a-revival.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1469623/Jewish-enclave-created-in-Siberia-by-Stalin-stages-a-revival.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref> As of 2005, [[Amurzet]] had a small active Jewish community.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2005 |title=Remote Far East Village Mobilizes for Purim |url=http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=267005 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204000238/http://www.fjc.ru/news/newsArticle.asp?AID=267005 |archive-date=February 4, 2009 |publisher=Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS}}</ref> An April 2007 article in ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' claimed that the Jewish population had grown to about 4,000. The article cited [[Mordechai Scheiner]], the [[Chief Rabbi]] of the JAO from 2002 to 2011, who said that, at the time the article was published, Jewish culture was enjoying a religious and cultural resurgence.<ref name="jpost">{{Cite news |last=Haviv Rettig Gur |date=April 17, 2007 |title=Yiddish returns to Birobidzhan |work=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |url=https://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Yiddish-returns-to-Birobidzhan}}</ref> By 2010, according to data provided by the Russian Census Bureau, there were only approximately 1,600 people of Jewish descent remaining in the JAO (1% of the total population), while ethnic Russians made up 93% of the JAO population.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 20, 2016 |title=Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region In Siberia 'Ready' To House European Jews. |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-jewish-autonomous-region-house-european-jews/27498765.html |publisher=[[Radio Free Europe]]}}</ref>

According to an article published in 2000, Birobidzhan has several state-run schools that teach Yiddish, a Yiddish school for religious instruction and a kindergarten. The five- to seven-year-olds spend two lessons a week learning to speak Yiddish, as well as being taught Jewish songs, dance, and traditions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Steen |first=Michael |date=January 13, 2000 |title=Soviet-era Jewish homeland struggles on |work=Utusan Online |url=http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2000&dt=0113&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Features&pg=fe_02.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=January 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113171700/http://ww1.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2000&dt=0113&pub=Utusan_Express&sec=Features&pg=fe_02.htm |archive-date=January 13, 2017}}</ref> A 2006 article in ''[[The Washington Times]]'' stated that Yiddish is taught in the schools, a Yiddish radio station is in operation, and the ''Birobidzhaner Shtern'' newspaper includes a section in Yiddish.<ref name="washingtontimes.com">{{Cite news |date=7 January 2006 |title=Jewish life revived in Russia |work=The Washington Times |url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/jan/7/20060107-104818-4703r/}}</ref>

[[File:OmqBXApVTdk.tif|thumb|Memorial for Jewish poet [[Isaac Leibovich Bronfman]].]]
In 2002, ''[[L'Chayim, Comrade Stalin!]]'', a documentary on Stalin's creation of the Jewish Autonomous Region and its settlement, was released by [[The Cinema Guild]]. In addition to being a history of the creation of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, the film features scenes of contemporary Birobidzhan and interviews with Jewish residents.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kehr, Dave |author-link=Dave Kehr |date=January 31, 2003 |title=Film Review; When Soviet Jews Sought Paradise in Siberian Swamps and Snow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/31/movies/film-review-when-soviet-jews-sought-paradise-in-siberian-swamps-and-snow.html |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

According to an article published in 2010, Yiddish is the language of instruction in only one of Birobidzhan's 14 public schools. Two schools, representing a quarter of the city's students, offer compulsory Yiddish classes for children aged 6 to 10.<ref name=HERSZENHORN/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Alfonso Daniels |date=June 7, 2010 |title=Why some Jews would rather live in Siberia than Israel |work=[[Christian Science Monitor]] |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0607/Why-some-Jews-would-rather-live-in-Siberia-than-Israel}}</ref>

As of 2012, the ''[[Birobidzhaner Shtern]]'' continues to publish 2 or 3 pages per week in Yiddish and one local elementary school still teaches Yiddish.<ref name="HERSZENHORN">{{Cite news |last=David M. Herszenhorn |date=October 3, 2012 |title=Despite Predictions, Jewish Homeland in Siberia Retains Its Appeal |work=[[New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/world/europe/jewish-homeland-in-birobidzhan-russia-retains-appeal.html}}</ref>

According to a 2012 article, "only a very small minority, mostly seniors, speak Yiddish", a new [[Chabad]]-sponsored synagogue opened at the 14a Sholom-Aleichem Street, and the [[Sholem Aleichem Amur State University]] offers a Yiddish course.<ref name=crownheights/>

According to a 2015 article, [[kosher]] meat arrives by train from [[Moscow]] every few weeks, a Sunday school functions, and there is also a [[minyan]] on Friday night and [[Shabbat]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ben G. Frank |date=May 27, 2015 |title=A Railway Sign In Yiddish? – Only in Siberia |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/a-railway-sign-in-yiddish-only-in-siberia/2015/05/27/ |publisher=[[Jewish Press]]}}</ref>

A November 2017 article in ''[[The Guardian]]'', titled, "Revival of a Soviet Zion: Birobidzhan celebrates its Jewish heritage", examined the current status of the city and suggested that, even though the Jewish Autonomous Region in Russia's far east is now barely 1% Jewish, officials hope to woo back people who left after Soviet collapse.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Shaun |date=27 September 2017 |title=Revival of a Soviet Zion: Birobidzhan celebrates its Jewish heritage |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/27/revival-of-a-soviet-zion-birobidzhan-celebrates-its-jewish-heritage}}</ref>

==== 2013 proposals to merge the JAO with adjoining regions ====
In 2013, there were proposals to merge the JAO with [[Khabarovsk Krai]] or with [[Amur Oblast]].<ref name=pereltsvaig/> The proposals led to protests,<ref name=pereltsvaig/> and were rejected by residents,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ilan Goren |date=August 24, 2013 |title=In Eastern Russia, the Idea of a Jewish Autonomy Is Being Brought Back to Life |work=[[Haaretz]] |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.543221}}</ref> as well as the Jewish community of Russia. There were also questions as to whether a merger would be allowed pursuant to the [[Constitution of Russia]] and whether a merger would require a national referendum.<ref name=pereltsvaig/>