“All for one and one for all,” proclaimed Feliks Frenkel, one of three honorees last night at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, at the 10th anniversary celebration of COJECO (Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations), a beneficiary of UJA Federation of New York, that has established itself as the central coordinating body in the Russian Jewish community of New York. The elusive demographic—to the Jewish community at large, anyway—has maintained an identity that does not quite fit in the box that general Jewish interest groups have targeted, which has meant less Jewish participation. And with numbers like 1 in 4 of Jewish New Yorkers fitting in the demographic, it is no wonder that Jewish organizations like UJA are pining for active ties.

Executive Director Roman Shmulenson commented, “The number came as a surprise to many. Yet, for a whole range of reasons, Russian-speaking Jews remained either unaffiliated or only marginally affiliated with the existing communal institutions. There were key people in the American and the Russian Jewish communities who realized that in order for the integration to be successful, certain changes had to take place. There was a need for a unified strong voice and coordination for many grassroots efforts existing in the community but not really connecting with the mainstream.”

Three of these key players were the honorees, who have bridged the gap a bit further between the communities. Emphasis was placed on empowering the individual through Jewish values to allow for opportunities to fully integrate as individuals and as a community. UJA Vice President and CEO John Ruskay quoted the famous refusenik Natan Sharansky: “Identity is now the driver for everything we care about. If one is not positively identified, why care about the Jewish poor, renewing Jewish life in the Former Soviet Union, or securing the Jewish state?”

The honorees have focused their efforts on transmitting appealing Jewish values to a formerly outsider demographic, via a Dolly Parton-esque book gifting program (Harold Grinspoon’s PJ Library), Soviet persistence in community organization after immigration (COJECO’s first president and Board Chairman Feliks Frenkel’s efforts in the arts and community), and from within the political machine (COJECO’s first executive director Hon. Alec Brook-Krasny, and the first member of the area’s Russian community to be elected to the New York State Assembly).

COJECO’s current president David Kislin put the decade in perspective: “This is only the beginning of a much larger history that we’ll be talking about for years to come.” The Russian Jewish community seems to be an untapped natural resource in New York with much gain to be had in the further excavation of its creative and cultural inspiration. Most important is COJECO’s vision that such integration is possible through the arts. Its Blueprint Fellowship program has been a beacon of the arts, allocating support for individual creative projects like Yiddish theaters, children’s programs, documentaries and exhibitions that illuminate a thirst to know what this Russian-speaking Jewish identity exactly is, revealing potential beyond the old country, however invisible and tragic that past might have been. Looking toward a vibrant future, as former Blueprint Fellow Mira Stroika, an accordian-clad musician belted at the conclusion of the evening à la Edith Piaf, “Non, je ne regrette rien.”

You can read the full article from Jewcy.com by clicking HERE

Margarita Korol is one of this year’s Blueprint Fellows, producing an illustrated poetry exhibit honoring her refusenik mother.

Born and raised in Uzbekistan, Arthur moved to New York at the age of 16. Arthur graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communications from Queens College, CUNY. He spent a few years working as a tour guide in major museums in New York City and now works in Fortune 500 telecommunications company. Arthur is a co-founder of the MMIC Investment club and in his free time helps non-profit organizations with video and photo projects.

Arthur is passionate about travel, film, and outdoor activities. Riding a bike and playing soccer on the weekends are among regular activities for Arthur. Among friends Arthur is known as a curios individual, with a great sense of humor and talent for telling jokes in a way that makes audience laugh and beg for more.

Aleks has been passionately involved in the media world for over 10 years. Among a diversified skill set his main focus has always been producing, filming, editing, combined with education. As a multi-disciplinary artist, Aleks grounds all his work from a writer’s background sealing it with his knowledge of poetry and philosophy. Working with actors/talent as a director, he is not afraid to get in front of the lens and expose his own vulnerability. Aleks believes that everyone has a great story to tell and he searches out ways to inspire his collaborators to tell their stories. His major focus is honest media that has transformative potential, seeking to strengthen communities, and evolving communication.

Yuliya was born in Moscow in 1979 and graduated from RGGU with degree in IT in 2001. She moved to New York, along with all my family: my parents, my 84 year old grandfather, two of my 83 year old grandmothers, our dog, our cat, a violin, a guitar, my father’s bike and sewing machine that same year. Ever since she can remember she was interested in the link between the photo and a story, but she got serious about photography only 9 years ago. I currently reside in New York and work as a professional photographer.

Yelena Shmulenson emigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1993 from Simferopol, Ukraine. She decided to become an actress instead of getting a real job, and now spends her life making silly faces. Her theater credits include five seasons with the Folksbiene, two seasons at the Ellis Island Theatre, “Enemies: A Love Story” in Russian, Frank (‘Klezmatics’) London’s musical of “A Night In the Old Marketplace”, and “The Essence: A Yiddish Theater Dim Sum”, which was a big hit in Sweden. On film, she was a spy in Robert DeNiro’s “The Good Shepherd”, she played Lady Capulet in “Romeo & Juliet in Yiddish”, she burned in “Fire At The Triangle” (PBS), and she fought a dybbuk in the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man”. She can be heard in the NPR radio drama ”The Witches of Lublin” (with Tovah Feldshuh) as Leah, the bass-playing Witch. She has also recorded several audio books, winning the Earphones Award for her recordings of “Train to Trieste” and Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” and “Rosa”. Her next audiobook “Two Rings” will be released in March 2012, and she will be seen on Season Three of “Boardwalk Empire” (HBO). She is fluent in five languages.

Originally from Minsk, Belarus, Tanya Levina is a Brooklyn based painter. Her artistic inclinations showed at a very young age as she started compulsively drawing on every surface in sight including books, walls and papers around the house. As she grew older, Tanya gave up defacing household property and started using drawing and painting as an outlet for documenting surroundings and expressing affection for things she liked, especially horses. To this day horses remain a dominant theme in her work. Tanya often sets her subjects in extremely colorful, exaggerated and slightly surrealistic settings, drawing inspiration from her surroundings, travel experiences, as well as works by Dali, Klimt and Monet. Her artwork can be found at www.tanyalevina.com

Aside from painting, Tanya studied Economics at Brandeis University, and after a couple of stints at various strategy consulting firms landed as a Research Manager at Scholastic.

Shara Richter grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and a Master’s Degree in Sociology, both from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College. She is passionate about all things related to food and travel. She recently lived in Seoul, South Korea, where she taught English and took cooking lessons. While living in Seoul, Shara was fortunate enough to do some traveling in East Asia. Her next adventure is taking her to Brazil, where she hopes to eat a lot of food, and play Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that she recently began practicing in Brooklyn.

Nadya Meykson and Victoria Schwartzman plan to make a recoding of contemporary Russian-Jewish emigre composers. The recording will include works that are rarely heard and which they feel deserve to be introduced to a wider audience. The recording will be followed by two public concerts.

Nadya Meykson moved to the US in 1996 from Moscow. She holds a Master’s Degree in Music from the Eastman School of Music. She has performed in venues such as Weill Recital Hall at the Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center, The Bohemian National Hall, The State Kremlin Palace Concert Hall, All-Union House of Composers in Moscow and The Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture in Moscow.

Nadya has appeared as soloist with OSSIA Orchestra, Shoals Symphony Orchestra, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra and Alabama Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has won various prizes, including Concert Festival, Noel Levine, First Prize at Ray Dunmyer Youth Concerto Competition, and First Prize at Shoals Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition.

Michael is a person with diverse interests. He has a fascination for adventure travel, fine arts, science and philosophy. He is in a process of discovering his artistic side through drumming, poi spinning, art installations and cinematography. ‘A Day in Life of an Immigrant’ is a film project inspired by appreciation for differences in personal habits and perspectives on life. Through Blueprint Fellowship, Michael is documenting daily routines of his fellow immigrants in an effort to show how diverse their adaptations are to the American culture.

Masha Girshin is the Program Director of The Blue Card. Established in 1939, The Blue Card, a national non-profit organization, provides financial assistance to destitute Holocaust survivors. During her time at The Blue Card, Masha has helped establish the extremely profitable Marathon fundraiser program which has raised over $340,000 for needy survivors since 2009. Masha has been successful in increasing our donor-base through events and other initiatives.

Ms. Girshin also sits on the Board of Directors of Save a Child’s Heart (“SACH”) Young Leadership Group. SACH is an international humanitarian organization providing life-saving heart surgeries and follow-up care for children in developing countries.

Masha Girshin received an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Law from Binghamton University in 2006. She has an MBA in progress from Pace University.