THE KHAZARIA PROJECT:
              Early Jewish Communities in Eastern Europe
 
Researchers at the University of Chicago are working with Russian archaeologists
and Jewish historians on a comprehensive archival and documentary project
involving medieval Jewish people of Ukraine, Crimea, and southern Russia.
 
Next month, a team of scholars is going to Kerch on the Crimean peninsula
and Krasnodar in the north Caucasus to photograph 70 Jewish grave headstones
inscribed in the 7th and 8th centuries.  These pictures will be brought to
the United States, analyzed, and published in an archaeological report.
 
The Kerch and Krasnodar expedition is just one of several planned projects
over the next three years to enhance our understanding of early Jewish
settlements in the lands of eastern Europe.  Russian historians are
planning to explore the possible find of a synagogue at Sarkel along the
Don River as well as reexamine documents in St. Petersburg and in museums
all over Russia.  This project will involve at least 800-1000 artifacts
and will be an ongoing work over approximately 27 months timespan.
The resulting work will be catalogued on CD-ROM as well as available in
printed form.
 
A third aspect to the project is research into a 5th century synagogue in
the Georgian capital city of Tbilisi, which for centuries has had a distinctive
Jewish community.
 
These worthwhile projects need your help.  The explorations into
the Sarkel synagogue and Jewish artifacts in the land of Russia will
require donations in order to get the project started as well as to continue
the progress.  Therefore, if you have an interest in history of Khazars and
other Jewish peoples of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Transcaucasus lands,
you are invited to contribute money towards the expenses of the project.
We will need approximately $5000 by the start of August.  If 100 people
donate $50, then our goal will be reached.  However, donations can be
anything from as little as $10 to $100 or more, depending on your choice.
All contributors will receive regular updates on the progress of the
expeditions and will receive free copies of the final reports.
 
Your donation will help preserve the historical and archaeological relics
of the Khazar Jews and the Jewish migrants from the Middle East and Rome
into the northern Black Sea region.
 
For further details on the exciting opportunity ahead,
please contact:
    Kevin A. Brook
    [log in to unmask]
 
Please give your name, telephone number, and mailing address.
Donations will be accepted after the bank account is established, probably
by July 14th.  Among the scholars working on this project are Norman Golb,
Omeljan Pritsak, Svetlana Pletnyeva, and Vladimir Petrukhin of Moscow.
This is the most important and most comprehensive Jewish artifacts survey
of the entire century.
 
We hope to hear from you soon.  All donations are valuable to us, no
matter how large or small.  Individuals, institutions, synagogues,
and others are invited to get involved.
 
Representative contact: Kevin A. Brook, P.O. Box 1631,
1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI 02917 USA