This issue of the magazine includes:

• Names: Michael Alpert

The magazine presents the pioneering figure in the renaissance of East European Jewish music for over twenty-five years—Michael Alpert from New York. As both a bright performer (vocalist, violinist, accordion player), a serious researcher of Jewish folklore and a tireless teacher of klezmer music and cultural history, Alpert in the last three years has become an important bridge between the Western klezmer world and the new revival of Yiddish music in the countries of the former USSR.

• Survey: New Periodicals from “the Jewish Street”

Brief reviews analyze three new periodicals that have begun to appear recently in Russia and Ukraine. The Moscow inter-religious bulletin Dialogi (Dialogues) has the subtitle “Christians. Muslims. Jews. Ethno-cultural and religious traditions” that makes clear its major themes and discussed problems. Almanac Moria is being published in Odessa and is dedicated to the city’s bright Jewish historical past. The first issue of Yiddish magazine Der nayer fraynd (New friend) was recently published by a group of young Yiddish enthusiasts in St. Petersburg.

• Synopses: New Books from Nikolaev, Cherkassy, and Moscow

Two similar collections of archival documents on Jewish history were published in 2004 in two Ukrainian towns—Nikolaev and Cherkassy. The magazine’s reviewer believes that it is now possible to speak about a new step in the development of Jewish kraevedenie (local history studies) in post-Soviet countries—instead of brochures that give a general overview of local community history, publications of much more serious level are emerging. Another new book that attracted attention of the magazine is the novel for youth by popular Israeli writer, David Grossman that was published in Moscow in Russian translation and represents “a rare achievement in children’s literature by addressing the psychology of not just a teenager, but more specifically, of a teenage-girl.”

• Jewish Calendar of Significant Dates: July–August 2005

• Bibliography: 30 New Books