“You can be born Jewish in Finland, get circumcised, married, divorced: it’s a one-stop shop,” Chaya Votkin, president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki, told The Jerusalem Post at the Yael Foundation conference earlier this month.
Finland’s Jewish community is small. There are at least 850 registered members, but, of course, there may be many who choose not to register. Then there are people living in Helsinki who are part of the wider community, such as spouses who are not Jewish.
Demographically speaking, the community is quite unique. It began in the first half of the 19th century, when Jewish soldiers (known as cantonists) serving in the Imperial Russian Army in Finland were granted permission by Russian military authorities to stay in Finland after completing their military service.
“They stayed there, and then they brought some spouses from Baltic countries because they were men who finished the army service. And then they started their families. I think that it was quite homogeneous for generations,” said Votkin.
Today, it is more diverse. “I think that today our beauty is the fact that we are a very diverse community, and we are still all together.”
Votkin was elected last May, and is the first female president of the community. She explained that the benefit of a small community such as hers is that everyone is together regardless of background, religious level, or age.
“If we were in New York, in Israel, everyone would go to at least 20 different synagogues. And in Finland, we all go to the same two [the Orthodox synagogue in Helsinki and the Orthodox synagogue in Turku].
“We just need to find a common ground. I don’t want to always focus on the negative idea, about having a common enemy – this is not enough. We have so much more than a common enemy. We have a long tradition, and we have a long future and a beautiful present day.
Finnish community celebrates Jewish diversity
“So I think that we have to really celebrate, first of all, diversity. Be proud of the fact that we are so different – different ages, different backgrounds – Ashkenazi, haredi, Mizrahi, you name it. And different languages. And I think there is beauty in it. If we can work together, we can be a model to the whole world.”
Votkin’s goal is to have a Jewish hub that is “warm and welcoming, and where we celebrate Jewish life and culture.” She has already opened a pop-up café called Cafe Kesher, and is set to open a bar soon. She also dreams of a restaurant, because then she will have a “base, a warm place where people want to come, not just because it’s religious.
“I see that it’s a community project, kind of like a homemaking.”
There is a well-established Jewish school with about 80 students, and a kindergarten with around 40 children. The school follows the Finnish curriculum but also teaches Hebrew language and Jewish religion (with advanced options: advanced religion for those who come from more religious families and know the basics already, and advanced Hebrew for those who speak Hebrew at home) and Jewish history.
The community also has kosher food, and frozen kosher meat is imported. There is also a cemetery and a hevra kadisha, which is the oldest association in Finland.
“So you can be born Jewish in Finland. You get a circumcision. You get married. You can also get a divorce.
“So, basically, the idea is that we can enable a full Jewish life in Finland, with kosher food and holidays and Shabbat and prayer and education. We are fewer people, but it makes it more powerful sometimes because there’s more effort to keep it together.”
THE STRONGER the community is, the better it will be able to face the modern-day threats of Jew-hatred and hostility, she said.
“Everyone is affected after October 7. Everyone has been kind of in a state of shock and mourning. And it’s very important for people to have a place where they can freely be who they are. Come with a kippah, with a hai, or with a Magen [Star of] David. Speak Hebrew. Talk about Israel. And feel completely like you don’t have to pretend. A physically safe space, but also a mentally safe one.
“After October 7, we have more posts online that are not friendly. Demonstrations and all kinds of boycott campaigns for Israeli products and this and that.”
There have been some incidents in Finland involving the Jewish community. A stone was thrown through the window of one of the members, someone graffitied the Turku Synagogue wall, and there is one demonstrator who turns up to shout about genocide and child murder.
However, Votkin said that the Finnish government has been “very” supportive of, and involved with, the Jewish community.
“They’ve been very supportive. They are really helping us with security. And also, we have a good connection to the police forces and government officials. I was speaking to 160 government officials about the Holocaust on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. And I think it was very positive that people want to know more and they want to support the Jewish minority.”
Votkin did stress that after the graffiti incident, the president of Finland took it very seriously, and locals brought flowers to the synagogue to show solidarity.
“In Finland, we have to talk a language that they understand. I think it’s important to talk about the fact that we are a minority culture. We need to preserve the culture.”
She stressed the importance of teaching Finnish children about Judaism, as most may never meet a Jewish person.
“We would need more education about Judaism to regular Finns. They need to know we exist between all the sad incidents and sad memorabilia.”
Votkin spoke extensively about this: the importance of the Jewish story not being just about suffering, but also achievement, success, and creation.
She explained that Finnish media are mostly focused on Jewish deaths, like of Holocaust survivors. “Then they’re like, ‘now we remember the Jews because six million died.’ Or after Sydney, they call us. How do you feel now that Jews died? But they forget you exist when you’re happy. I want them to write about Jewish life, what we do when we are living. We’re full of Jewish life, with all the beautiful holidays and Shabbat and culture and food and a feeling of community.”
The media’s view is not so friendly toward Israel, she added. “They emphasize the human side of Palestinian suffering, and then the Jews are just the attackers and the naughty ones.”
She believes that the biggest form of antisemitism in Finland at the moment is anti-Zionism, but that, comparatively, Finland is not the worst place when it comes to Jew hatred.
“If something really big happens, then we’ll leave.” People from Finland do make aliyah, especially young people, but Votkin said “it’s not something that we do in masses right now.
“But if the situation changes, I think it’s still very important for every Jew to know that there’s a homeland. If something happens, then we’ll go together. So I think that if there will be a global aliyah, then maybe Finland will join. But I think otherwise if everything is calm and peaceful. I think there is a Jewish future.
“As long as there is a future for Jews in Europe, there is a future for Jews in Finland,” she said.