F.R.E.E. of Brighton Beach - The Jewish Russian Community Center

What they offer

F.R.E.E. of Brighton Beach - The Jewish Russian Community Center is a centre for Russian-speaking Jews in Brooklyn, led by Rabbi Dovid Okonov.

There is a synagogue on the premises. Visitors are welcomed for Shabbat and holiday meals. There is a Judaica shop. They kosher kitchens for the community.

Classes run regularly, one-to-one study can be arranged, courses from the Jewish Learning Institute are taught and public lectures are held. There is a library.

For children there is a preschool, a Hebrew school, after-school programmes, a children's club and a mother-and-child group.

Older children and young adults have a teen club, bar and bat mitzvah instruction, a bar mitzvah club and a bat mitzvah club.

They officiate at weddings, circumcisions and funerals. Couples are prepared for marriage.

The center visits patients in hospital, visits Jewish prisoners, looks after the elderly, distributes food packages, provides humanitarian aid, helps people find work and counsels families facing cults and missionaries.

There is a women's group. There is a men's club. Holiday programs run through the year, hands on. Mezuzos and tefillin can be checked here. They publish. They produce television and radio programs.