10 Things I Learned Exploring Jewish Finland and Latvia
May 29, 2025 | Israel & Global
By Jodi Teitelman
At the end of May, I had the pleasure of participating in JDC Entwine’s Insider trip to Jewish Finland and Latvia, in partnership with Repair the World. JDC (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee or “The Joint”) is the leading Jewish humanitarian organization, working in 70 countries to lift lives and strengthen communities. Entwine, an initiative of JDC, aims to build a generation of young Jews who lead and live a life of action with global Jewish responsibility at its core. One of the ways in which Entwine does this is through coordinating immersive travel experiences to engage in global Jewish communities. You can learn more about JDC Entwine here.
I was joined by 25 of my peers from the US, Canada, Israel, and Azerbaijan, in exploring the small, yet mighty Jewish communities of Helsinki, Finland and Riga, Latvia. This trip was truly life changing and I’m excited to share 10of the many things I learned while abroad.
1. Helsinki, Finland is at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska. Our first night in Helsinki, the sun didn’t set until 10:30pm, which, on an international travel day, really didn’t help with the jetlag. In the winter, Helsinki gets almost 19 hours of darkness a day! It took all of us a little bit to adjust to the sun still in the sky after dinner each night.
2. The Helsinki Synagogue was built in 1906. Our group joined the Helsinki Jewish community all day on Friday for a tour of their space, cleaning of their cemetery, participating in a challah bake (for the first time in 20 years!), and for a meaningful happy hour and Kabbalat Shabbat. The Helsinki Synagogue is not just the spiritual center of the community, but also a community center and day school. While the community believes there are around 2,000 local Jews, only 300 are actively involved.
3. During WWII, Finland allied themselves with Nazi Germany. Finland is one of many countries once ruled by the Soviet Union. During the Second World War, they chose to ally with Germany not because of ideological alignment, but to fight back against the Soviets. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was the Commander in Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces and is credited with saving the Finnish Jewish community, as he refused to adopt the Nazi’s antisemitic policies. At the end of the war, only 8 Jewish refugees (non-Finnish) were handed over to Nazi Germany, and all Finnish Jews were saved.
4. The 1952 Summer Olympic Games were hosted in Helsinki. These were the first Olympic Games held after WWII and the first in which the Soviet Union participated. (This was also the first year Israel had an Olympic team!) Hosting these Olympic Games catapulted Finland into global recognition and their tourist industry didn’t yet have the infrastructure to support this influx. To combat this, the Finnish Long Drink, an alcoholic beverage made from gin and grapefruit soda, was created. My group certainly enjoyed trying the Long Drink, which can also be found in the US!
5. Finland gifted themselves a library in celebration of 100 years of independence. Finland only became an independent nation on December 6, 1917, having been previously ruled by Sweden and the Soviet Union. To celebrate their centennial, the Oodi Central Library was created. We had the chance to visit this library and were blown away by the attention to detail, catalog of free services, high-tech components, and commitment to full accessibility. All Finnish children learn how to knit, sew, cook, woodwork, and metal work in school, and the Oodi Library has dedicated space to do all of these things, in addition to a recording studio, video game rooms, and access to 3-D printers. The library even collects knit items to donate to the homeless, just like we do through our knitting initiative!
6. Holocaust Commemoration Day in Latvia is recognized on July 4. Nazi troops occupied Latvia during the summer of 1941 and deported more than 70,000 Latvian Jews to concentration camps across the region. The city of Riga was captured on July 1 and most of the area synagogues were destroyed, many being burnt with no chance of rebuilding. Later that summer, it was announced that all Jews in Riga needed to move to a certain part of the city, which soon became known as the Riga Ghetto. Of the 93,000 Jews who lived in Latvia before the Holocaust, only 14,000 survived. Today, the Jewish community of Latvia is the largest in the Baltics with 10,000 members.
7. The organized Riga Jewish Community was founded in 1993. The Community all shares one building which is home to the JCC, a welfare center, the Latvia Jewish Museum, and a kindergarten. We were given a tour of the Community building and engaged in folk dancing and art projects with seniors who participate in programming at the JCC and welfare center. We even got to see the PJ Library display in the JCC offices!
8. The Peitav Shul was restored in 2009 and is a symbol of hope and resilience for the local community. Following the burning of synagogues during WWII and two bombings throughout the 1990s, the Peitav Shul was restored and reopened in 2009. Above the Torah ark, the following quote from Psalms 124 can be read: Blessed is the Lord, who did not let us be ripped apart by their teeth. Our tour guide shared that this quote was specifically selected because the synagogue was an assembly point for Holocaust survivors and the community wanted to honor their survival.
9. The Latvian community is deeply committed to supporting Ukraine. All throughout the city, Ukrainian flags were side-by-side with Latvian ones, showing that support for Ukraine is strong. Our group spent an afternoon with the Ukrainian Refugee Help Center sorting through bags of clothing to be sent to war-stricken communities. For the past 20 years, The Associated has supported the city of Odesa, Ukraine through the Baltimore-Odesa Partnership. You can support the ongoing relief efforts in Odesa by donating to The Associated’s annual campaign.
10. The work JDC does is crucial to the wellbeing of Jewish people around the world. I had heard about JDC prior to my trip, but didn’t have a complete grasp on all that they do. JDC supports Jewish communities in 70 countries, and has been doing so for over 100 years. The work JDC does, however, is not limited to the Jewish community; when a global crisis arises, JDC is one of the first organizations to jump in.
