Roots – The Center for Assistance in Proving Jewish Ancestry

Roots, which was recently founded in Jerusalem, serves olim in their encounters with bureaucracy, helps them in the process of proving their Jewishness (toward their appearance in rabbinical courts), and accompanies them throughout the entire process of proving that they are Jewish.

The Program’s Aims and Goals

The central aim is the establishment of a national system which wil be of assistance to olim in the preparation of a professional, neatly arranged file with whose help the olim are able to prove their Jewish ancestry to the rabbinical courts empowered by the State to reach decisions on this matter. The system is in touch with the rabbinical courts, and its recommendations are honored by the rabbinical judges. The Roots Center accompany the olim through every stage of the process of proving Jewish ancestry, up to, and including, the declaration by the rabbinical court.

Secondary goals:
* Swift action, to avoid the loss of the human knowledge still remaining
* Strengthening the olims’ trust in the religious establishment
* Removing doubt from the status as Jews of many olim from the former Soviet Union
* Strengthening the Jewish identity of olim from the former Soviet Union
* Strengthening the ties between olim and Judaism and its ceremonies


The Roots Center provides an answer to olim on the following issues:
* Publication and encouraging public opinion in support of olim from the former Soviet Union
* Support and counseling regarding different problems, such as how to prove their Jewish ancestry, how to obtain various documents, and translation of documents into Hebrew
* Support of the olim in their visits to the rabbinical courts
* Preparation of couples for marriage, and officiating at the ceremony, as befits their Jewish origins (Ashkenaz, Bukhara, etc.)


The Roots Center, which was established by the Avichai Foundation and the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, gives assistance to Israeli olim from the former USSR in realizing in a practical way their belonging to the Jewish People, and helps them to become full participants in Israeli life.