The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia held its 10th annual ceremony for the "Fiddler on the Roof" awards on Sunday, celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah while giving out prizes to the leading representatives of the Jewish community for the past year.
At the ceremony in the State Kremlin Palace, Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar commenced the ceremony by giving out the first two prizes. The award for courage went to Ovadya Isakov, the rabbi of Derbent, who was shot and badly injured in an assassination attempt by Islamic terrorists in July.
Billionaire businessman Viktor Vekselberg was awarded the prize for charity for his support for the new Jewish Museum in Moscow, while the Dozhd television network received the prize for journalism based on its unflinching examination of racism and intolerance in Russia.
The prize for cultural event of the year went to the exhibit "The White City: Bauhaus Architecture in Tel Aviv," which was displayed at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and will appear in Moscow in the coming year.
Russian musician Andrei Makarevich, best known as the founder of rock band Mashina Vremeni, was awarded the prize for musical event of the year for his participation in creating the album "Yiddish Jazz."
Awards were also given to Eduard Berlin, leader of the Orenburg Jewish community; Viktoria Mochalova, director of the Sefer Center for Judaica; and writer and cinematographer Marek Halter.
Russian actor Roman Kartsev, best known for his work with writer Mikhail Zhvanetsky, received special recognition as a "Man of Legend" (Chelovek-Legenda) and was given the prize for Man of the Year, which was presented to him by singer Joseph Kobzon, who has previously received the prize.
