The community is a home for several Jewish organizations and it offers a platform for variety of interests to all its members from sports to music, from library and literature to senior citizen club. Most of the activities and functions are organized purely by volunteers, including Chevra Kadisha, the burial association, established in 1864. Also, the mikve of the community is run by volunteers thanks to many active people.

The Jewish Community has created good relations within the Finnish society and it is represented in several committees and NGO’s dealing with minority issues in the society. The community is represented also in the international arena through the Central Council of Jewish Communities of Finland which is a member of the World Jewish Congress and the European Jewish Congress.

On our website you may read a multilingual blog highlighting different perspectives of the Jewish Community and Jewish life in Finland. We publish also video clips.

A Short History of the Finnish Jewry

Prehistory of the Community

The territory which is now Finland was for more than half a millennium – until 1809 – part of the Swedish Kingdom. Under Swedish law, Jews of that period were allowed to settle only in three major towns in the Kingdom, none of them being situated in the territory of Finland.

In 1809, as a consequence of the defeat of Sweden in the Finnish War of 1808–1809, part of the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden lost control of Finland, and an autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland was established within the Russian Empire. The Swedish constitution and legal system was, however, maintained in the Grand Duchy, and the prohibition on Jewish settlement in Finland thus continued.

Arrival of Jews in the Czar's Army

Finnish Jewish history effectively began in the first half of the 19th century when Jewish soldiers (so-called Cantonists), who served in the Russian Army in Finland, were permitted to stay in Finland by the Russian military authorities following the soldiers' discharge. Subsequently, the presence of Jews in the country was governed by the decree of 1858, under which discharged Russian soldiers and their families, without regard to their religion, were allowed to stay temporarily in Finland. The occupations open to discharged soldiers were defined in a decree of 1869 which was applied also to soldiers of Jewish origin. In 1889, the Government issued an administrative decree expressly governing the presence of Jews in Finland. Under this decree a number of Jews mentioned by name were allowed to stay in the country only until further notice, and to settle only in certain towns assigned to them. They were given temporary visit permits with a period of validity not exceeding six months. The occupations open to the Jews, being the same as under the decree of 1869, meant in practice that they were to continue supporting themselves mainly as dealers in second-hand clothes. They were forbidden to attend fairs or perform their activities outside their town of residence. The slightest violation of any of these limitations served as grounds for expulsion from Finland. Children were allowed to stay in Finland only as long as they lived with their parents or were not married. Jews conscripted to the Russian Army within Finland were not allowed to return to Finland after their discharge.