The major influx of immigrants from Russia in 2022 triggered another process in Armenia's new environment. It was an unprecedented influx for Armenian society in general and the Jewish community specifically. Although the number of Jews among all immigrants was not large, they began to organize and develop relations with the “old” Jewish community, revitalizing communal life. This led to a kind of “renaissance” of the Jewish community in Armenia. Jews in Armenia are officially recognized as a national minority, but at the level of public perception they are also an ethno-religious group for both local Armenians and Jews themselves. For many representatives of the new wave of immigration, this is a result of a process of identity renewal following their move. The main purpose of this article is to study the process of transformation of Jewish identity in Armenia, as well as the reconstruction of the Jewish community. To do this, I try to answer the following questions: how Jews identify themselves in Armenia; what factors influence their new identity; how their identity changes; and what are the main patterns of these changes. In order to understand the place of the Jewish community in Armenian society, it is necessary to discuss two things: on the one hand, the image of Jewish presence from historical times to the present, from identity consciousness to community organization; and on the other hand, changes in identity in the contemporary social context. This article is based on results from ethno-sociological research conducted by me in 2022–23 with financial support from the Committee for Higher Education and Science in Armenia.

Key words: religious identity, ethnic identity, immigrants, community construction, Jewish community, Russian Jews

DOI: 10.22250/20728662-2025-3-98-104

Download the paper (PDF)

About the author

Sona A. Nersisyan – Ph.D. (History), Senior Researcher at The Department of Diaspora Studies, Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia; 15 Charents Str., Yerevan, 0025, Armenia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.