The first Jews appeared in Bryansk in the 18th century, when the city was included in the Russian Empire. At that time, Bryansk was located within the Pale of Settlement, which limited the places of residence of Jews to the western regions of the country. Many of them were engaged in trade, crafts and small businesses, contributing to the economic life of the city. As time passed, the Jewish population increased, and by the beginning of the twentieth century, Jews made up a significant part of the inhabitants of Bryansk.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the Jewish community of Bryansk was actively developing. There were synagogues, cheders and Jewish schools in the city, where children studied traditional religious texts and received a general education. The Jewish intelligentsia played an important role in the cultural and social life of Bryansk. Newspapers in Yiddish and Russian covered current events, and theater clubs and musical ensembles united the townspeople.
However, this period of prosperity was accompanied by waves of anti-Semitism. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Jewish community experienced pogroms caused by socio-political instability. These events forced many Jews to seek a better life abroad, leading to significant emigration, especially to the countries of North and South America.
The situation changed with the advent of Soviet power. In the 1920-1930s, the Jewish community of Bryansk underwent radical transformations. The nationalization of private property and the fight against religion led to the closure of synagogues and Jewish educational institutions. However, Soviet policy supported the development of culture, which made it possible to preserve Yiddish as one of the languages ​​of literature and theater. In Bryansk there were Jewish cultural clubs, a library and theater troupes that contributed to the preservation of identity.
The Great Patriotic War became a tragic page in the history of the Jewish community of Bryansk. In 1941, the city was occupied by German troops. The Jews of Bryansk, as in other occupied regions, were subjected to brutal repression. They were forced to live in ghettos, where they faced hunger, disease and humiliation. Most of the Jews were killed in mass executions. Monuments to Holocaust victims today remind us of that terrible tragedy that forever changed the face of the city's Jewish community.
After the war, the life of the Jewish community in Bryansk never returned to its previous scale. Soviet policies of atheism and assimilation, as well as the mass emigration of Jews to Israel, the United States and other countries, led to a significant reduction in the Jewish population. However, even under these conditions, the remaining Jews continued to preserve their traditions. A synagogue was reopened in Bryansk, which became the center of the spiritual life of the community.
The modern Jewish community of Bryansk is a small but active group of people striving to preserve and pass on their heritage to future generations. In 2023, the historic Ohel Yaakov synagogue, built in 1891 and returned to the community after a long period of use for other purposes, was inaugurated. Holocaust remembrance events and meetings are held to strengthen bonds between community members. Currently, the rabbi of Bryansk and the Bryansk region is Menachem Mendel Zaklas, who was born in 1982 in Israel. He received religious education in Israel, the USA and Mexico, and since 2006 he has been serving in Bryansk, actively involved in issues of spiritual support for Jews in the region.