Rostov-on-Don was founded in 1749. After 47 years in the fortress of St. Dimitry of Rostov, which gave rise to the city, seven Jews-petty bourgeois lived. By 1800, there were ten. Over the next seven years, the number of Jews in Rostov increased to 94 people.

Until the 1880s Rostov was part of the Yekaterinoslav province, which was part of the Pale of Settlement. By the 1830s, there was a Jewish cemetery here, and by the 1860s, the Choral Synagogue was erected.

In 1883, on the eve of the coronation of Alexander III, a Jewish pogrom took place in the city.

Since 1888 Rostov became part of the lands of the Don Army. The authorities imposed restrictions on the residence of Jews, but allowed those who lived before the publication of the decree on the transition of the city under the administrative jurisdiction of the Don Cossacks to stay.

By 1897, 11.8 thousand Jews lived in Rostov, who accounted for 10% of the urban population.

During the 1905 revolution, one of the bloodiest pogroms in the empire took place in the city, as a result of which 150 Jews were killed.

According to the data of 1910, there were three Talmud-Torah schools, two synagogues and one prayer house, a Jewish school for women and a society of Jewish mutual aid Gmilat Chesed in the city.

From 1915 to 1920, the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sholem Ben Shneerson, lived in Rostov. The city became one of the centers of Hasidism in the south of Russia.

During the revolution, local Jews supported the ataman Kaledin. In 1917, the community collected 800 thousand rubles for the struggle of the ataman's troops against the Bolsheviks. Therefore, in 1920, the First Cavalry Army, capturing Rostov, staged a pogrom.

From 1920 to 1924, the sixth Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, lived in the city. Then the OGPU (The Joint State Political Directorate) forced him to leave for Leningrad.

In 1920, 22,700 Jews lived in Rostov, constituting 9.8% of the population. By 1926, there were 26.3 thousand Jews in the city, who accounted for 8.5% of the townspeople.

By the 1930s, the authorities had closed down all Jewish organizations.

By 1941, there were 27 thousand Jews in Rostov. The city was occupied in November 1941, but liberated by Soviet troops a few days later. The authorities argued that the city would not be surrendered a second time, so the Jews were not evacuated. In July 1942, the Nazis re-occupied Rostov.

In August 1942, a proclamation was issued inviting the Jews of the city to move to a special area for security purposes. The invaders who came on the appointed day were shot in the Zmeinaya gully. According to various estimates, from 15 to 18 thousand Jews perished.

In the post-war years, the number of Jews in the city decreased. In 1959, 16.3 thousand Jews lived in the city, and by 1989 - 8.5 thousand. According to the 2010 census, there were 2.4 thousand Jews in Rostov, who accounted for 0.2% of the population.