June’s Best Babushka: Founding Baba, Sonia Filkova

This Babushka is one of the 4 founding mothers of the post-Soviet Belarusian Jewish community. Before any Jewish organization had been established in Minsk, or anywhere else in the country for that matter, Sonia taught the Belarusian yingele in the only Jewish Sunday school of the time. Sonia and the others kept their full-time jobs while working as full-time volunteers in the Jewish community. When the JDC sent their first emissary to Belarus after the fall of the Soviet Union, he discovered these four women had already created a basic community infrastructure, but it was in need of assistance. Since she was so wonderful with children, she was offered the position of director of the as-of-yet non-existant local JCC, JCC Emuna. Since then, Sonia has been invaluable in creating programs for Jewish children across the Republic. Sonia loves eating chocolates and cakes as much as she likes distributing them to her JCC children. Once you talk to this Baba, you’ll find that you’ll get a sweet tooth for more of her.

Sonia has one grandson who participates in programming in the Minsk Jewish Campus.