Today Moldova is still a home to some 15,000 - 20,000 Jews. Historically, this land was known as Bessarabia, and Jews had already settled here by the 16th century. Jewish merchants exported kosher wines from the Greek islands and horses from the Ottoman Empire to Poland via Bessarabia. Jews ran to Bessarabia escaping Khmelnitsky's uprising and in the 19th century some famous Chassidic dynasties were established
here.

Along the tour we will visit some of the typical Jewish towns of Bessarabia. We will also walk along the streets of Kishinev. Once a city with at least 50,000 Jews (more than 40% of the city's population), Kishinev is mainly known in Jewish history for its most terrible and devastating pogrom of 1903.

We will speak about the Jews of Kishinev, the self-defence Jewish squads, Kishinev's Synagogues, Jewish political and intellectual leaders, and everyday Jewish life.

We will look at the past and present and also discuss the future of Kishinev's Jewish community.