Mikhail Grinberg

Mikhail Lvovich Grinberg (; born 2 September 1951) is an Israeli publisher, Jewish community public figure, and historian.

He was born into a traditional Jewish family in the Soviet Union. Due to his observance of Jewish traditions, he was expelled from the Komsomol and later from university, but eventually completed his degree in history. He worked as a teacher and served in the Soviet army. In 1988, he immigrated to Israel and has since lived in Efrat, Judea (West Bank) →.

Since the late 1970s, Grinberg has been actively involved in reviving Jewish life in the USSR, including the restoration of a synagogue and communal life in the settlement of Malakhovka. At the request of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he organized the reburial of Rabbi Mordehai Dubin and restored the graves of several prominent rabbis. In 1990, he participated in the religious revival of the Jewish community in Lviv →.

Grinberg earned a candidate degree in history (equivalent to a PhD) and published a number of scholarly works, including a study of . He also taught Jewish history in underground study groups, and later in Israel, the United States, and Canada. In 1992, he became the first rector of the Jewish University in Moscow and launched the first academic journal on Jewish studies in the Russian language →.

In 1990, Grinberg founded the publishing house Gesharim / Bridging Cultures, which became one of the leading centers of Russian-language Jewish studies in Israel and the post-Soviet space. Under his leadership, more than 600 books have been published. He later launched a new publishing project titled the "Mikhail Grinberg Library" →.

Biography Grinberg was born into a Jewish family that observed core religious traditions. His father was a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, serving as a communications company commander. From his school years, Grinberg developed a passion for reading.

Due to his religious convictions, Grinberg was expelled from the Komsomol in 1970. In 1973, four months before completing his degree, he was also expelled from the Ryazan Pedagogical Institute, where he studied at the Faculty of History, following an official report about his traditional Jewish wedding (chuppah). He then worked as a teacher at an evening school in the city of Lytkarino near Moscow. A year and a half later, he enrolled at the Moscow Correspondence Pedagogical Institute, completed his studies, and received his diploma.

After completing his studies, Grinberg was drafted into the Soviet Armed Forces, where he served his compulsory military term in the missile troops. During his service, he received 19 commendations, two of which were awarded personally by Defense Minister Andrei Grechko—one for preparing missiles for a test range, and the other for preparing for a parade on Red Square.

Public activities Since the late 1970s, Grinberg became actively involved in the life of the Jewish community in the settlement of Malakhovka near Moscow. Entrusted by Rabbi Geyche, head of Moscow’s Chabad community, with reviving the village’s virtually abandoned synagogue, he oversaw a major renovation, furnished the building anew, and restored Jewish religious life there, including regular prayer services, holiday observances, and classes. In order to provide kosher food, he became a shochet.

At the same time, as part of underground Jewish educational activity, Mikhail Grinberg gave lectures on Jewish history in religious-Zionist study groups that met in private apartments.

In 1990, Grinberg founded the publishing house Gesharim / Bridging Cultures, operating in both Israel and Russia, which focused on publishing literature in the field of Jewish studies. Professor Roman Katsman called it the largest Russian-Israeli publishing house specializing in Jewish fiction and popular scholarly literature. In its first 30 years of operation, Gesharim released over 500 titles on Jewish topics in various genres, with a total circulation of approximately 2 million copies.

Grinberg later headed a new publishing project titled the Mikhail Grinberg Library. Certificate of Honour from the Government Commission of the Russian Federation for Compatriots Living Abroad (2008). Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia "Person of the Year" award (2004).