Alexander Aronovich Vinnikov ' onMouseout='HidePop("22864")' href="/topics/Khabarovsk_Krai">Khabarovsk Krai

Khabarovsk Krai

Khabarovsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Russian Far East. It lies mostly in the basin of the lower Amur River, but also occupies a vast mountainous area along the coastline of the Sea of Okhotsk, an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The administrative center of the krai is the...

) is a Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and presently the governor of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Jewish Autonomous Oblast

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated in the Russian Far East, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast of Russia and Heilongjiang province of China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan....

.http://www.interfax-news.com/newsinf.asp?pg=7&id=147451http://eajc.org/page84/news16021.html

Political history

Alexander Vinnikov was the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Birobidzhan

Birobidzhan

Birobidzhan is a town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Trans-Siberian railway, close to the border with the People's Republic of China....

, the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast

Jewish Autonomous Oblast

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated in the Russian Far East, bordering Khabarovsk Krai and Amur Oblast of Russia and Heilongjiang province of China. Its administrative center is the town of Birobidzhan....

. The 2004 Birobidzhan mayoral election was held during the same time as the Russian presidential election, 2004

Russian presidential election, 2004

Presidential elections were held in Russia on 14 March 2004. Incumbent Vladimir Putin was seeking a second full four-year term. He was re-elected with 71.31% of the vote.-Sergey Glazyev:...

. On March 14, 2004, Alexander Vinnikov, the incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

, faced professor Miron Fishbeyn, and Aleksandr Kurdyukov of the Birobidzhan municipal administration. Alexander Vinnikov won the election.

Jewish community

Alexander Vinnikov is Jewish. His family arrived in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in 1947 from Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

. In 2004, as mayor, he participated in the opening of the new Chabad House

Chabad house

A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating Orthodox Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad Houses are run by the local Shaliach , who was sent to that place by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who founded all Chabad Houses...

 and Birobidzhan Synagogue

Birobidzhan Synagogue

The Birobidzhan Synagogue was established in 2004. The synagogue is in the city of Birobidzhan, which is the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, an autonomous oblast of Russia. It is "the first synagogue in Russia to be built partly with state money," according to the Federation of Jewish...

 in Birobidzhan. As member of the local kehilla

Kehilla (modern)

The Kehilla is the local Jewish communal structure that was reinstated in the early twentieth century as a modern, secular, and religious sequel of the Qahal in Central and Eastern Europe, more particularly in Poland's Second Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukrainian People's Republic,...

, during the December of 2005 candle-lighting of a Hanukkah

Hanukkah

Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...

 Menorah, Alexander Vinnikov lit the 'shamash

Shamash

Shamash was a native Mesopotamian deity and the sun god in the Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons. Shamash was the god of justice in Babylonia and Assyria, corresponding to Sumerian Utu...

' candle and passed it to the Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Chabad Lubavich representative, Mordechai Scheiner

Mordechai Scheiner

Mordechai Sheiner has been Chief Rabbi of Jewish Autonomous Oblast since 2002.-Background:Mordechai Sheiner came to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in 2002. He arrived in Birobidzhan as a 30 year old rabbi from Israel. He had never been to Birobidzhan before, but spoke Russian thanks to two years he...

.

Governor

According to Interfax, "Lawmakers in Russia's Jewish Autonomous Region have confirmed the appointment of Alexander Vinnikov as the region's new governor. Vinnikov, who was nominated to the post by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on February 8, was supported by 13 deputies out of a total of 16."http://www.interfax-news.com/newsinf.asp?pg=7&id=147451