The Jewish Autonomous Region of Birobidzhan, Josef Stalin's solution to his "Jewish Problem," was established in 1934. After the Russian Revolution, the Jewish people-many of whom had harbored high hopes for the rise of Communism-found themselves mired in the same crushing poverty and persecution as before.

There are approximately between 13 and 14 million Jewish people in the world today. However, this figure is an educated guess. One reason for this lack of precision is that there is disagreement as to what constitutes Jewish identity.

Last month, the Jewish people celebrated the High Holy Days, which include the autumn harvest festival, Sukkot (Feast of Booths). This month, we want to give thanks for another kind of harvest - a harvest of Jewish souls that the Lord has reaped through the prayers of His people and through the evangelistic work of Chosen People Ministries' staff members around the world.

Join us as we take a brief tour across the globe to visit the various corners of the Lord's vineyard where the Gospel is bearing fruit among the Jewish communities that we seek to serve.

• The Jewish community in New York City is still as important as ever and continues to be the largest concentration of Jewish people in the world!

• There are 1,412,000 Jewish people in the eight counties that compose New York and its environs. To this, however, one may add over 350,000 Jewish people in New Jersey and 50,000 in southern Connecticut, many of whom live in suburbs and bedroom communities that still look to New York City as their center.