The article draws on the analysis of interviews with the Jews of Ukraine and Moldova, who had lived the frst part of their lives fol‑ lowing traditional Jewish ways, while the other part fell on the peri‑ od of strong anti‑religious pressure in the Soviet Union. As a result, several variations of what we can call “folk Judaism” emerged. One form is a forced refusal to follow the laws of Judaism and elaboration of various ways for breaking taboos.

The article explores the relationship between the patronage of monasteries and territory control in Greater Armenia in the second half of the 9^th century based on the study of three cases. The first is the foundation of the Monastery of Sevan by Princess Mariam Bagratid and the renowned ascetic Maštoc‘ in 871. It is suggested that this and other monastic foundations around Lake Sevan (Gełark‘unik‘ territory) were a means of extending Bagratid influence, if not yet full control, on this neighboring region ruled by the Siwnids.

This article deals with the basic models of philosophical understanding of religion, those constitutive characteristics of it that determine its specificity in relation to other forms of human existence. The article outlines several approaches to the description of religion: Kantian, Hegelian, phenomenological, and analytical. The special character of religious thinking is defined by its participation in faith: religious thinking is like a meeting with an object of thought that reveals itself for the thought and thereby determines our thinking.