The vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest population of Jews in the world. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of antisemitic discriminatory policies and persecutions. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many Soviet Jews took the opportunity of liberalized emigration policies, with over half their population leaving, most for Israel, the United States, Germany, Canada, and Australia. Despite this emigration, the Jews residing in Russia and the nations of the former Soviet Union still constitute the largest Jewish population in Europe. Russian Jews are comprised by a number of different ethnic groups, including Ashkenazi Jews, Mountain Jews, Karaite Jews, Krymchak Jews, Bukharan Jews, Armenian Jews and Georgian Jews. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Jews)
Genetic Roots of the Ashkenazi Jews
Most Ashkenazi Jews, traditionally believed to have descended from the ancient tribes of Israel, may in fact be maternally descended from prehistoric Europeans. ... http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/37821
Thus, truth is all-encompassing, while falsehood is narrow and deceiving. In Jewish mythology it was the word emet that was carved into the head of the golem which ultimately gave it life. But when the letter aleph was erased from the golem's forehead, what was left was "met"—dead. And so the golem died.
Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. Her symbols were the lion, the horse, the sphinx, the dove, and a star within a circle indicating the planet Venus. Pictorial representations often show her naked. She has been known as the deified evening star.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astaroth_in_popular_culture