In conclusion I would like to go somewhat beyond the framework of this topic and turn to the present.
Over twenty years have passed from the time that emigration from the USSR became free. During that time, Soviet Jews became acquainted with the Western Jewish world and with the State of Israel while Jews in the West were able to become more familiar with Soviet Jews. What did both sides encounter and did it meet their expectations? How did the absorption of the new arrivals proceed?
Jews in the West and Israel were quite familiar with shtetl Jews, whose mass exodus from the Russian Empire occurred three generations before ours. Those Jews were not “Russian” with regard to culture or language. Their native language was Yiddish, their level of secular education was a lot lower than in the West, and they lived a traditional Jewish communal life.
Before the start of the recent mass emigration, the majority of Russian-speaking Jews constituted a highly educated constituency of scattered individuals who were very assimilated into Russian culture. With the exception of the Jews in certain peripheral regions (the Baltic states, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Western Ukraine), their characteristic features included a weak knowledge of Jewish national traditions, culture, and history, a belief in atheism, and the complete absence of traditional communal life. They were called Jews without Judaism.
Immigration invariably entails problems and sometimes tragedies. No matter how hard the first generation tried, it always remained suspended between two cultures─that of the country of exodus and the country of new residence. The encounter of these two cultures often resembled a clash rather than a friendly embrace. Not everyone finds it easy to learn a new language, adapt to a new climate, and accept a new culture and way of life; it is difficult to adjust to different relations at work and competition in the labor market. Moreover, the immigrants returned to a Jewish world from another culture─Russian─and with a different, secular understanding of Jewishness, an ethnic concept of national identity, and another scale of values (education, science, culture, technology, patriotism).
The desire of the new arrivals to adjust to the national culture is understandable, but, at the same time, no one is forcing them to renounce the culture and language in which they grew up. As a result, a natural stratification by age occurs: the children quickly learn Hebrew and the school inculcates the new cultural codes; the middle generation is bilingual while the older one continues to function basically only in Russian. The middle and senior generations are customers for a flourishing Russian-language press, radio, television, and many internet sites, which offer information that exceeds qualitatively and quantitatively what was available in the USSR. Literary journals and almanacs as well as books by local authors are published in Russian. The Russian-language media covers not only Israeli news and issues but also devotes considerable space to processes occurring in the post-Soviet expanse. The massive Russian-speaking aliya created its own sphere of services that meet the specific needs of that group: musical ensembles, theater troupes, writers’ unions, Russian-language libraries with the latest publications, restaurants, stores, clubs, social organizations, political groups, and parties.
In order to implement some of the ideas and projects of the newly arrived scientists and inventors, Israel established several dozen “hothouses,” which rapidly elevated Israel into the first rank of countries on the level of scientific innovations. One frequently hears Russian spoken in hospitals, businesses, institutes, and universities. This is not because those people cannot speak Hebrew; simply, as in the family, it’s more convenient to converse in Russian.
Similar patterns can be seen in Israel with regard to English-speaking, French-speaking, and Spanish-speaking citizens. People understand that it is a temporary phenomenon and treat it tolerantly. The first generation of Russian-speaking olim retain a Soviet mentality all their life, continue to speak mainly in Russian, and take an interest in Russian culture. In the second generation, Hebrew becomes dominant, as do Jewish history, Israeli cultural codes, and an Israeli mentality. Nevertheless, as social scientists and cultural observers have noticed, the younger generations have retained certain attitudes and cultural and linguistic associations. This may to some extent be a result of the massive size of the immigration in proportion to the total population and also to a change in Israeli society, which is now more open to multiculturalism. In the third generation only an insignificant minority maintain some kind of link with the culture and language of the country of origin.
Analogous processes of making the transition to the language and culture of the country of residence are occurring in other countries of the Soviet Jewish diaspora. In Germany (around 200,00 Russian-speaking Jews), children study in German schools, mastering the language of Schiller and Goethe; in the U.S. (together with Canada about 700,000 Russian-speaking Jews) children in English-speaking schools study the language of Dickens and Hemmingway, and so forth. A developed infrastructure of educational, cultural, and religious organizations facilitate integration into the Jewish world: children can attend Jewish day schools and Sunday schools and the adults─Jewish cultural and religious institutions.
In the West, where it is customary to devote considerable attention to reinforcing Jewish national identity, Jewishness is basically of a confessional nature. Russian-speaking Jews have not yet become accustomed to this as they consider that their belonging to the Jewish people is determined simply by the fact of birth.
Unlike in Israel, Russian-speaking Jews in those countries represent an insignificant minority. There are, therefore, fewer opportunities to organize and satisfy their cultural needs on their own. A high level of assimilation is prevalent in Western democracies. Mixed marriages reach fifty percent in those places.
Similar developments, although in a more minor key, are underway in the post-Soviet countries, where the Jews, the overwhelming majority of whom are Russian-speaking, have had to adapt to the new conditions. In the majority of the newly formed states, they have had to learn the local language, which became the official one, send their children to schools operating in that language, work in that language, adopt its culture, and so forth.
Local Jewish organizations in the former Soviet Union have rather successfully engaged in organizational, educational, religious, and representational activity. Numerous Israeli and international organizations extend aid to those in need and help in the emigration process or in setting up viable communities. Under their influence, charitable organizations and educational institutions have appeared; the role of tradition and religion has been strengthened; and Western-style organizations, representing a symbiosis of rich donors and professionals have sprung up, and organized Jewish communities have been formed in almost all CIS countries.
At the same time, the Jewish population in the post-Soviet space has typically experienced a swift decline, which has been facilitated by the high level of emigration (around 7,000 in 2009 and 2010), a low birth rate, and assimilation (up to 70 percent mixed marriages). Nevertheless, the Jewish population of Russia is fifth in size in the world and of Ukraine─tenth.
Israel is indisputably the center of the Jewish world, the sole country where the Jews live an entirely natural national life, integrating into the rich world of Jewish culture and tradition. New arrivals gradually adopt the local demographic standards. Three children in a secular family and six to eight in a religious one is more the norm than the exception. Here the Jewish population continually grows, assimilating others rather than being assimilated.
The long struggle for emigration enabled Russian-speaking Jews to perceive the common historical fate and interrelationship of various segments of the Jewish people. In the course of this struggle we managed to free ourselves of the layers of lies and slander by which Soviet propaganda poisoned our souls for generations. In the struggle we gained dignity and pride in our people and we again became normal Jews.
One can find everything in our long history: victories and defeats, exiles and Inquisition, periods of flourishing and times of oppression, assimilation and a return to the sources. Anthropologists are still trying to discover the secret of the inexhaustible vital energy of the Jewish people that permitted it to preserve its individuality with such persistence. For four thousand years, there has not been a force that could halt the succession of generations. In my understanding, it will never be found.
The history of the exodus of Soviet Jewry will occupy an honored place in the collective memory of our people. We shall preserve it for future generations as one of the glorious pages of contemporary Jewish history, and we shall return to it again and again. We shall study it: the multiplicity of examples of courage and steadfastness, of national dignity and mutual help, of restraint and wisdom that were shown in the struggle for the exodus will continue to serve our people on its long historical path.