From Israel, a discussion of the Russian Diaspora

By Masha Rifkin, Guest Columnist

Twenty years ago, millions of Soviet-Jews broke through the Iron Curtain of the former Soviet Union and fled to countries all over the world, effectively forming the second Diaspora. Approximately 700,000 of us found our new home in the United States, about 10-percent of that total relocating to Newton, Brookline and greater Boston.

Those of us who were carried to our new homes in strollers or on shoulders are now completely assimilated into our new homes, mostly exhibiting the societal and cultural norms of our current countries. (For example - much to the chagrin of our parents most of us can’t handle our vodka.)

Put all of us new generation immigrants (as well as those who stayed back in the former Soviet Union) in a room together, and an awkward struggle develops. What do we all still have in common? Most of us feel pride toward our current nations. We were raised by our respective countries and thus may have different values and behaviors.

This week, I joined the Young Leadership Conference for Russian-Speaking Jews in Israel, a gathering organized by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Nativ (an Israeli liaison organization that maintains contact between Soviet Jews and Israel). Naomi Ben Ami, Head of Nativ, explained that the goal of the conference, ‘is to establish a connection between young Russian Speaking Jews of the diaspora and the Israeli government’.

Members of the conference consist of young leaders, aged 23 to 45, representing the United States, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. The conference aims to educate participants on the issues and history of Israel, by allowing them access to experts in the field: Ministers, Professors, Army Corporals, etc.

On the conference’s first day, Natan Sharansky was the most anticipated speaker.

Sharansky is a modern day hero. His experience is recounted as a near fairy-tale to new generation immigrants, to remind us of the nature of the regime from which we escaped and to teach us the concept of commitment to freedom. In 1978, after actively participating in the human rights movement in the former Soviet Union, Sharansky was arrested on grounds of treason and spying for the United States. He was sentenced with 13 years and served 9 in a Siberian labor camp. Due to monumental international pressure, instigated by his wife Avital, Sharansky was one of the first political prisoners released by then head of State of the Soviet Union, Michael Gorbachev.

This week, Sharansky walked into our little conference room of 50 people. Wearing a baseball cap, sport jacket and jeans, this symbol of freedom shuffled to the mic, grabbed it, and began speaking in Russian – plainly, informally, and personally – as if to friends. He spoke of his past, his current and previous work, and his vision of identity for the Jewish people.

According to Sharansky, the first time he truly learned the nature of the Soviet regime was when he was 5. Stalin had just died, and the entire nation was in mourning. When he came home from school that day, he was pulled aside by his father, who said, ‘Stalin just died. Who was Stalin? He was an awful murderer. We’re Jews, so we were next in line. But now – maybe this event will save us. All your life you must remember that a miracle happened today. But tomorrow – don’t tell anyone what I’ve told you, go to school and do everything that the other children are doing.’

Sharansky explained, “the next day I returned to daycare, and along with the other children cried, and sang the song, ‘Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood’ but at the same time kept in mind that all my life I need to remember that a miracle occurred, and that I was happy that Stalin died.” Sharansky described this as the concept of doublethink, the phenomenon of saying one thing while understanding that the opposite is true – something many citizens of the former Soviet regime are familiar with.

He explained that in this way he continued his youth, thinking one way – feeling a slave of the regime - but outwardly exclaiming agreement with the masses. He continued with this lifestyle until one crucial turning point. While a student at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Six Day War broke out in 1967. ‘It changed my life not because I immediately understood how important this was,’ he described, ‘all I remember is the propaganda of the Soviet government against Israel. But in one day this all changed. In one day – you began to see that anti-Semites hated you even more, but they began to respect you. Because prior to this, all their jokes centered around the ‘disgusting, greedy, cowardly Jews’. Now, the jokes morphed into, ‘the hooligan jews who beat the face of their neighbors.’ ’ Sharansky continued that ‘now, like it or not – as a Jew - for the rest of the world – you were connected to Israel.’
Sharansky described that he and fellow classmates attempted to understand just what that connection meant. They began to understand that their history unfolded prior to the establishment of the Soviet Union, that it began thousands of years ago in the escape from Egypt; and although all these people were now scattered across the world, ‘they felt as brothers, and they wanted to help each other, and that this country Israel is being built for us, and that the whole world connects us with this country.’

Sharansky expressed how this realization and the resulting change manifested itself in him: ‘I’d always felt uncomfortable in this life of doublethink, this absence of democracy. But I’d never had this sense of Jewish identity before. Once I discovered it, I began to fight for myself – fight to go to Israel, fight to escape this oppressive regime. And soon the fight for myself turned into a fight for others. So, at the same time, I was an activist of two different causes: the Zionist/Jewish movement and the Human Rights movement.’

He told of how he and his classmates began to fight by holding demonstrations – something that at the time was an unthinkable act. Seven to ten students would stand in the Red Square (it was necessary to keep it small, for fear that the KGB would be notified and their plans thwarted), and hold signs like ‘Let us go to Israel’. Sharansky explained that, although the demonstrations would be broken up within minutes, and although it was dangerous, if done right – meaning, if they were able to get a reporter to come to the demonstration, who could succeed in publishing outside of the Iron Curtain – it would result in an international avalanche of protest. The next day, there would be huge demonstrations, in support of those seven to ten students, across the world.

Sharansky’s teacher at the time was the world-renowned physicist and Human Rights leader Andrei Sakharov. Father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, Sakharov was showered with privileges from the Soviet government that very few others received. Yet he traded this all for his relentless fight for human rights, becoming a true giant in the Human Rights movement of the 20th century. Sharansky described him as ‘my rabbi, although he wasn’t a Jew – he was a huge source of strength for me. felt as much comfort with him as I did when fighting for the rights of Soviet Jews…and I realized that the two movements (Human Rights and Zionist/Jewish) were connected.’ ‘’

Sharansky continued to explain the connection between human rights and the Jewish state: ‘It’s very important to understand that the fight for freedom, for human rights, can only prevail if something is more important to us than our physical existence. And this something is our identity.’

He argued that maintaining a sense of identity is crucial in sustaining a democracy. He described a project which grades countries on their level of political and social democracy.
‘If you were to color the resulting grades on the global map’ Sharansky explained, ‘you’d see a huge dark stain in the Middle East; but in all of this – there is one small dot of light – Israel. Its grades are on the same level as the United States. Israel is in the midst of a dense cloud of dictatorships. And, in this environment, we began the principles of the rights of people, democracy, and justice. And this would be impossible to create if behind it we didn’t have our national pride and passion – the feeling that thousands of years of history exist to justify that we belong here. We wouldn’t have succeeded if we didn’t have generations of people who were willing to die for this government. This is why this government has to be a Jewish one. If it won’t be Jewish then it won’t be democratic. And this is important to understand – the connection between identity and freedom.’

For many of us sitting in the audience – Sharansky’s connection was the answer to our question. In that moment, given our varying backgrounds, and difficulties in communication and behavior, our commonality – and that of the millions of like us – became clear. Our commonality is our past and present – our common identity, our shared history of oppression. It’s also our future - the empowerment our identity gives us to continue the fight for freedom.

Masha Rifkin is a graduate of Newton North High school, and an occasional contributor to the Your Town sites.