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Featured Author of the Month: Yaacov Ro'i

Monday, 01 June 2015
Meryll
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Researching Jewish Luck led Leslie and me down many academic paths as we pieced together the Jewish world of Vera and Alla.  If you glance at our extensive bibliography, you’ll discover that we investigated newer academic findings as well as checking sources written before the opening of the Soviet archives in the early 1990s.

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When I began to read Yaacov Ro’i’s compilation of 14 scholarly articles in The Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union, I felt like the actor in the V-8 juice commercial—“I shoulda had access to this volume before we began researching!”

I enjoy a good novel, a thrilling mystery and a compelling memoir but I revel in an academic work that clarifies and explains.  I raced through the articles soaking in the data and analysis and checking the footnotes to see if Leslie and I had read the same sources. About halfway through the volume, I began to wonder what would happen if the research within this book called into question our conclusions and our data.  We can report with relief, that the articles do support our own writing.

The Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union deals primarily with the dissidents and prisoners of Zion rather than the Jews who populated the backdrop.  If you’re searching for a book that delves into the how and why of the movement that secured freedom for so many at the cost of many individuals’ personal freedoms, we recommend this anthology.

One of the joys of the articles was reading the selected quotes that, like the epigrams in our book, capture an idea or a feeling.  For example, Cantorovich and Cantorovich cite Anna Shternis’s term “kosher pork” to describe the Jewish practices of the pre- World War II Russian Jews. When describing why the USSR did not commemorate the Holocaust as part of the remembrance of WWII, Cantorovich and Cantorovich cited Zvi Gitelman: “The great Patriotic War was too valuable a political asset to be awarded to the Jews.” Juliane Fürst’s quote from Mark Azbel’s memoir applies equally to Vera and Alla.  “A Jewish child understands from the start that he is a cripple. But he can’t exactly understand what his handicap is; he can’t figure out wherein he is defective.”

The statistics in the book are the latest available.  Statistics about Russian Jews are tricky.  When asked how many Jews live in Russia today by an attendee at a book talk, I halted.  Did that mean only Jews with two Jewish parents, a Jewish mother, a Jewish father, only Jews that self-identify? And what about the Jews who used to be part of the USSR but now live in Ukraine or Belarus or Georgia?  Ro’i provides a comprehensive chart from the Jewish Agency that lists the Soviet emigration numbers from 1968-1991. It affirms our research that Alla’s application for aliyah arrived at OVIR when the Politburo had decided to restrict emigration.  That made me breathe a sigh of relief.  Edith Rogovin Frankel’s article provides insights into the deliberations of the Communist Party Central Committee as they seek to answer the dilemma, what to do about the Jews? 

The afterward by George Shultz turned the focus away from the Soviet actors and onto the US government’s role.  It was heartwarming to read of his passionate concern for Soviet Jews but the afterward didn’t seem to fit the book.

We invite you to extend your understanding of the movement of Soviet Jews through this new research.  We’re certain that newer research will emerge at some time and we will refine our understanding once again.

Ro’i, Yaacov. ed.  The Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union.  Wash:  Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2012.

Tags:
Yaacov Roi The Jewish Movement in the Soviet Union Soviet Jews Soviet archives opened Jewish dissidents in the USSR
Post-Apocalypse Part I: Berlin
Absurdist Sculpture—Russian style

About the author

Meryll

Meryll

  http://morejewishluck.com
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Meryll Levine Page is a retired high school history teacher with a special interest in women’s history. She taught extensively about the Soviet Union and its break-up. Currently she co-facilitates the Minneapolis Jewish Artists’ Lab.
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Talk Review

"I was very fortunate to be able to hear Meryll and Leslie speak at a Hadassah event in Israel. Each of the ~50 participants really enjoyed the event because Meryll and Leslie were so engaging. While they had a natural rapport with the audience, you could also tell they had prepared well so they could connect with our particular group's interests. I learned a lot from listening to them, and I found their sisterly interaction unique and fun. If you want an enlightening and uplifting experience, attend one of their book talks."
Lisa Shimoni, Modiin Israel

Book Review

"Truly, you have written a story that makes accessible the reality of existence in Russia, through the eyes of individuals who lived through the various regimes and dictates.  It is fascinating and very well told.  As I read Vera and Alla's story, I learned more Russian history than I had known from a textbook.  That's a big deal, women!  You tell the tale with vivid detail and hook us on the two women and their stories, then weave in the history to illuminate their journeys. It is such a necessary book.  I am thrilled that the two of you collaborated, as I can see the uniqueness of your personalities come through in the stories, and that, too, makes the book a gem."
Margaret Leibfried, Danielson Group consultant

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