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World Jewish News
Dr. Kliger: Immigrant Agencies Fascinated by Russian Jews
26.12.2008
As reported by the Jewish Russian Telegraph. The RJCF Press Center recently spoke to Sam Kliger of the American Jewish Committee, Russian Division, about a conference he attended, and presented at, on the topic of, "Jewish Migrants From the Former Soviet Union in Different National Contexts: The Case of Germany, Israel, and the United States". The conference was held in England and organized by the Center for German Jewish Study at the University of Sussex.
Dr. Kliger explained that he was impressed by the growing interest in academia and beyond in the phenomena of Jews of the Former USSR. He said maybe this is because Jews of the former Soviet Union have become such a rich critical mass of various communities. Immigrant agencies are fascinated by Russian Jews, and the way they have settled in different locations. Currently in Germany, Russian Jews make up more than eighty percent of Jews. Before this wave of Russian Jews, there were only about 20,000 Jews living in Germany. In Israel, twenty percent of the Jewish population is made up of Russian Jews, which has significantly changed the landscape of life there. In the United States, Russian Jews make up about fifteen percent of all Jews.
Kliger found that the other interest in Jews of the former Soviet Union ,was because of the global community they seemed to have created. It used to be that when Jews left the Soviet Union, they kissed their families and friends goodbye, expecting never to see them again, but now things have changed. There are Russian Jews all over the globe, from everywhere in Europe, to the United States and Australia. Kliger's studies for the AJC indicate that close to eighty percent of Russian Jews have relatives or close friends in Israel. About forty percent of Russian Jews have relatives or close friends in Germany, and twenty-five percent still have in the former Soviet Union.
Dr. Kliger's presented at the conference on the topic of "Russian-Jewish Immigrants in the U.S.: Identity and Challenges of Integration". He spoke about the social challenges that Russian Jews face when integrating into the American-Jewish community and the larger American society. One of them being that Russian Jews face the challenge of joining American society, yet maintaining a line of separation and staying their own socio-cultural group.
This globally connected community should be studied as an example of success, because these immigrants have formed new identities, have managed to survive and eventually flourish economically, and have become integral parts of their communities. Kliger said, "this is a historic moment."
Источник: Jewish Russian Telegraph
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