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Refuseniks at Rehovot Home
Yuli Edelstein may be approaching 50, but his face retains the boyishness of the young Hebrew teacher in Moscow many years ago who organized secret classes and emerged as a leader in the struggle for Soviet Jewry.
Edelstein was followed by KGB agents and eventually arrested. He was sent into exile on the Mongolian frontier, where he worked in a labor camp for three years.
Now he is a veteran Knesset member and former immigration minister,
He marvels at the force of the Soviet Jewry solidarity movement.
"Israel and the diaspora had a common issue, one without any controversy," Edelstein says, adding, "when there is a feeling of common cause, you can really make a change."
He says that the lack of a joint goal, a common denominator, is acutely felt in today’s Jewish world.
Ida Nudel [of Rehovot], one of the most famous faces of the Soviet Jewry struggle, plans to write a book about the solidarity movement.
"It’s about how Jews succeeded in winning this war," says the petite Nudel, 76.
Nudel survived a murder plot by the KGB and four years of exile in Siberia before finally being allowed to immigrate to Israel in 1987.
Nudel admits being a bit wistful, saying the fiercely ideological and Jewish state she imagined was well into an age of globalization and even-post Zionism by the time she walked down the steps of her dreamed-of flight from Moscow to Tel Aviv.
Among her many grievances, she says, is that Jews from the former Soviet Union were not accepted by Israeli society with open arms.
"It was an emotional blow," she says. "The Israeli bureaucracy did not accept us."
Not long after her arrival, she began running an organization called Mother to Mother that brought at-risk Russian-speaking immigrant children into after-school programs. Mother to Mother has shrunk over the years but still operates with the help of foreign donations.
Nudel takes great pride in the program and hopes it will be her contribution to Israel, the country she sees as both her home and her heartache.
Source: Dina Kraft. Refuseniks at home. JStandard.com (28 December 2007) [FullText]
Edelstein was followed by KGB agents and eventually arrested. He was sent into exile on the Mongolian frontier, where he worked in a labor camp for three years.
Now he is a veteran Knesset member and former immigration minister,
He marvels at the force of the Soviet Jewry solidarity movement.
"Israel and the diaspora had a common issue, one without any controversy," Edelstein says, adding, "when there is a feeling of common cause, you can really make a change."
He says that the lack of a joint goal, a common denominator, is acutely felt in today’s Jewish world.
Ida Nudel [of Rehovot], one of the most famous faces of the Soviet Jewry struggle, plans to write a book about the solidarity movement.
"It’s about how Jews succeeded in winning this war," says the petite Nudel, 76.
Nudel survived a murder plot by the KGB and four years of exile in Siberia before finally being allowed to immigrate to Israel in 1987.
Nudel admits being a bit wistful, saying the fiercely ideological and Jewish state she imagined was well into an age of globalization and even-post Zionism by the time she walked down the steps of her dreamed-of flight from Moscow to Tel Aviv.
Among her many grievances, she says, is that Jews from the former Soviet Union were not accepted by Israeli society with open arms.
"It was an emotional blow," she says. "The Israeli bureaucracy did not accept us."
Not long after her arrival, she began running an organization called Mother to Mother that brought at-risk Russian-speaking immigrant children into after-school programs. Mother to Mother has shrunk over the years but still operates with the help of foreign donations.
Nudel takes great pride in the program and hopes it will be her contribution to Israel, the country she sees as both her home and her heartache.
Source: Dina Kraft. Refuseniks at home. JStandard.com (28 December 2007) [FullText]
Labels: Rehovot People
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