If you’re up-to-date on my blog, then you know I’ve been spending some time writing about all the different aliyot, or waves of immigration, to Israel. You know that there were five waves before Israel was even established beginning in 1882 and ending in 1939. You know there was a Yemenite Aliyah after Israel’s independence and an Ethiopian Aliyah after that. So, know you think you’re an expert in all the immigration to Israel? There’s nothing left to know? Actually there is yet another Aliyah in the 1990’s. These Jews are coming from the former Soviet Union. So, what about the Russian Aliyah?
How did it all begin?
On November 7, 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution overthrew the Russian government and for the USSR. Under the Soviet Union, Jews were forbidden to practice Judaism or to express Zionism. Anyone associated with any Zionist organization was put in jail. Jews could no longer speak Yiddish and Hebrew. With the Bolsheviks in power, there would be an end to the national aspirations of the Jewish people. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, members of the Russian Zionist community would be jailed or exiled to places like Siberia and Kazakhstan. Arrests, interrogations, and terror only increase for Jews under Stalin.
This continued throughout the Soviet Union’s height. However, there were many Jews who refused to give up on their Judaism and Zionism. Despite being jailed and beaten, they never gave up the hope to come to Israel and practice Judaism as free Jews. Today we call the imprisoned Jews for expressing Zionism Prisoners of Zion.
And then in 1989, the Soviet Union fell, and Jews could get to Israel and the U.S. much easier.
And how did the aliyah happen?
Between 1989 and 2006 1.6 million Jews from the former Soviet Union came to Israel. They applied through Israel’s Ministry of Absorption and Immigration and flew to Israel as soon as they received their papers. With such high numbers of people moving into the country, housing proved to be difficult. As a result, new neighborhoods for the immigrants from Russia. While it provided housing for the people moving to Israel, it lead to communities that are largely Russian, with Russian stores, restaurants, etc. That lead to some separation between Russian born Israelis and native Israelis.
But with so many Russians coming with high educations, they were able to boost the economy in the areas of math, science, and medicine. These new immigrants raised standards and statistics for Israelis in these fields. Those who could not enter the fields of science, medicine, and high- tech often became teachers raising standards of education.
Russian Israelis today
So, what about the Russian Aliyah today? Despite the difficulties many faced in the beginning, Russian Israelis are a major part of Israeli society today. We can find Russians in politics, such as Avigdor Lieberman and Natan Sharansky. There are Russians in the TV and film industry, such as Shalom Michaelshvili and Ania Bukstein. Israeli TV series is producing a new show called “The Russians.” Yet there are still communities that have trouble integrating into Israeli society. These processes come with highs and lows.
What about the Russian Aliyah? Why should I care?
Why should I care about the Russian Aliyah? The Russian community has contributed a huge deal to Israel. In pure numbers, they make up a big puzzle piece of the social scene here. Without the Russian community, Israel would not look like it does today. We should care about the Russian Aliyah in order to learn from the strengths it brought us and learn from the aspects we need to work on in order to bring these Israelis more into Israeli society. It is the last major wave immigration until today, but it is not the least. And just like the Yemenite Aliyah and the Ethiopian Aliyah, we must use the question “what about the Russian Aliyah?” as a point of reflection and growth.
Because after all we are all one, big family.
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