4 minute read
Notice the Jewish Russians in neighborhoods near you
By Marina Berkovich
Jewish Russian Cultural Alliance (JRCA) serves as “home base” for Jews from the former Soviet Union and countries that evolved after its collapse. We are a very unique cultural group under the umbrella of Jewish Federation of Greater Naples.
Why are we so unique? Because we are, for the most part, people of the first generation of settling in USA. That is, each of us made the journey out of USSR back then or left USSR successor countries after its collapse. Some of us came to the U.S. in the 1950s, some in the 1970s, most in 1989 and after. Some of us were denied exit from the USSR and spent years waiting for the miracle of regime change. We carry specific knowledge of the part of history that is no longer being taught. We carry specific respect for the U.S. that only the immigrants who escaped the clutches of Marxism-socialism, like the Cubans, Chinese or ex-Soviets, appreciate and praise daily.
We never forget how nearly impossible it was to be a Jew in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. We pass that grim knowledge to our children, neighbors, friends and, inasmuch as we can, hope to educate the world through our experiences of what not to desire. We sometimes succeed. Other times, the world is gullible or indifferent as it always has been.
Our group meets four times a year to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Purim and Victory in Europe/Israel Independence.
Last Purim, we met for a wonderful community meal. Mark Livstone played his Jewish repertoire on his bayan. Some of us even sang or danced. It was a very happy Purim, indeed. Livstone is a Holocaust survivor, who was born deep in the Belarus forests when his parents hid in the swamps from the Nazis. Although many of his ancestors were killed in 1941, he was destined to be born and survive, even after the commander of the partisan encampment, fearing discovery, ordered parents to kill their younglings. Livstone usually shares his survival story, as told to him by his extraordinary partisan mom, during our VE Day commemoration.
Everyone in our group had family in the battlefields or camps during WWII. It is our most important annual commemoration. We are all survivors and survivors’ children or grandchildren; survivors of socialism-Stalinism and socialism-Nazism.
The most recent wave of escapees from Russian-speaking lands are families escaping war in Ukraine and its ripple effects. We understand the long-lasting devastation of wars firsthand. We were reared on such legacies.
I am not in favor of comparing tragedies. Each one is uniquely terrifying. But the Jewish tragedy in Gaza affects all our members’ families. The predominant majority of us speak to our relations in Israel daily … wondering about their children and grandchildren serving in IDF … praying for their safety and the safe return of hostages … desiring a better understanding from the world.
We, the former political “hostages” of the USSR, who were freed due to involvement of the American Jewry, understand how imperative it is to have a strong United States and how critical U.S. support is to Israel’s survival. We live in strange and sad times. Antisemitism has gained enormous power since the events of Oct. 7. Instead of aligning their sympathies with the victims, governments, organizations and masses are misaligned against Israel, effectively calling for the next extermination.
On Sunday, May 12 from noon to 3 p.m., JRCA will celebrate VE Day (May 8, 1945 for Europe; May 9, 1945 for the USSR) and Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's national day commemorating the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14, 1948.
Please email JRCAGroup@gmail.com to receive future detailed notifications.
