# The Soviet Jewry Movement, Revisited Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0OiZp2-yPs Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/P0OiZp2-yPs --- ## Quick Overview The Soviet Jewry Movement, often mythologized as a unified global Jewish effort, was in reality a complex interplay of distinct Soviet, Israeli, and American domestic political and social forces, each with differing motivations and objectives. Revisiting this history reveals that Soviet Jews' emigration was driven by diverse factors beyond anti-Semitism, Israel's involvement was often reluctant and strategic, and American activism aligned with broader Cold War politics and neoconservatism, challenging the simplistic narrative of a singular, unified rescue mission. **Key Points:** - The Soviet Jewry Movement was not a unified global Jewish communal event but rather a complex interplay of distinct Soviet, Israeli, and American domestic stories, challenging the prevailing mythology. - Soviet Jews' emigration was driven by diverse factors beyond anti-Semitism, including economic and social opportunities, with events like Chernobyl playing a significant role in inspiring people to leave, as explored in Anna Shternshis's essay. - Israel's involvement in the movement was often reluctant and strategic, navigating between superpowers and dealing with domestic concerns, contrary to the popular narrative of Israel as the sole driving force, as detailed by Jonathan Dekel-Chen. - American activism in the Soviet Jewry Movement dovetailed with the rise of political neoconservatism and Cold War politics in the United States, aligning with figures like Senator Henry Jackson, as discussed by Hadas. - The movement's emergence in the late 1960s and 1970s, after the worst period of repression against Jews in the Soviet Union, aligns with the broader global human rights movements of that era. - The 'dropout crisis,' where many Soviet Jewish emigrants chose not to go to Israel, created significant friction within the Jewish world and marked the beginning of a 'downhill slide' in interactions between the state of Israel and diaspora communities. - Revisiting this history provides valuable lessons for contemporary activism, demonstrating how to mobilize mass numbers of people and highlighting the importance of understanding how social movements align with broader political forces and existing domestic political fights. **Context:** The discussion centers on a special block of essays in the latest issue of Jewish Currents, titled 'Revisiting the Soviet Jewry Movement.' The panel includes Sasha Sunderovich, an assistant professor of Russian, Jewish, and International Studies at the University of Washington; Tova Benjamin, a PhD candidate at NYU specializing in Russian and Jewish history who curated the essay block; Hadas, a PhD student in history at NYU; Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the Rabbi Edward Sander Chair in Soviet and East European Jewry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and Anna Shternshis, the Al and Malcolm Green Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. The conversation aims to deconstruct the popular, often mythologized, narrative of the Soviet Jewry Movement as a singular, unified global Jewish effort, instead presenting it as a complex phenomenon shaped by distinct domestic contexts in the Soviet Union, Israel, and the United States. ## Detailed Analysis The roundtable discussion, featuring Sasha Sunderovich, Tova Benjamin, Hadas, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, and Anna Shternshis, critically revisits the Soviet Jewry Movement, challenging its prevailing mythology of a unified global Jewish communal event. Panelists emphasize that the movement comprised at least three distinct domestic stories: Soviet, Israeli, and American. Anna Shternshis's essay explores the Soviet perspective, arguing that Soviet Jews' desire to leave was not solely due to anti-Semitism but also economic and social factors, with events like Chernobyl playing a significant role in inspiring emigration. Jonathan Dekel-Chen's piece examines Israel's role, revealing its reluctance to fully engage due to its position between superpowers and domestic concerns, contrary to the myth of Israel as the primary driving force. Hadas's work connects American activism to the rise of neoconservatism and Cold War politics, highlighting how the movement's agenda dovetailed with figures like Senator Henry Jackson. The panelists discuss the challenges of balancing scholarly analysis with communal memory, particularly given that many participants are still alive. They also explore the movement's emergence after the worst period of repression, linking it to broader global human rights movements of the 1970s. The discussion concludes by considering the contemporary implications of this revisited history, noting its relevance to current events like the war in Ukraine, Israel's diplomatic navigation, and the ongoing debates within Jewish communities regarding unity, activism, and foreign policy, particularly concerning the "dropout crisis" where many Soviet Jewish emigrants chose not to settle in Israel. ### Panelists' Personal Motivations - Sasha Sunderovich encountered the story through meeting American Jews and marriage, leading to scholarly interest - Jonathan Dekel-Chen participated as an adolescent in Connecticut, later encountering scholarly realities that challenged his idyllic memories - Tova Benjamin was introduced to the history by Gennady Estraikh, questioning the 'savior' narrative and the movement's purpose (human rights vs. Zionism) - Hadas was drawn to the grassroots organizing feat, the perceived consensus among American Jews, and how the movement aligned with state interests despite its initial subversive identity - Anna Shternshis, a historian of Soviet Jewish experience, initially viewed it as a Western rescue effort but became interested in re-examining the unchallenged hero narrative of refuseniks. ### Challenging the Unified Mythology - The discussion highlights the Soviet Jewry Movement as a collection of at least three distinct domestic stories rather than a single, unified global event - Anna Shternshis's essay reveals that Soviet Jews' emigration was driven by diverse factors beyond anti-Semitism, including economic and social opportunities, with Chernobyl playing a larger role than commonly believed - Jonathan Dekel-Chen's piece critiques the idea of Israel as the sole driving force, showing Israel's reluctance to engage due to its geopolitical position and domestic concerns - Hadas's article links American activism to the rise of political neoconservatism and Cold War politics, demonstrating how the movement's goals aligned with hawkish elements in the U.S. government. ### Conceptual Challenges in Research - Panelists faced the difficulty of balancing cerebral historical analysis with existing communal narratives and triumphalism, especially when dealing with living subjects - Tova Benjamin noted the challenge of presenting a revisionist history to a readership largely unfamiliar with the movement's extent and complexities - Hadas questioned why the movement emerged in the late 1960s/1970s, after the worst period of repression, linking it to broader global human rights movements and the political nature of human rights advocacy - The essays aimed to de-emphasize global Jewish unity narratives and instead focus on the domestic political contexts of each 'wing' of the movement. ### Implications for Contemporary Jewish Politics and Memory - The revisited history offers lessons for current activism, as veteran Soviet Jewry activists demonstrated immediate knowledge of effective strategies during the Ukraine war crisis - Jonathan Dekel-Chen notes parallels between Israel's past navigation between superpowers and its current role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and highlights the 'dropout crisis' as a precursor to current tensions between Israel and diaspora Jewry - Tova Benjamin suggests that the nostalgia for the movement's 'unity' today serves anxieties about young Jews becoming anti-Zionist, and questions the effectiveness of legislative achievements like the Jackson-Vanik amendment - Hadas emphasizes the importance for contemporary activists to understand how social movements align with broader political forces and existing domestic political fights, beyond specific Jewish communal or Zionist contexts.