To Russia and Back: Learning from the "Periphery"


 

Publication Date: July 2009

Publisher: National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Author(s): Shari Cohen

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Leadership; FSU; Communal Organization

Type: Other

Coverage: Russia (Federation)

Abstract:

The author shares reflections from a visit to the former Soviet Union, arguing that the Russian Jewish community quickly is becoming a community that American and Israeli Jews ignore at their peril. This community has something to teach us -- perhaps more than we have to teach them. It offers insights about membership, about taking risks with Jewish culture, and about the Jewish contribution to society at large. Russia may well be the site where a post-assimilationist Jewish identity will emerge.