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NEWL Y ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS
counsel with Diane Ammund, head of the Jewish Family Service. Soviet Jews do not
quickly accept newspeople and photographers, and this family did not want their pictures taken.
e rs and vo luntee rs from the J ewi sh
F a mily Service o f Los Ange les. Two
cultures mee t, tense as th ey cye each
oth er. One hears words o f welcome
fro m th e Ame rican strangers a nd
murmurs in Russian from the re fu –
gees. T hey a re led to wa iting cars,
and be fo re the day is o ut, they a re
se ttled in a partmen ts rented for
thcm by the J ewish agency.
Hesitant to Talk
T he immigrants have been a rri ving
in sma ll family groups fo r th e past
fo u r yea rs, a nd the Los Angel es ex–
pe rience is being repea ted in a num–
ber of large cities thro ug ho ut thc
country .
Months late r in a sma ll, s pa rse ly
furni shed apa rtment , one of the
fami li es is willing to ta lk about why
and wha t they le ft in Russia a nd thc
shock of entry into a free-wheeling
Ame rica.
T he fam ily admits they a re appre–
hensive abo ut an invit a tion from the
Ra bbi to a ttend a re lig ious se rvice
8
in the nearby synagog ue . " Maybe
we won't go.' ' These new imm i–
gran ts havc no t sought o ut thc re li–
g io us community and a re uns ure o f
themselves in a n tic ipa tion o f a n–
o th e r to tally new expe rience. After
s ix mo nths in Los Angeles. they
know tha t the propaganda fed thcm
by the Sovie t govcrnment was ful l
o f te rr ible dis to rti ons, but th ey had
some rantasics o f th eir own a bo ut
Ame rica which also proved to be
untrue . They a re soning it all o ut.
while s truggling with a difik ult ncw
Ja ng uage.
While s ti ll in Moscow. th ey had
heard about sermons in Ame rica n
syna gog u es d ealin g wi th th e ir
p light. They were awa re o f Senat o r
Henry J ackson and his a tt emp t to
tie trade dcals to immigration. Mes–
sages from Israe l and America en–
co ur age d th e r es tle ss J e w is h
minorities to seek exit visas . Sepa–
ra ted from re lig io us ex pe ri ence and
freedom of cho ice, but s till identi–
fied as a suspec t " na ti o nality" in
t he ir ho me la nd . they respo nded to
the ancient cry. " Le t My Peop le
G o."
For years, Israel has encouraged
Jews everywhe re to come homc lo
ful fill the prophecy o f return . In lhe
last few years. Jewis h d issid en ts
have s tepped up th e ir pro tes ts and
R ussia n inte llectuals have sought
more freedom fo r a l! Sovie t ci tize ns.
Fo llowing dé tente and trade deal , a
few of the Soviet Uni on 's three mil–
Iio n J ewis h c i tize ns have bee n
a llowed to lea ve .
At fi rs t, just a few hu ndred we re
permitted to leave. Then a few lho u–
sa nd . By 1974 more tha n 100,000
had go tten o ut of Russ ia, most o f
them going lo Israe l.
Now, however.
in
eve r increasin g
pe rcentages and for a va riety of rea–
so ns, R ussian Jews who a re granted
exit visas are choosing to live in the
Un ited S ta tes and Canada. In 1971
on ly 290 Sovie t Jews emig ra ted
to
the Unit ed Sta tes . By 1975 6,000
we re mak ing their homes in 22 ma -
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976