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ABSTRACT
A large share of Russian/Soviet Jews, especially among younger cohorts, are descendants of intermarriage. In this essay, I reflect on the implications of the built-in ambivalence of these mixed ethnics, comparing their identity qualms and social strategies in their native Russia and after migration to Israel. My analysis draws upon participant observation and interviews conducted in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and across Israel over the last 20 years. My theoretical anchors are recent discussions on the evolving nature of Jewish identity, formed at the intersection of religion, ethnicity, and culture, in the context of ongoing intermarriage and assimilation. The comparison between the (ex-)Soviet and Israeli context underscores the role of local social constructions of ethno-religious belonging, nationalism, and citizenship as synergistic forces in shaping social locations of mixed ethnics. It also sheds light on the tactics of adjustment and “passing” among individuals with ambivalent ethnic identities who experience rapid social transformation or migration.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes on contributor
Larissa Remennick is professor of sociology at Bar-Ilan University where she has been teaching since 1994. Born and educated in Moscow, Larissa moved to Israel with the large wave of emigration from the former Soviet Union of the early 1990s and has studied her fellow travelers ever since. She has published three books in Russian, three books in English, and dozens of articles on different aspects of the resettlement saga of ex-Soviet Jews in Israel and in the West. The second edition of her book Russian Jews on Three Continents: Identity, Integration, and Conflict was published by Transaction in 2012.
Notes
1. Lev, interview by author, June 28, 2002, St. Petersburg.
2. Tolts, “Family Formation among Russian Jews,” and “Demograhy of Russian-Jewish Diaspora.”
3. Gitelman, A Century of Ambivalence, chs. 1–3; Religion or Ethnicity? ch. 1.
4. Brym and Ryvkina, The Jews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk; Shternshis, “From the Red Cradle” and When Sonia Met Boris.
5. Gitelman, A Century of Ambivalence, ch. 3; Nosenko, To Be or to Feel?
6. Tolts, “Family Formation among Russian Jews,” 7, 12, 16.
7. Gitelman, A Century of Ambivalence, ch. 7.
8. Remennick, Russian Jews on Three Continents.
9. Nosenko, To Be or to Feel?, ch. 1.
10. Spencer, Challenging Multiracial Identity; Wang, The Rise of Intermarriage.
11. Benet-Martinez and Ying-yi Hong, Handbook of Multicultural Identity, ch 7.
12. Kostyrchenko, Stalin's Secret Policy, chs 3–4.
13. Ben Porat, Between State and Synagogue, Introduction.
14. Nosenko, To be or to Feel?
15. Gitelman, Religion or Ethnicity?, Introduction; “Being Jewish in Russia and Ukraine.”
16. Cohen, Intermarriage and Numbers of Jews in US; Barack Fishman, Double or Nothing?; Spickard, “Jewish Americans.”
17. Pew Survey of Jewish Americans, 2013.
18. Smith and Cooperman, What Happened when Jews Intermarry; Cohen, Intermarriage and Numbers of Jews in the US.
19. Nosenko-Stein, Pass this On to your Children, chs. 1, 3, 5.
20. Nagel, “Constructing Ethnicity.”
21. Remennick, Russian Israelis; Prashizky and Remennick, “Celebrating Memory and Belonging.”
22. Leshem, Integration of ex-Soviet Immigrants.
23. Prashizky and Remennick, “Gender and Cultural Citizenship.”
24. Remennick, Russian Jews on Three Continents and Russian Israelis.
25. Charmaz, Constructing Grounded Theory.
26. The choice of quotes from the abundant narratives I collected over the years was no easy task. Trying to stay “grounded” in the empirical reality but also elicit some common patterns and theoretical insights, I looked for the repeated themes to reveal the “typical.” Yet, I also quote some outliers who expressed uncommon opinions and twists in their lived experience.
27. Zisserman-Brodsky, Constructing Ethnopolitics in the Soviet Union, Introduction & ch. 1.
28. Remennick, Russian Jews on Three Continents, ch. 1.
29. Dunlop, The Rise of Russia, chs. 2–3.
30. Ryvkina, Jews in Contemporary Russia, Conclusions.
31. Tolts, “Demography of Jewish Diaspora,” 35.
32. Nosenko, To Be or to Feel?, Conclusions.
33. Gitelman, “Being Jewish in Russia and Ukraine;” Nosenko-Stein, Pass This On to Your Children; Shapiro et al., Jews of St.Petersburg; Shternshis, When Sonia Met Boris.
34. Kostyrchenko, Stalin's Secret Policy, 178-201.
35. Tamara, interview by author, January 20, 1998, Moscow.
36. Marina, interview by author, September 28, 1991, St. Petersburg.
37. Kostyrchenko, Stalin's Secret Policy, 178–201.
38. Nosenko, To be or to Feel?; Ryvkina, Jews in Contemporary Russia.
39. Victor, interview by author, June 5, 2013, Moscow.
40. Nina, interview by author, July 18, 2009, St. Petersburg.
41. Gitelman, Religion of Ethnicity?, Conclusions; Shternshis, “From the Red Cradle.”
42. Nosenko-Stein, Pass This on To Your Children, Conclusions.
43. Gitelman, “Being Jewish in Russia and Ukraine;” Ryvkina, Jews in Contemporary Russia; Shapiro et al., Jews of St. Petersburg.
44. Nosenko-Stein, Pass This on to Your Children, 116–137.
45. Shternshis, “From the Red Cradle;” When Sonia Met Boris.
46. Arad, Holocaust in the Soviet Union, Conclusion.
47. Khanin, “Holocaust Memory and Russian Israelis.”
48. Nosenko-Stein, Pass This on to Your Children, 89–95.
49. Irena, interview by author, July 16, 2009, Moscow.
50. Anna, interview by author, July 30, 2000, Moscow.
51. Dmitry, interview by author, June 21, 2002, Moscow.
52. Gitelman, A Century of Ambivalence, ch. 8.
53. Deutsch Kornblatt, Doubly Chosen, Conclusion.
54. Dasha, interview by author, August 18, 2008, Moscow.
55. Tartakovsky et al. “Emigration Intentions of Russian Jews.”
56. Robert, interview by author, July 7, 2010, St. Petersburg.
57. Raya, interview by author, August 15, 2008, Moscow.
58. CBS, Statistical Abstract of Israel, 23, 38.
59. Waxman, “Multiculturalism, Conversion and Israel's Future.”
60. Tolts, “Demography of Russian- Jewish Diaspora,” 28, 30, 32.
61. Kravel-Tovi, “‘National Mission’.”
62. Waxman, “Multiculturalism, Conversion and Israel's Future,” 50.
63. Fialkova and Yelenevskaya, Ex-Soviets in Israel; Remennick, Russian Jews on Three Continents, Russian Israelis.
64. These challenges are vividly depicted by the artist Zoya Cherkassky, who came to Israel from Kiev at the age of fourteen as an aspiring artist. In her satirical paintings (almost caricatures), Zoya shows the shocking encounter of the ex-Soviet olim with Israel: degrading manual jobs, sexual harassment, struggling with Hebrew, and rabbinical interference in their private lives. Zoya's pictures mock common stereotypes of both the Soviets and Israelis. Her large personal exhibit titled Pravda (referring both to bitter truth and the ominous Party newspaper) recently opened in Jerusalem's flagship Israel Museum. See: http://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/zoya-cherkassky
65. Leshem, Integration of ex-Soviet Immigrants in Israel, Conclusion.
66. Remennick, Russian Israelis, Introduction.
67. Cohen and Susser, “Jews and Others.”
68. Prashizky and Remennick, “Gender and Cultural Citizenship.”
69. Ibid., 371.
70. Anna, interview by author, September 16, 2004 Holon.
71. Nadia, interview by author, April 19, 2002, Haifa.
72. Fialkova and Yelenevskaya, Ex-Soviets in Israel. ch. 2 and Conclusion.
73. Lena, interview by author, October 12, 2010, Herzlia.
74. Prashizky and Remennick, “Gender and Cultural Citizenship.”
75. Prashizky and Remennick, “Celebrating Memory and Belonging” and “Weddings in the Town Square.”
76. Igor, interview by author, May 23, 2014, Modi’in.
77. Oleg, interview by author, November 2, 2016, Natania.
78. Cohen and Susser, “Jews and Others;” Kravel Tovi, “National Mission;” Waxman, “Multiculturalism, Conversion and Israel's Future.”
79. Prashizky and Remennick “Gender and Cultural Citizenship.”
80. Prashizky and Remennick, “Weddings in the Town Square.”
81. Prashizky and Remennick, “Celebrating Memory and Belonging.”
82. Ben-Porat, Between State and Synagogue, Conclusion.
83. Gitelman, “Being Jewish in Russia and Ukraine;” Ryvkina, Jews in Contemporary Russia.
84. Nagel, “Constructing Ethnicity.”