A FORUM on Russian involvement in the broader community is one tactic being employed by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) to address the ongoing issue of integration, the AJN has learned.
JCCV spokesman Daniel Aghion said the invitation-only forum in July, which has been organised by the council’s Social Justice Committee, would act as a “starting point for identifying and naming the problems and starting to work out what options and solutions there might be”.
The conference was organised following the co-option of Michael Vainer, the president of Russian social and support group Am Echad, on to the JCCV executive last month. Leaders of Jewish communal organisations and representatives of the Russian community have reportedly been invited to attend.
Vainer said the aim of the meeting would be to “determine the needs of both the former Soviet Union Jewish community and the broader Jewish community regarding integration and how those needs can be met.”
The issue of Russian integration made headlines in last week’s AJN after immigrants accused the mainstream Jewish community of marginalising and alienating them. The front-page article was prompted by a chapter in the newly-released anthology New Under the Sun, in which Inna Zaitseva attacks the general Jewish community over its treatment of Russian immigrants, an extract of which appeared in last week’s AJN.
However, the question of blame for the alleged marginalisation of Russian Jews from the general community has prompted passionate responses from both sides.
Larisa Alexander, a Russian immigrant who arrived in 1979, blamed Jewish leaders for “elevat[ing] the status of the wealthier part of the community, leaving those who are not in a position to give in the shadows”.
Another reader, Gael Hammer, urged Russians to give as well as take. “Russians who came were welcomed, generously and wholeheartedly – but it was never enough,” she wrote. “Making relationships is a two-way street.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Grahame Leonard agreed that many Russian Jews “don’t feel a need” to be involved with the community.
“The people we want to get to don’t have any access to the organised Jewish community, so how do we reach them to encourage them to talk to us and share their needs with us?”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Knoll’s message to those Jews was clear: “Get organised, get committed, participate, and the Jewish community will welcome you.”
However, Sydney’s Rabbi Yoram Ulman, who heads the Lubavitcher organisation FREE (Friends of Refugees from Eastern Europe), told the AJN: “There are many, many [Russian Jews] who are interested to get involved in Jewish life.”
JCCV spokesman Daniel Aghion said the invitation-only forum in July, which has been organised by the council’s Social Justice Committee, would act as a “starting point for identifying and naming the problems and starting to work out what options and solutions there might be”.
The conference was organised following the co-option of Michael Vainer, the president of Russian social and support group Am Echad, on to the JCCV executive last month. Leaders of Jewish communal organisations and representatives of the Russian community have reportedly been invited to attend.
Vainer said the aim of the meeting would be to “determine the needs of both the former Soviet Union Jewish community and the broader Jewish community regarding integration and how those needs can be met.”
The issue of Russian integration made headlines in last week’s AJN after immigrants accused the mainstream Jewish community of marginalising and alienating them. The front-page article was prompted by a chapter in the newly-released anthology New Under the Sun, in which Inna Zaitseva attacks the general Jewish community over its treatment of Russian immigrants, an extract of which appeared in last week’s AJN.
However, the question of blame for the alleged marginalisation of Russian Jews from the general community has prompted passionate responses from both sides.
Larisa Alexander, a Russian immigrant who arrived in 1979, blamed Jewish leaders for “elevat[ing] the status of the wealthier part of the community, leaving those who are not in a position to give in the shadows”.
Another reader, Gael Hammer, urged Russians to give as well as take. “Russians who came were welcomed, generously and wholeheartedly – but it was never enough,” she wrote. “Making relationships is a two-way street.”
Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) president Grahame Leonard agreed that many Russian Jews “don’t feel a need” to be involved with the community.
“The people we want to get to don’t have any access to the organised Jewish community, so how do we reach them to encourage them to talk to us and share their needs with us?”
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Knoll’s message to those Jews was clear: “Get organised, get committed, participate, and the Jewish community will welcome you.”
However, Sydney’s Rabbi Yoram Ulman, who heads the Lubavitcher organisation FREE (Friends of Refugees from Eastern Europe), told the AJN: “There are many, many [Russian Jews] who are interested to get involved in Jewish life.”
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