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20

FRIDAY JULY 17. 1987

I

Refuseniks, Rabbis

Continued from Page 18

and religious life in Russia is
desirable, but it is of far less
importance to them than get-
ting Jews out of the Soviet
Union.
It is essential that we main-
tain this perspective when we
hear about the possibility of
Soviet officials agreeing to
send six young Jews to Amer-
ica to study for the rabbinate,
or when the possibility of
opening kosher restaurants
or increasing Jewish cultural
life is raised. All of these are
interesting prospects but they
should not distract us from
the main goal of the refuse-
niks. That goal is emigration.
It is their first, second and
third priority. All else is of
less significance.
The first priority in emigra-
tion is who gets out. All agree
that the first to leave must be
the long-term refuseniks,
whose tragic state is painful
for them and intimidating for
others who may wish to apply
for visas. Maria and Vladimir
Slepak — waiting 17 years;
Professor Alexander Lerner
— 16 years; Irina and Victor
Brailovsky — 15 years; Inna
and Yuli Kosharovsky — 13
years; and hundreds more
like them. They have been
waiting for visas long enough
by any standard. The denial
of their elementary right to
free emigration is a cruel
reminder of the nature of the
regime under which all Soviet
citizens live. They must be
allowed to leave first.
The second priority in
emigration is how the process
works. One must be able to
apply and have a reasonable
expectation of receiving a
visa without the threat of ar-
bitrary refusal. Recently,
many refuseniks who had
been previously denied a visa
because of a lack of first-
degree relatives in Israel,
have now received a new
refusal on the grounds of al-
legedly holding state secrets.
In one case this new refusal
was followed two months
later by permission to
emigrate. Where did the
secrets come from in the first
place and what happened to
them two months later? The
process must be fair,
equitable and clear to the
potential applicant.
The third priority in
emigration is how many will
get out. The numbers must be
significant. Ten thousand a
year is not enough. Fifty
thousand were allowed to
emigrate in 1979. Why not a
similar number in 1987? And
yet, one hears from the
refuseniks themselves that, if
the long-term refuseniks get
out and the process is a fair
one, the numbers can be
negotiated.

Culture? Rabbis? Kosher
restaurants? These are desir-
able, but emigration is
critical. "If there is no
emigration," says Victor
Brailovsky, "there will be no
culture. Jews must feel they
can get out before they will
study Judaism or Hebrew. It
is too dangerous otherwise."
Brailovsky should know.
"Look," he told me. "I went to
jail for culture (his crime was
that he published an under-
ground magazine: Jews in the
USSR); I devote my life to
Jewish thought and history;
but it is all meaningless with-
out emigration." Yuli
Kosharovsky, a Hebrew
teacher whose teaching
materials were confiscated by
the KGB including his ketuba
(marriage document) — had
written it by hand when I
conducted his religious wed-
ding ceremony in October,
1975 — adds the following: "It
is much easier for the Soviet
authorities to manipulate
and control culture than
emigration. Culture can be
turned on and off without
Western knowledge. Emigra-
tion is far more visible. People
either get out or not. The
facts and the numbers are
clear and undeniable."
One of the rabbis who re-
turned from the Soviet Union
reported that Soviet officials
asked him to encourage
American Jewish organiza-
tions to mute their criticism
of the Soviet Union because of
the "major breakthroughs"
on the matter of student rab-
bis, culture and kosher food.
One cannot blame the Soviet
officials for making such a re-
quest. It would, however, be
naive for American Jewry to
relax the pressure on the
Soviet government because of
some vague promises on
Jewish culture which have
yet to be fulfilled in the
slightest way. If one wants to
evaluate the new Soviet
policy of glasnost — openness
— the litmus test should not
be a few concessions on
culture, but rather the facts of
free emigration. This view of
priorities was maintained
consistently by all refuseniks
"Tell our friends in America
not to be fooled by cosmetic
changes," one warned.

The author is rabbi of
Congregation Kehilath
Jeshurun in New York City,
President of the New York
Board of Rabbis and Vice
Chairman of the Coalition to
Free Soviet Jews. He travelled
to the Soviet Union as
chairman of the Soviet Jewry
Committee of the Rabbinical
Council of America.

