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Soviet Jewry

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12

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1991

Zip

B'nai B'rith is focusing
more and more energy on
preparing Jews remaining
in the Soviet Union for
aliyah — even those who
plan to postpone their depar-
ture.
Also, B'nai B'rith and
other groups are increasing-
ly being called on to provide
basic social services to an ag-
ing population in a crumbl-
ing society.
"The kinds of institutions
and services that we take for
granted here are very new
for them," he said. "That
probably is the most effec-
tive thing we can do for
those who plan to stay. But
it's a difficult process —and
an expensive one."
That expense is part of an-
other change in the Soviet
Jewry movement.
Jewish groups that once
emphasized advocacy in the
halls of government and on
the streets are spending
more and more energy rais-
ing money for the services
craved by Jews remaining in
the Soviet republics, and for
the even bigger job of fun-
ding Israel's creaky absorp-
tion machinery.
The National Conference
on Soviet Jewry, once a
model of effective political
advocacy, was a major
player in last summer's all-
out Jewish effort to win $10
billion in loan guarantees
for Israel.
"Much more of our energy
is now focused on fund rais-
ing than in our advocacy
days," said the group's ex-
ecutive director, Martin
Wenick. "This is a recogni-
tion of the fact that suc-
cessful resettlement may in-
fluence people who might
make the incorrect decision,
and delay their departure."
Despite these changes, ad-
vocacy remains an impor-
tant function for Soviet
Jewry groups, albeit one
that has radically changed.
"The need continues for
this kind of activity," Mr.
Wenick said. "But it's ad-
vocacy in a different arena.
You don't need to be out in
the streets any more with
demonstrations. There are
new avenues."
Suddenly, Soviet Jewry
supporters have access to the
highest levels of the crumbl-
ing Soviet government, a
fact demonstrated when
NCSJ's chair, Shoshana
Cardin, met with Mikhail
Gorbachev in the Kremlin
several months ago — the
first meeting between a
Soviet chief of state and
Soviet Jewry activists. But
there is an obvious paradox
here: Soviet Jewry leaders
are gaining that access just

as • the Soviet leaders are
becoming irrelevant to the
future of the sprawling
nation.
"If, in fact, we end up with
15 independent and very
different republics — what
will the impact of that be in
terms of the Jewish popula-
tions of those republics?"
asked Mark Levin, NCSJ's
associate executive director.
"We have to work with each
of them to ensure that they
live up to the international
agreements made by the
former central government.
Where we once had a single
central government to deal
with, we may now have 15
different governments, with
very different personalities
and very different agendas."
So Jewish groups inter-
ested in protecting Jews in
far-flung parts of the former
Soviet empire are working
frantically to develop rela-
tionships with these new
government entities.
The Soviet Jewry move-
ment, it can be said, is facing
problems common to groups
that have achieved many of
their aims.
For 20 years, the focus of
the movement was on ad-
vocacy and political action —
relative "sexy" issues that
provided a steady supply of
new activists and new
money.
Now, with the focus shifted
to Israel and to providing the
unglamorous services need-
ed by the Jews left behind in
the Soviet Union, sustaining
the movement's momentum
is becoming more difficult.
"Some of the air has gone
out of the balloon," said
B'nai B'rith's Mr.
Mariaschin. "People love to
do advocacy. When you go
tell them that now what's
important is sending in
teachers, people think it's a
great idea — but where are
we going to get the money?
What we're seeing is a nor-
mal chain of events. As ten-
sions have lessened, people
are concerned with other
things."
Some of the traditional
programs that gave Ameri-
can Jews a feeling of con-
nectedness to the Jews of the
Soviet Union are already
beginning to evaporate.
"The basic problem is to
ensure the support of the
Jewish leadership," said
NCSJ's Mr. Wenick. "It's a
difficult thing to sustain as a
mass movement. What we
have to do is have a con-
certed effort to convince
leadership across the coun-
try that there still have to be
central bodies that can coor-
dinate activities on behalf of
Soviet Jews."

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