Voices
fmm Moscow

Stone expressions on their faces, they are tightly
bundled to shield themselves against the freezing
weather. On this morning they are waiting to buy lim-
ited quantities of milk, which comes in small tins
the size of a large tunafish can.
When the milk runs out — as it inevitably will —
people will either sullenly go home or seek another
store rumored to have the precious commodity. Ei-
ther way, by 3:30 p.m. another day in Moscow will
soon come to an end as the sun sets.
The three sights — the marker to the Nazi advance,
the broken sign and the long lines — are an apt anal-
ogy to Jewish life here. Until now, being Jewish in
Moscow has meant either surviving a siege, letting
the broken sit idle or waiting for something to run out,
whether it be tolerance to Jews or the remnant of Jew-
ish practices.
A recent nine-day visit to Moscow found the Jew-
ish community, like the rest of the city, desperately
trying to brave the shocks of what tomorrow might
bring. But against that backdrop, there has .been a re-
juvenation of Jewish life here, albeit with huge ob-
stacles in the way of its full development.
The trip was sponsored by The Friendship Force,
an Atlanta-based organization that arranges home-
hospitality stays for Americans around the world. It
included interviews with rabbis and teachers, visits
to a Jewish theater and a Jewish day school, meet-
ings with former gulag prisoners and current hu-
man rights activists, and conversations with optimistic
academics and pessimistic teenagers.
While Moscow's Jewish leaders struggle to build
a community, they must deal with a population ob-
sessed with the economic devastation and political
chaos that defines their country.
More than 400,000 Jews have already made their

personal statement on Russia's future. Since the em-
igration gates opened up in September, 1989, they
have left for Israel or the United States. Many more
will do so. Yet, more than one million are expected to
remain.
That so many will stay and have tremendous needs
is slowly being recognized by the American Jewish
community, which has been primarily focused on re-
settlement efforts in Israel and the United States.
The choice to not emigrate, many in Moscow say,
is now the lesser of evils. U.S. visas are more precious
than milk for babies. Israel, they hear from friends
there, is self-obsessed with infighting over its ab-
sorption woes.
Moscow's disintegration, at least, is something these
people understand. As one Jewish person said, "At
least here we still have hope that we can hope."
If they stay, will these largely assimilated Jews help
build Jewish life? How will they deal with the grow-
ing anti-Semitic groups? Should they try to become
Russian Jews instead of Jews who live in Russia?
(Their Soviet internal passports — once needed to
travel throughout Soviet republics — declare their
nationality as Jewish, not Russian.)
The following is what some of Moscow's estimat-
ed 220,000 Jews say about their past, their present
and how it shapes their Jewish future.
These are the voices from Moscow.

yes, it's true."
With a knit kippah donning his head and a six-foot
Chanukah menorah to his left, the principal of the
new National Jewish School tells his story.
"When perestroika started and the first informa-
tion was brought to light that what we had believed
in was not what we thought, all the facts of our real-
ity came to life," says the 45-year-old educator while
sitting in his sparsely decorated office. "I left the com-
munist party and voluntarily became a new person."
How could he reconcile being a communist and a
Jew? 'These two notions came together in theory, but
in reality they didn't work," he explains. "The corn-
munist idea is egalitarianism and equality...The trou-
bles with the Jews were personal, not with politics."
For Mr. Lipman, being a Jew now means forging a
strong Jewish life for his students, wherever they
choose to live.
The idea for the school came a year ago when Mr.
Lipman was leading a group of Muscovite Jewish
teenagers on a tour in Israel when the Gulf War broke
out.
"We were suffering with the Israelis and had the
gas masks on. At that moment I felt it was time to
have a Jewish school to learn about Israel and Dias-
pora Jewish communities."
To further that chain of understanding, this
Passover his school will host a Jewish educators' con-
ference for teachers from around the world.
The school has no tuition. Secular studies are paid
for by the Russian government and Jewish organi-
66
zations pay for the Judaic curriculum. With more than
200
students in its first year of operation in grades
was not just a communist, I believed in com-
one
through
11, the school has had a more successful
munism," says Grigory Lipman. "I was suffering for
start
than
anticipated.
Mr. Lipman hopes it is only
the communist idea. I was a member of the party. Yes,
a beginning.
"We want to set up a
Jewish theater in the
school for children. We
want a Jewish band here.
We want to study Jewish
literature in the original
language. We want to
have agan (kindergarten)
Moscow synagogue:
in the school," he burst out
most who come
when asked about future
plans.
"I dream of this
to pray are elderly.
becoming a Jewish center
in Moscow."

A Good Communist

Operation
Menorah

67

he Jews of the for-
mer Soviet Union are
most grateful to those in
America for subsidizing
Operation Exodus. How-
ever, we need Operation

24

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1992