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ber of other wealthy Jews to con-
common practice in post-Soviet
tribute to the group as well.
Russia.
Founded in early 1996, the con-
As he put it, "We'd be ready to hire
gress distributed $1.3 million in grants
the devil himself if he could give us
to schools, synagogues, social services
security."
and cultural projects during its first
Whatever pushed him into Jewish
year.
philanthropy, Goussinsky is no longer
According' to Pinchas Goldschmidt,
using it as a personal shield, says the
Moscow's chief rabbi and a close -
director of the Moscow office of the
friend of Goussinsky, the 1998 budget
American Jewish Joint Distribution
of the Russian Jewish community will
Committee.
be about $30 million, and the budget
"He isn't doing what he's doing out
of the Russian Jewish Congress will be
of pure business or logic. This man
$6 million.
has an amazing emotional drive,
Some Jewish activists reproach
which fortunately was connected with
Goussinsky for the low profile that the
the development of the Jewish com-
RJC, which claims to be strictly non-
munity," said Michael Steiner.
partisan, has been keeping in the
"Our task is to help people identify
Russian public arena. They also say
themselves as Jews," explained
the congress — which has set up some
Goussinsky. "If we succeed, the num-
50 regional branches — has failed to
ber of Jews living in Russia will
establish close ties with Jews outside of increase."
Moscow and St. Petersburg.
His involvement in Jewish philan-.
"Goussinsky has created a club of
thropy has partially backfired. He says
Jewish nouveau riche seeking new
some of his rivals have used his
business connections and influence.
involvement in the RJC against him.
They are giving some of their wealth
""My competitors don't make it a. secret
to the community but are not aware
that they have been and will be using
of local needs and have little under-
Jewish themes in attacks on me," he
standing of where their money goes,"
said.
said one activist.
These attacks have intensified since
Goussinsky has also been criticized
Goussinsky adopted dual citizenship
for his links to the Soviet-era KGB.
by obtaining an Israeli passport earlier
He admits that former KGB employ-
this decade.
ees work for his security service, a
Goussinsky, who admits that he

Russian Meltdown
Triggers Jewish Fears

American Jewish leaders
weigh contingency plans
to aid Russia's
vulnerable Jewish
population.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

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38 Detroit Jewish News

hasn't been able to devote much time
to Jewish learning, is hoping the con-
gress' largest project to date — a
memorial synagogue in Moscow —
will help them achieve this goal.
The synagogue, inside the World
War II national memorial park on
Poklonnaya Gora, is scheduled to
open this month next to a Russian
Orthodox church and a mosque.
Construction costs, Goussinsky says,
will top $10 million — more than th
total cost of RJC's regular projects
during the past two years.
With the same optimism and drive
that propelled him to the top of
Russia's business world, Goussinsky
hopes that Jewish life will enjoy
enough of a renaissance that it will no
longer have to rely on the contribu-
tions from abroad.
But even being a Russian media
baron and the country's leading Jewish
philanthropist does not fully satisfy his
ambitions.
Upset with Israel's treatment of
Russian immigrants, Goussinsky said
he would like to play a more visible
role in the Jewish state.
Indeed, he recently outbid cosmet-
ics heir Ronald Lauder to purchase a
25-percent share in Ma'ariv, Israel's
leading evening newspaper.
"I am always tempted to interfere,"
he said.

ome national Jewish leaders are
beginning to worry out loud
that the Russian economic and
political turmoil may provoke
a wave of anti-Semitism.
And they wonder if Jewish commu-
nal institutions here are prepared for the
conseqUences of a full-scale meltdown
in Russia.
"We can handle a modest increase in
refugees coming to this country, and
Israel can certainly handle more," said a

top Jewish community relations official.
"But we're not really prepared for an all-
out emergency that requires quick
action on a very large scale and lots of
money. We're not psychologically pre-
pared, and there are indications Israel
isn't, either."
The decline in the Russian economy,
which had been slowly accelerating for
months, exploded last week with the
devaluation of the ruble, the collapse of
the banking system and chaos in the
government of President Boris Yeltsin,
who fired his prime minister and a •
number of leading economic reformers.
The economic and political crisis
reached a peak as President Bill Clinton
arrived for a previouSly scheduled sum-
mit, and Jewish groups gathered in
Moscow for meetings of the Russian
Jewish Congress.
The rapid deterioration in Moscow
caught American Jewish officials — as
well as the Clinton administration —
by surprise.

"There was widespread understand-
ing that the situation was.grave for
Yeltsin, but there were no predications
that the ceiling would cave in," said the
leader of one major Jewish group.
"The speed and extent of the col-
lapse has led to a whole new level of
concern because instability has always
brought out anti-Semitism in Russia."
But Jewish leaders here have few
options, beyond monitoring the situa-
tion and consulting with Russian Jewish
leaders.
"We clearly can't save the country
from itself," said David Harris, execu-
tive director of the American Jewish
Committee. "Our discussions this week
are focusing on what to do in the face
of various conceivable scenarios, even as
the U.S. government grapples with its
role in trying to stem the economic
hemorrhage."
One issue being discussed is how to

MELTDOWN on page 40

