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Uzbekistan with her parents and
younger sister.
She has a long-time Russian immi-
grant boyfriend, she said, and they
share the same intellectual interests,
cultural pursuits and personality traits.
In theory, she said, she wouldn't rule
out dating a non-Russian Israeli who
shared those things — but, she indi-
cated, that's just not likely.
Curiously, her boyfriend, Daniel
Zeitlin, who immigrated nine years
ago from Tajikistan with his parents
and twin brother, says he is less tied
to his Soviet roots. A computer sci-
ence and mathematics student at
Hebrew University, he says, "I'm very
proud of being Jewish and I need to
be both Jewish and Israeli."
Roman Simkin, 20, who arrived
10 years ago from the Crimea with
his mother, said he feels close to both
sides. "I feel like I don't have much in
common with a Russian who came in
1998, and get along better with open-
minded Israelis.: But today it doesn't
make much difference to me who is
Moroccan, Russian or Israeli. The
way I look at it, we are all eating
from the same plate."
But things weren't always so easy.
All the immigrants interviewed spoke
of the difficulties they had in the
beginning with the new language,
culture and people. There were fist-
fights and cursing, mainly with the
Sephardic Jews, they said.
The young adults said they
respected Jewish religious traditions
but, just like in mainstream Israeli
society, were divided as to the degree
to which they observe these tradi-
tions. Most came to Israel with little
or no knowledge of Judaism and
learned what they know in school.
Though some started keeping kosher,
most said they respect their religion
from afar.
Ureter, formerly of Uzbekistan, is
the only one in her family to observe
the laws of kashrut and said she plans
to keep kosher when she has her own
apartment.
"I feel in our crazy world these
religious rules create clear boundaries
for us," she said. "It makes me think
about the things I do. It is important
-to have these ethical, moral bound-
aries with all the freedom around us."
Keeping kosher is a way of con-
necting himself to the Jewish people,
said Mark Zadov, 21, who arrived
eight years ago from Dagistan near
Chechnya. But when it comes to
more mundane things like music, he
says, he prefers the Russian tunes. The
words, he says, "speak" to him more.
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Like other Israeli youth, Zadov served
in the army and pays attention to the
fighting that has been going on in
•
DIVIDED on page 12
Detroit area in two waves. The
first wave, which ended in
1985, brought about 1,800
immigrants.
A second wave started in
1989, when 800 immigrants
`-a from the FSU reached the
Detroit area. Only 16 had
come the year before.
In 1990, the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit raised $21.2 million
Sharing a treat are Joanna Kristall, 15, of
in a fund-raising campaign
Huntington Woods and Rachel Kozadayev, 15,
called Operation Exodus to
and Deena Shayevitz, 16, both of Oak Park.
help absorb the waves of
Russian Jews. When more than 1,700
years ago and works Sundays in the
Russian Jews arrived in the next three
gym at the Oak Park building of the
years,
Operation Exodus II raised
Jewish Community Center.
another $6.7 million.
Though he has family living in
Jewish Family Service, the
Israel, he has yet to visit.
Southfield-based agency, worked with
'A trip to Israel had crossed my
other Federation associate agencies to
mind," he said. "It's something I want
help the families get started. Jewish
to do in the future, but currently I'm
Vocational Service provided the job
too busy with school and other things."
placement, Hebrew Free Loan
Association
provided funding for trans-
Agency Help
portation
and
housing costs and the
Since 1972, 6,527 Jews from the for-
mer Soviet Union have arrived in the
DETROIT on page 14
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