Heightened Worry In Russia
allowed himself to be drawn into this game. You
can't play such games where Jewish lives have histor-
ically been so hard and painful."
Rabbi Lazar responds that the RJC's ineffectiveness
and its antagonism of the government prompted FEOR
members to push for his election. He also says he'll be
no patsy for the Kremlin. Within hours of Goussinsky's
arrest, Rabbi Lazar issued a statement denouncing the
state's actions and pleading for his release.
TURMOIL from page 10
Ready And Able
Immigration agencies
ready for refugees.
HARRY KIRSBAUM
Staff Writer
Whether recent events in the former Soviet
Tir Union will cause an increase in Jewish emi-
gration is anybody's guess, but Jewish agencies,
both nationally and locally, are ready for anything.
When members of the Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society in New York went on a fact-finding
mission to the former Soviet Union in June,
they came back with mixed messages.
Many Jews want to rebuild their communities
while others see no future for themselves in such
a society, said Leonard Glickman, HIAS execu-
tive vice president
Rachel Zelon, HIAS associate vice president
of program operations, said that given the
declining numbers of refugees being processed
through the FSU and refugee arrivals, HIAS
staffing has decreased appropriately However, if
the flow of refugees increases, the agency would
respond accordingly
We have the ability to respond quickly, as we
have over the last 120 years," she said
Today, the numbers of immigrants coming to
the United States can no longer be predicted by a
certain event. But Mark Myers, community shah-
itch (Israel emissary) for the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit, remembers when he was a
HIAS caseworker in Rome from 1978 to 1980,
during a peak period of immigration.
Back then, the wave of Russian immigration was
linked to U.S. trade/grain sales to the USSR based
on their record for Jewish emigration, he said. Some
50,000 Jews were processed by HIAS in one year
"Many of the older New Americans in
Detroit came through then," he said. Rachel
Yoskowitz, director of citizenship and immigra-
tion services at-Southfield-based Jewish Family
Service, said whether there's a trickle or flood of
immigrants coming to Detroit, the JFS is ready.
"We have gotten many phone calls over the
last two months from people telling us their rela-
tives are coming later in the year but we have not
gotten official notification," she said "We have
400 in the pipeline who have been approved to
come to Detroit, but we do not know when."
JFS will usually get a call from relatives
already living here telling them family members
are on their way and need help, she said.
"Keep in mind that there's been resettlement
since 1937, so there is always a stream of immi-
grants coming in. The numbers fluctuate
depending on geopolitics," she said. "We [JFS]
have the infrastructure in place; we have the
process in place. We certainly are able to expand
and resettle people as the need arises." ❑
7/14
2000
18
they convert halachically.
Indeed, Rabbi Lazar said that while he and his
Chabad colleagues appreciate the uniqueness of the
Russian Jewish environment, ultimately they won't
compromise their adherence to halacha.
Which is one reason why many RJC leaders are
outraged by the recent actions of Rabbi Lazar and
FEOR. They say Rabbi Lazar, being from Italy, does
not reflect Russian Jewry. The Russian-born
Continued Concern
Shayevich, who was installed during the Soviet era,
Observers are still unclear about the
has been reaffirmed as chief rabbi
meanings of the Goussinsky arrest and
several times in the past five
Lazar election, whether it was aimed
years by Russia's secular Jewish
at undermining Goussinsky and the
leaders.
SEE OUR WBBIITE:
RJC, an attempt to "divide and con-
Moreover, the timing of
quer" the Jewish community — or
Rabbi Lazar's election —
Read about Russian Jews w
was
unrelated all together.
just hours before Goussinsky
appreciate their Jewish identi
Then there's the question of
was arrested — did little to
the culture of their homeland. V
how
the
RJC — which is backed by
dispel allegations by some of
www.d.etroitiewishnews.com-
the
American
Jewish leadership —
a Faustian deal between
will
survive
in
the future.
FEOR and the Kremlin.
For
now,
two concerns
Since FEOR was officially
dominate Jewish conversations
fouided last November, Putin and
— whether attempts to prose-
the Kremlin have enthusiastically
• i:AT.4 41k
'-ishikt4U
cute Goussinsky and dismantle
supported the federation. One
his empire will affect the Jewish community's
reason, say observers, may be that Rabbi
financial autonomy, and whether the steady stream of
Lazar and the federation contend that antisemitism is
Jewish-related stories will further inflame antisemitism.
not nearly as rampant as the RJC suggests.
Since Goussinsky's arrest, Gazprom, Russia's state
A second reason, they say, may be that FEOR,
natural-gas monopoly, has threatened to collect its
like the RJC, has a Jewish oligarch bankrolling
$200 million loan to the magnate, a potentially dev-
much of its activities. Lev Levayev, a wealthy Israeli
astating blow to his empire.
diamond merchant born in the Soviet republic of
"From here on," said Lev Krichevsky, director of
Uzbekistan, reportedly gives $10 million to $15
the newly established Moscow office of the Anti-
million each year for Chabad activities in Russia.
Defamation League, "any scenario is possible for the
He, too, has a vested interest in maintaining
Russian Jewish community.
excellent.ties with the Kremlin, to maintain access
"The Jewish revival is so new and shaky, it
to Russia's diamond mines.
depends on how the state views human rights and
Said Yevgenia Albats, a journalist and the only
religious freedom," he continued. "Progress can be
woman on the RJC's 40,-member presidium, "That's
reversed just like that." ❑
what makes me so angry, that Rabbi Lazar has
‘,
...
Detroit Hosts Rallies In Support Of "Iran 10"
I
n an expression of solidar-
ity with the 10 Jews con-
victed in a sham espionage
trial in Shiraz, Iran, the
Detroit Jewish community
joined with others across the
world Monday in rallying
around their cause.
Allan Gale, the Jewish
Community Council's assistant
director, briefly addressed the
300-plus crowd gathered Monday William Shanfield of Oak Park signs a
evening for Workmen Circle's
petition to release 10 Jewish prisoners in
annual Yiddish Concert in the
Park, held in Rothstein Park
eign governments who have rela-
tions with Iran." Ten of the 13
behind the Jewish Community
Jews being held in Iran were con-
Center Building in Oak Park.
Gale urged the crowd not to
victed of espionage July 1.
Council volunteers circulated
forget the "Iran 10" and to "con-
tinue to make their case to the
petitions and got so many signa
media, elected officials and for-
tures that some names had to be
written on the backs of
pages.
In further support;
8 a solidarity gathering will
be held at 11:30 a.m.
(S Thursday, July 20, at the
Max M. Fisher
Federation Building,
""': 6735 Telegraph Road, in
Bloomfield Township.
Petitions will be circulat-
ed at the event, which is
open to the community
Iran. and sponsored by
Council, the Anti-
Defamation League and the
American Jewish Committee.
For information, contact
Council at (248) 642-5393.
— Keri Guten Cohen,
story development editor