obituaries
Obituaries from page 56
"There was so much sup-
port!'
Dorfman remains in touch
with fellow members of a
support group that SELAH
formed of bereaved parents
from the Dolphinarium
attack. She also traveled
with the group for what the
organization calls healing
retreats.
The attack transformed
so much, she said, but it also
reshaped her identity.
"Before, when I would
A memorial photograph of Yevgenia Dorfman rests on a
say how 'we' did things, I
rock near where the Dolphinarium attack took place.
was referring to life in the
FSU because I did not feel
or of the wounded, and got to know the
as deeply part of society then. After the
young people affected because of the mas-
attack when I spoke of 'we' and 'us' I meant
sive media attention."
as an Israeli:' she said.
Dorfman, a museum curator in her
native city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan,
Best Friend Survived
who after immigrating to Israel in 1994
With her daughter at the time of the attack
cleaned apartments and stairwells to sup-
was Genya's best friend, Sonya Shistik. The
port herself and Genya, said she might not two had been classmates and neighbors in
have have survived the tragedy without
the Tel Aviv suburb of Bat Yam, their bond
the support she received from SELAH vol-
forged in a ballet class where both were
unteers and other Israelis.
serious dancers.
"If something like this happened in
Both were critically injured from the
Tashkent I would have been totally alone
bomb and left unconscious for days.
in coping, but here she said, exclaiming,
Genya died of her wounds 21/2 weeks later
— on June 19, the same day Shistik, by
then conscious, turned 16 and asked what
happened to her friend.
Shistik, who spent months in the hos-
pital and had multiple operations, said it
was too painful to speak about the attack.
But she offered that like Dorfman, she also
felt her identity transition from feeling
somewhat like an outsider as an immi-
grant to feeling more rooted here.
"I felt more Israeli after the attack:' said
Shistik, who immigrated to Israel from
Siberia as a young girl. She added, "It had
something to do about being connected to
an event so specifically part of the conflict"
Now 25 and living in Jerusalem, Shistik
works doing voice and movement therapy.
Michael Philippov, a researcher at the
Israel Democracy Institute specializing
in the political behavior of immigrants
to Israel from the former Soviet Union,
said the disproportionate number of
immigrants affected by terror and rocket
attacks has done nothing to dampen their
nationalistic spirit but has made them
more likely to leave the country.
"People don't talk about it, but the fact
that immigrants have been relatively hurt
more by such attacks has led to various
processes',' most notably the decision to
make their lives elsewhere, he said, often in
Canada, Australia or larger cities in Russia.
A New Community Connection
Times have changed. And so has our community. Too often, we
hear from families who are now spread out across the country,
telling us that loved ones are not able to make it home in time for
a funeral.
The Ira Kaufman Chapel proudly now offers a new, first-of-its-kind
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58 June 2 • 2011
Obituaries
According to official statistics, some
90,000 immigrants from the FSU who
came to Israel as part of the historic wave
of immigration that began with the fall of
the Iron Curtain have left the country. But
Philippov said the figures do not include
immigrants who have left but return
annually to visit relatives here, estimating
the real figure to be significantly higher.
He cited government statistics that
revealed approximately 60 percent of those
who emigrated from Israel in recent years
were Russian-speaking immigrants.
"When asked why they leave in surveys,
they said that they feel more affected more
and under threat than sabras," he said,
referring to native-born Israelis.
Meanwhile Dorfman, the bereaved
mother, feels that Israel is home. She says
she tries to focus on the beauty of every-
day life and volunteers at SELAH, where
she teaches workshops to other bereaved
immigrants on how to harness a bit of
that beauty through the art of flower
arranging.
Helping others, Dorfman said, "helps
me move forward?'
Her dark, almond-shaped eyes fixed on
the shimmering Mediterranean, she adds
that "I was looking for something that
would help me get on with the work of liv-
ing." ! I