There can be no doubt that you are not enjoying a typical American lunch when the smoked fish is the first dish to disappear from the table. Another difference is that the men are slightly better dressed than their American peers. The giveaway is the conversations that occasionally burst out in Russian, as well as the individual Russian words that everyone interjects into their speech.
But it's all OK: these 50 people aged 20- to 30-something, who have gathered for their monthly Saturday lunch, are members of 79ers, a San Francisco-based organization of young Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The group was founded three years ago for people who shared similar views on education, religion, and cultural and social life. Members get together to watch Russian films and attend concerts, while celebrating Jewish holidays. A similar group called RJeneration was founded a year ago in New York, and other groups are being established in Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and Seattle.
Why is there a need for these groups?
Several Jewish federations have long had "Russian" departments, which were created mainly to increase charitable activities in immigrant communities. A number of federations have created and sponsored various associations in the Russian-Jewish community. But neither the 79ers nor RJeneration have any connection with these federations. They grew out of the initiative of Russian-Jewish young adults and are intended to address the needs of this particular group.
Well-educated, financially independent, ambitious and bilingual, these representatives of the new generation of post-Soviet Jewish immigrants are finally asserting themselves and asking each other questions about who they are, the nature of their culture and its future, what their Jewish faith means to them, and how they fit into the American Jewish landscape.
"We are different from American Jews, but we're not Russian either," said 35-year-old Angela Previn, program director for the 79ers. "We have our own specific character."
"It's like we live in two worlds. The outside world is American, but deep down inside we are Russians," added Igor Sinyak, a 36-year-old software engineer, who came here from Kiev at nine.
"For many of us, it’s the first time in a year that we have been with people who have had the same experiences," continued Angela, who came here from Kharkov when she was five. "As children we saw how our parents – highly educated scholars, engineers and doctors – worked as housekeepers. No group has immigrated on such a large-scale as we have. Who can understand what this means, how it makes us feel? But each one of us knows what our families have been through. We all understand each other completely."
"Most of us save plastic bags in the kitchen," recounted Igor. "Maybe we do this because our parents once did this in the Soviet Union. We use tea bags twice. There's no way our American friends would understand this."
Personal knowledge of the Soviet system, a love of Russian classics, and a conflicting relationship with Judaism deepen this mutual understanding.
Who are they? Some call themselves RuJews, from JewBus (Jewish Buddhists, a West Coast phenomenon of mixing cultures). And why are they 79ers? It's simple. During the wave of immigration from the Soviet Union in the late 70s and early 80s, the flow of immigrants reached its peak in 1979. This was also the year that the founders of the group and many of its first members arrived here. They came as children and grew up in this country, so their English is now more native than their Russian. But in order to achieve this, they, like their families, tried not to show their Jewish or Russian heritages.
"I tried to avoid everything Russian when I came," said Igor. "I had no desire to be Russian at the height of the Cold War. People always tried to provoke us by asking if we were communists."
But now that they are completely comfortable in their American shoes, these young people are exploring both their Russian and Jewish roots. How can they do this when they are essentially one or two generations removed from these roots?
For example, Karina Ioffee's parents, like the parents of most in the group, were not religious when they lived in the Soviet Union. When they arrived in the United States, they did not find any comfort at the synagogue. They were not familiar with the rituals or customs, and spoke hardly any English and no Hebrew. Karina was 10 when her family arrived from Riga, so she is only now trying to recover what was lost. And she saw the chance to do this by joining the 79ers.
"I still feel uncomfortable in a synagogue," she admitted. "But now I read Jewish books and the Torah; I light candles. I want a Jewish husband as well as a Jewish life. I want my children to grow up as Jews. I feel that this kind of life is attainable when I attend 79ers meetings."
However, as Angela Previn noted, far from everyone wants to be pushed towards the Jewish religion.
"It’s very subtle, especially among us,” she said. “We are trying to create an atmosphere in which people who would never go to a synagogue can understand their Jewish heritage and observe traditions together.”
Lenny Gusel, who founded the 79ers with Igor Sinyak, moved to New York a year ago with a mission. He established RJeneration with Yael Kalheim, a former staff member at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Center. “Joint,” an organization that provided aid to refuseniks from the Soviet Union, helped establish both the San Francisco and New York groups of young Russians. The Center sees these groups as a logical continuation of movements for Soviet Jews.
“We have welcomed and helped 40,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union who started arriving in 1979,” said Anita Freidman, executive director of San Francisco’s Jewish Family Children’s Services. “These young people were children when they came here. We followed their progress as they grew up. First they studied English, then they went to college, and then they got good jobs. And we noticed that they were starting to think: What now? And we understood how important it was to find a way to involve them in the American Jewish community.”
The 92nd Street Y and various philanthropists had the same idea when they decided to support RJeneration. They are counting on the 79ers and RJeneration to fill an important role in their social milieu once these organizations have matured. In fact, they already play an important role today: they serve as an example to young Russian-American Jews of how to be Jews in their inherited culture and religious and moral climate; of how to put this knowledge to use for themselves, their families and the world; and of how to put the intellectual and financial potential that they have acquired in the United States to the best possible use. They are also receptive to ideas on how to achieve these goals. For example, a representative of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest Jewish lobbying group on Capitol Hill, came to one of the group’s Saturday lunches in January and explained how, with friends and relatives in Israel, they can help increase American aid to the Jewish state.
“And this is really what we have always understood to be our goal since the early days of our groups’ existence,” said Lenny Gusel. “This is our bridge to the American Jewish community.”
Today both sister organizations are growing rapidly. There are hundreds of names on their mailing lists. Meanwhile, the 79ers have ceded the majority to the 90ers, who are somewhat different. They speak Russian more and are not as politically motivated. Veterans of the groups feel that these younger people are not as experienced in the realities of America as they are. It’s as if the 90ers come from a different country. But still, no one doubts that new members will ask themselves the same questions of who they are, why they are here, why they are Jewish, and what they want to achieve in the world. They will all contribute somehow to creating and developing a community of American Jews with Russian roots.
