1. Yuliya Serebryana
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INFORMAL ISRAEL EDUCATION AMONG THE RUSSIAN-SPEAKING
JEWISH (RSJ) TEENAGERS IN NORTH AMERICA (NA)
RSJ Population of NA
NA became home to a number of RSJ families, who got an opportunity to emigrate
between 1970th and nowadays from the countries of Former Soviet Union (FSU) as Jewish
refugees or members of their families. Different sources claim the numbers of this immigration
wave to vary between seven and eight hundred thousand immigrants. For example, the Jewish
Agency for Israel (JAFI) recent report on worldwide programs for RSJs states that today the
organization targets over 3 million people outside of FSU in the US, Canada, Israel, the UK,
Germany and Australia, with over 700,000 of them permanently living in NA.1
In 2013, Jonathan Sarna, shared with me then not yet published work America’s Russian-
Speaking Jews Come Of Age, where he explored the size of the RSJ community to comprise 750,000
individuals or up to 15% of the overall Jewish population of NA.2 Researcher compares this
population in numbers and significance with the Orthodox Jews, yet his estimate is larger than
the number provided in the recent Pew study (2013), which counted RSJs as 10% of the American
Jewish population.3
In addition, due to the 2014 - 2015 political and military conflict between, Russia and
Ukraine, extreme currency devaluation in these countries, as well as lack on democracy, many
1
Jewish Agency for Israel (2015) UNIQUE CULTURE, UNIQUE PROGRAMS: Engaging Russian-Speaking Jews Around
the World; Program Guide Unit for Russian-Speaking Jewry
2
Sarna, J. (2013) AMERICA’S RUSSIAN-SPEAKING JEWS COME OF AGE, Brandeis University, Waltham
3
Pew Research Center. (2013). A portrait of Jewish Americans. Philadelphia: Author.

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people, including Jews, continue to consider emigration today. Based on Sarna’s research, some
183,202 Russians became permanent US residents just between 2001-2011.
Lastly, it is important to understand that only up to 600,000 RSJ immigrated directly from
FSU, while several hundred thousand were already born in NA or re-migrated to the United States
following sojourns in Israel, Germany, and elsewhere.4 The vast majority of RSJ teens in NA today
did not go through the actual immigration, as they were either too young to remember or already
born in the new country.
4
Dimitry Liakhovitski, Survey of Russian Immigrants Living in the US Conducted in May-June 2004(2004), p.13

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Features of the NA RSJ community
“When looking at RSJs from a Jewish communal perspective, what is most significant is
the fact that, as a group, they are still highly recognizable and still feel a strong sense of group
attachment.”, said Abby Knop in her recent article in Journal of Communal Jewish Services. She
also claims that Russian-speakers represent a huge opportunity for communal growth, creativity,
and reinvigoration to general American Jewish community.5
In effort to understand the mentality of this group in NA, it is important to know the
following findings. The majority of RSJs do not see themselves as members of the organized
Jewish life in NA. Limmud FSU survey released that 57 percent of the participants "do not feel
that they are part of the American Jewish community."6 One of the reasons for this, if not the
main one, is the inability of the mainstream Jewish organizations of recognition and often times
even rejection, of the uniqueness of spiritual-religious experience of Russian-speakers as Jews.
RSJs live close to each other in big metropolitan areas such as New York, Chicago,
California and Toronto, managing a dynamic trilateral identity to co-exist within their
consciousness -Jewish, Russian, and American. Ben-Rafael, Lyubansky and Gluckner explain that
RSJs’ understanding of identity shifts from attributions of Jewish peoplehood, to Russian culture,
to American territorialism. Yet, none of these identities is mutually exclusive, representing
different components of identity. 7 RSJs are proud be different - an aspect often missed as the
enigma of Russian-Jewishness is being deciphered. Major shortfall of attempts to deconstruct
5
Abby Knopp; (2014); Journal of Communal Jewish Services #89; Why Jews of Russian-Speaking Backgrounds
Matter to our Communal Future; p 106
6
The ambiguous 'Jerusalem Post' headline by Sam Sokol from March 20, 2013 sounds as a lament or a surprise:
"US Russian Jews don't feel connected to community." Retrieved from http://www.jpost.com on July 28, 2013.
7
Ben-Rafael, E., Lyubansky, M., &: Gluckner, 0. (2006). Building a diaspora: Russian Jews in Israel, Gffmany, and the
USA . New York: Brill Publishers.

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the RSJ "identity" was to focus on negative effects of outside forces on Soviet Jewry, while
ignoring the voice of Jewish pride and exclusivity, their spirituality (as opposed to religiosity)
inherent in the RSJ cultural tradition, and other positive factors that shape RSJ personalities.8
On top of the three identity dimensions by far the strongest connection topic for RSJs,
however, is Israel. The vast majority of them have close family living in Israel, and monitor what
American politicians say about Israel and vice versa. When American politician is anti-Israel, they
react strongly. In 2008, a majority (roughly 55%) of RSJ voters supported Republican John McCain
over Barack Obama in presidential elections, mainly due to concerns over Mr. Obama’s views on
Israel. RSJs were more than twice as likely as other American Jews to vote for McCain, who
received less than a quarter of the overall Jewish vote.9 RSJ visibility in ‘Support for Israel’ galas
and rallies has earned praise and recognition.
8
Bar-Ilan University;(2013); Formal and Informal Jewish Education: Lessons and Challenges in Israel and in the
Diaspora; http://sociology.biu.ac.il/files/sociology/shared/sp2013-5.pdf
9
Joseph Berger, “Among New York’s Soviet Immigrants, Affinity for G.O.P.,” The New York Times (May 8, 2012);
Alexander Zaitchik, “What A Country,” Tablet, April 4, 2011, http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-
andpolitics/63785/what-a-country (Accessed August 2, 2012).

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RSJ Teens in NA
As mentioned earlier, RSJ teenagers mostly represent the second or 1.5 generations of
young RSJs, being born in NA or immigrated at the very young age. Zeltzer-Zubida &: Kasinitz,
researched this group, and came up with some interesting conclusions. Compared to their
parents, who experienced the anti-Semitism in communist Russia, if not assimilated, respondents
were proud of their Jewish identity (83%). At the same time, many stay very close to their family
and have a strong preference for living with their parents as young adults. Nonetheless, this
generation easily integrates into the liberal orthodox and mainstream Jewish community, unlike
their parents.10 RSJ teens, however, can still be differentiated from their American peers.
First, young RSJs express a strong support and interest to Israel in their lives and are less
likely to be sympathetic to Arabs in the Middle East ongoing conflict.11 Second, if young RSJs are
affiliated with the community, they rarely end up intermarried. Even though they are more
socially mobile than their parents and even their nonimmigrant peers, this generation choses to
follow the social and political ideology of their parents.12 Lastly, children of RSJ immigrants, even
those who grew up in the United States talk about 'American Jews' as a group they do not belong
to. Even if they do not speak Russian language well, the culture inherited and absorbed at home,
doesn’t let this group to be fully integrated into the mainstream community.13
10
Zeltzer-Zubida, A., & Kasinitz, P. (2005). The next generacion: Russian Jewish young adults in contemporary New
York. Contemporwy Jewry, 25(1), 193-225.
11
Kasinitz, P., & Zeltzer-Zubida, A. (2001). The next generation: Russian Jewish young adults in contemporary New
York. Russell Sage Foundation.
12
Lyons, L. (2005). Teens stay true to parents' political perspectives. Gallup Youth Survey. Retrieved from:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/14515/teens-stay-true- parents-political-perspectives.aspx.
13
Fishkoff, S. (2010, February 22). For children of Russian immigrants, mainstream Jewish community remains
elusive; JTA.

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In my earlier work, comparing the RSJ immigration waves of 1880s-1920s with the most
recent one, I concluded that, similarly to their ancestors, the RSJ community will fully integrate
into the mainstream American community within three to four generations.14 However, because
today’s teens parents’ experience of Jewish life in FSU was quite negative, there is a high chance
that generation 3 and 4 will stay apart from the community at all and even assimilate. Therefore,
today it is critical for organized Jewish community to provide 1.5 and 2 generation, including
teenagers, with an access to meaningful engagement opportunities and activities offered for
their American peers.
14
Kerzhner; Serebryana (2013) HISTORY OF RUSSIAN JEWISH IMMIGRATS AND THEIR INTEGRATION WITHIN
AMERICAN AND JEWISH SOCIETY: 1880s-1920s vs. 1990s – 2000s; Brandeis University

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Existing Informal Education Programs Targeting RSJ Teens in NA
Currently, there are three fundamental Jewish organizations, which play a major role in
the development and support of informal educational programs for RSJ teens in NA. Those are
JAFI; local Jewish Federations along with JCCs, if they are conscious of this target audience and
Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG). Building a strategic partnerships and collaborations, these
organizations successfully engage RSJ community, both in smaller communities with relatively
insignificant RSJ population and in the largest RSJ communities, such as New York, Los Angeles,
Chicago and Toronto.
Aiming to both underline the unique culture of RSJs and integrate them into the
mainstream community, a transformative integration method, introduced by David Shneer, is
used. This method engages both sides to produce ideas for future engagement. Then differences
become irrelevant, due to systemic recognition and negotiation of previously agreed-on
outcomes. Without a mutually transforming space where RSJs can advance and assert their
views, the challenge of mutual relevancy of the mainstream and RSJs cannot be properly
resolved. It also takes strategic vision and resources.15 Specialized overnight camping programs
for teens in NA, successfully engage RSJ teens into the Jewish Life. Today, there are three camps
in NA designed specifically for RSJ teens. Those are Havurah, B’Yachad and JAcademy.
Havurah is a four-week national overnight camp for Russian-Jewish teens entering grades
9 through 12, from across NA based in upstate New York, set within the larger framework of
Young Judaea’s Tel Yehudah national senior leadership camp. In 2015, during the 7th year of
15
Shneer, D. (2002). Out ar school: A queer Jewish education. In D. Shneer & C. Aviv (Eds.) Queer Jews (pp. 135-14
7). New York: Routledge.

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operations, Havurah served about 75 campers and was staffed by local and Israeli counselors,
the majority of whom were Havurah alumni.16
Through different informal educational and recreational activities, this camp explores and
deepen participants’ relationships with Israel, Jewish traditions, and Jewish culture. With Jewish
pluralism as one of its core values, Tel Yehudah is a comfortable setting for Russian Jewish teens
from various backgrounds. With a strong focus on Israel, the counselors and educators from Israel
and NA guide all aspects of the Jewish lifestyle in camp. Campers have an opportunity to learn or
practice Hebrew and Russian in informal small groups.17
Camp B’Yachad is also an overnight 12-day long camp on the east coast for RSJ teenagers,
based on a model developed by JAFI for teen camps world-wide. The camp model is a
combination of activities and discussions; reflections and creative expression; role-playing games
and facilitated group work, all focused on exploring the Jewish Identity of a teenager in a secular
manner. The program is balanced with sports, arts and music, evening activities and dance
parties.18 In 2015-2016 academic year, JCH of Bensonhurst – an implementing organization of all
B’Yachad camps, also host a year round follow up program, where 11-graders are invited to learn
more about philanthropy through the lens of giving.
Finally, JAcademy camp in Toronto is similarly a 12-day overnight camp for children and
teenagers aged 8-16 from NA; it is now preparing for its 8th camp season in summer 2016. The
camp aims to connect teens from RSJ families, introduce them to the Jewish world’s culture and
help them discover their Jewish roots through their personal engagements in various creative
16
https://telyehudah.wordpress.com/havurah/
17
ibid.
18
http://www.jchb.org/byachad/

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arts, interactive activities and sports.19 The camp attracts about 150 campers, who are introduced
to Jewish culture by close to 50 local staff members and Israeli counselors. Already for 2 years
the camp is followed by a family Shabbaton.20
All three camps are supported by JAFI, that is uniquely qualified for its role as the
developer of specialized camping programs for RSJ teens and lead professional training for North
American and Israeli counselors; GPG and local Federations support organizers by covering part
of programming and operations costs.
Throughout the year, RSJ teens could be fount engaged by the local Jewish communal
organizations. The critical success factor for these cases is experienced RSJ professional on board,
as well as support from the local community. Jewish Community Centers play the key role in
providing the year-round programs for these teens. Jewish Cultural Center Makor in Boston, for
example, engages teens and their parents in various family activities locally. Additionally, center
Makor organizes exchange trips to Israel for RSJ teens from Boston and their families.21 Five out
of 16 programs offered by this community center are related to Israel.
In New York, due to the large concentration of immigrant population in some boroughs,
Russian-speakers are the majority members of the community centers. Therefore, all programs
there are developed specifically for RSJ population. Those are Kings Bay Y JCC, Shorefront Y and
Edith and Marks Jewish Community House located in Brooklyn. All three JCCs have separate set
19
http://jprojects.ca/about-j-academy-camp/
20
En Jewish Agency for Israel (2015) UNIQUE CULTURE, UNIQUE PROGRAMS: Engaging Russian-Speaking Jews
Around the World; Program Guide Unit for Russian-Speaking Jewry, p25
21
http://www.centermakor.org/

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of programs offered for teenagers that include sport activities, Jewish educational and leadership
development opportunities.22
Jewish Child Care Association in New York, among other important activities, hosts an
after school program called Bukharian Teen Launch, aiming to help immigrant teens to
successfully integrate into the larger American community while maintaining their rich cultural
heritage.23 There are currently no specialized programs on Israel education for this group.
Simultaneously, Bukharin community – RSJ immigrants who originally came from Central Asia,
where antisemitism was not as strong as in Eastern Europe – successfully saved their attachments
to Jewish culture.24 This community is insignificant, compared to eastern European Jews and,
unfortunately, today there are not enough resources to fully satisfy the needs of this group for
cultural, not religious, Jewish programs.
Jewish Community Center in St. Paul, Minnesota is a partner and home organization for
Russian American Jews in Minnesota (RAJMN) program. RAJMN is the only RSJ oriented program
for young families in Minnesota, working to connect them to the larger Jewish community and
provide a deeper understanding of Judaism, Russian-Jewish roots and culture.25 The project
celebrated its Bat Mitzvah in December 2015 and is led by enthusiastic and energetic local
professional. Since 2012, GPG has supported RAJMN teens, young adults and families’
engagement programs, offering active community members to take leadership roles brainstorm
and implement various programs for its community.26 The program encourages volunteerism and
22
http://www.shorefronty.org/children-families/teen-programming; https://www.kingsbayy.org/about-us/about-
kings-bay-y; http://www.jchb.org/zehut-teen-center/
23
http://www.jccany.org/site/PageServer?pagename=btl_splash
24
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Bukharan_Jews.html
25
https://www.stpauljcc.org/programs/adults/classes-groups/rajm/
26
http://www.gpg.org/grants/north-america/rajm-teenage-engagement-initiative-st-paul-minnesota.html

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teens are the ones most active in it. They volunteer not only for RAJMN events, but also
cooperate with other Jewish organizations in the city. Though there are no specific Israel
education programs, the community is committed to support the Jewish state. In 2014, during
the fall festival community members showed their talents, as well as, fundraised for the causes
they considered important. All collected funds, in total $3,000 were transferred to the accounts
of three Israel-based non-profit organizations. 27
Shalom Education Center is another example of an organization that serves as the only
Jewish choice for the local RSJ community that was not engaged by the mainstream Jewish
organizations so far. The main mission of the organization is to create a joyful learning
environment for RSJ children where the cycle of alienation and unawareness of Jewish literacy
can be broken and Jewish learning begins.28 Shalom is a Sunday school for children of all ages,
including teenagers. Teens have an opportunity to gather during the Pizza Hours to further their
Jewish education and discuss issues related to identity and leadership through interaction with
the alumni and guest speakers. By virtue of working with this community directly, I am aware
that many of so-called Pizza Hours are spent on learning about and discussing the history of Israel,
its current successes and challenges, as well as the future of the country. These teens and Alumni,
who lead the sessions and develop the curriculum on their own, are very passionate about Israel
and taking active leadership positions upon transferring to the college campus platform. In 2015,
Shalom was awarded with a yearlong grant from the Natan fund for an Israel advocacy leadership
development program.29
27
http://www.zerkalomn.com/articles/rajmn
28
http://www.shalomec.org/mission
29
http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/natan-announces-2015-2016-grants/

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Toronto Federation, also has teens-specific programs, as part of their J.Projects umbrella.
Teen Programs consist of J. Wave – Journalism and Creative Writing; Volunteering sessions; Social
events and Start Up Program-Business and Innovation.30 Tough, there are no specific Israel
education programs, a large part of RSJ community in Toronto re-migrated to Canada from Israel.
Therefore, these teens are first generation immigrants to America, even though they are
generation 2 in regards to when the family moved out from FSU. This adds its own specificity in
work with this community, as teens know Israel from within from the firs hand experience.
30
http://jprojects.ca/

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Survey Results
As part of exploring the subject, I reached out to RSJ professionals who work with RSJ
teens across NA. The survey summary is attached. The survey was send to 11 professionals. Six
of them, contributed to the research. Given that the pull of qualifying organizations was already
narrow, 54% response rate is enough to analyze results and come up with conclusions.
All respondents
agreed that Israel education
plays a significant role in
relation to their programs for
teens, with only one
professional rating it at five
vs. six, as the greatest mark.
However, based on the
programs descriptions
above, it is clear that not every organization offers Israel educational programs to RSJ teens.
When asked, what would be the most interesting subjects about Israel to explore for RSJ
teens, the answered varied from county’s history to current situation to Middle East to cultural
diversity within the country. None of the respondents indicated an RSJ specific subject that would
potentially exclude American Jewish teens from the discussion.
The survey results also show that in RSJ professionals’ opinion, there is a need to develop
Israel Educational resources specifically for RSJ teens. One respondent, however hit both “yes”
and “no” buttons, explaining that there is a separate need in developing more Israel education

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resources across NA, as
well as, a need in
adopting such materials
for RSJ teens. The top
three resources,
professionals use to
teach teens about Israel
are history books,
existing curricula lessons
and Israeli movies.

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Conclusions and Recommendations
RSJ teenagers, mainly representing immigrants generation 1,5 or two, balance between
keeping their family traditions and being an integral part of the American society. Though RSJ
teens communicating freely with American peers, the best way to engage this group is though
the specialized programs. For some teens, who come from the families that do not actively
participate in the Jewish communal life, such programs are critical to define their further
affiliation with the Jewish community at all. Unfortunately, today there are only few year round
programs for RSJ teenagers across the nation, described earlier in the report. I believe Jewish
communities, with a concentrated RSJ population miss the tremendous opportunity to engage
RSJ teens and their families, by not having specialized program for this audience. Chicago, Los
Angeles, Florida, Detroit are just few states that do not yet have visible teens programs for RSJ
community.
Programs types that engage RSJ teens the most successfully are as follows:
 Volunteer opportunities, where teens help run other ongoing programs, visit and engage
with elderlies or children with special needs, participate in planning and preparation of
the community events.
 Leadership development programs and events that aim to prepare teens to take
leadership roles in the Jewish communal life and beyond. Those are camp counselors and
madhich year round curses; college preparation groups; participation in international
conferences, such as BBYO and Limmud FSU.
Israel is one of the most attractive themes that catches attention of the RSJ teenagers.
Overnight camp Chavurah and Sunday school Shalom Education Center are excellent examples

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for successful RSJ teens engagement, where one of the core subjects of discussion is Israel. I
strongly recommend to programs aiming to engage RSJ teenagers to incorporate Israel education
components into the curriculum.
Due to the fact that for the long time RSJ community stayed isolated from the mainstream
American Jewry, today there are less Russian speakers who chose to pursue their career as Jewish
professionals, then necessary to serve the community. Moreover, one needs to have a special
set of knowledge and skills to teach about Israel. Today, JAFI is the only organization that offers
Israel education support to organizations working with RSJ teens, by training counselors for the
summer camps. However, JAFI does not offer as much support as necessary for organizations
that work with teens year-round. I think that ICenter is in an excellent position to create
professional development opportunity for educators working with RSJ teens and encourage the
organization to focus their outreach efforts on Russian-speakers.
The next recommendation is to slightly adopt existing Israel education materials for RSJ
audience. Based on my research among educators, RSJ teens, along with other Israel related
themes, would be interested to learn in more details about:
 the role of USSR in formation of Israel;
 the development of Israel-USA/ Israel-USSR relationship since 1948, where it is today;
 cultural diversity within the country, focusing on RSJ peers living in Israel;
 the influence of RSJ immigrants to Israel on the development of high technologies
and country’s politics.

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Reflection on the project
In the past few months, I had an opportunity to research the state of Israel Education
among the RSJ teens in North America. It was a great experience, as I combined my passion to
Russian-speaking Jewry with an outstanding interest in developing Israel education.
When I started to research the subject, I realized that besides the hands on experience, I
also need to support my research with other scholars’ findings. Reading through the pages of
reports, journals, online articles and books gave me much more new and interesting knowledge
then I needed to complete the project. It helped me to become a better professional in what I do
every day. I learned about the work of global Jewish organization, such as JAFI and Limmud FSU.
I am ultimately grateful for this intellectual challenge that lead to my further development.
I am grateful to ICenter for supporting me all the way along the process of working on this
project. Specifically, I’d like to thank Jan Ketzew, for mentoring the project, monitoring the
process, helping to compose the survey and proofreading the final version of the paper. Michael
Soberman and Rachel Levin provided a much needed administrative support.
Over the process of completing the project, I realized that the survey that I conducted is
not sufficient enough to fully understand the needs of this target audience. If I had to do the
project again, I would insist on facilitating focus group discussions among the educators working
with RSJ teens, teenagers themselves and RSJ parents. This would provide a wider spectrum of
information and therefore I would be able to give more detailed recommendations.
As the next step, I would recommend ICenter to hire RSJ consultant, who is
knowledgeable about both Israel Education and Russian-speaking Jewry to work on collecting
and creating Israel education materials for educators working with RSJ teens in North America.