Marina Kufman, 23 grew up in Brooklyn for most of her life and although she was well aware of her Russian identity, she did not know much about her Jewish identity.
After taking the trip, Kufman felt more connected and more knowledgeable about her culture, making adjustments to her life in regards to her religious attitudes and her Jewish identity. She understood that being Jewish isn’t about being deeply religious. A person can be culturally Jewish, but not be religious to truly be considered Jewish.
“During our trip, Ezra did not force us to participate in any religious acts. They merely showed us how other people lived and practiced in their daily lives,” said Kufman, 23, and a dental assistant from Brooklyn who participated in January 2013 trip to Israel.
The group Kufman went on the trip with was organized by Ezra USA, which refines participants’ understanding of what it is to be a Jew, both culturally and religiously.
Many Russian-Jews in North America have little knowledge of their heritage. Because of historical religious oppression from their “mother country,” most people were not given an opportunity to be enlightened to their culture. Through groups such as Ezra, these people are given a choice to discover and educate themselves in the ways of their ancestors through establishments of Jewish and Russian-Jewish communities throughout North America, and make an educated choice if they want to connect to their cultural heritage.
Unlike other religions that were practiced secretly by the people of the USSR, being a Jew and practicing Judaism was the worst of “crimes.” People changed their names and identities to be able to live normally and not be abused on a daily basis. Through this forceful cessation of religious practices, many people were left knowing nothing about their roots other than the simple fact of being Jewish. In 1994, Charles Bronfman, Michael Steinhadt, various Jewish communities throughout the world, Jewish Agency for Israel, private philanthropists and the government of the State of Israel established Taglit-Birthright Israel, a non-for-profit organization, which would fund 10-day trips to Israel for people of Jewish heritage.
Ezra USA, a provider and organizer of trips primarily focused on the Russian-Jewish community in United States was founded in 2002. Its goal is to fight assimilation of Russian Jews, educate the youth on all aspects of their culture, and promote awareness of the Jewish community. Ezra hosts events and trips that mostly congregate on the East Coast of the continent, but willingly works to bring participants into the program from all over the country. Although founded in America, Ezra is now expanding to other countries like Canada, Germany and former Soviet states.
“The thing is, Russian speaking Jews differ from any other Jews. This difference is evident in that for 80 years, Russian Jews were completely deprived of their Jewish roots and Jewish education,” said David Roitman, director of Ezra’s programs. “This happened nowhere else; not in England, France, America or Argentina. If Germany did it physically, the Soviet Union did it mentally and spiritually.”
Employees of Ezra, interview hopeful participants who are 18 to 26 years in age. The group organizes the whole trip, and leads it’s participants through the 10 days of traveling, trying to teach them what it means to be Jewish through means of sightseeing, group participation projects, environmental activities, arts and entertainment and interaction with locals.
Some of the locations visited are Yad Vashem, the world famous Holocaust Museum, the Dead Sea, a Negev Bedouin settlement, archeological dig sites, Mediterranean Sea, Jerusalem, Tel’Aviv, nature reserve Agamon Hula amongst many other famous sights.
Although Ezra holds hope that they leave a deep impression on each and every participant, they do not expect anything in return. The program simply opens people’s eyes and then allows them to make their own decisions.
In defense of the stigma that follows many ethnic and religious organizations, claiming that they propagate marriage, Roitman had this to say: “If we are talking about the aspect of hoping for marriage between two Jewish people, it’s no secret, of course! If we are attempting to fight assimilation—and we’re talking about the ethnic process, we comprehend that if the younger generation does not form a family with a Jewish partner, then the assimilation will only deepen; and as a result we will lose a large portion of Russian Jews.”
He continued in regards to claims of conversion to deep religious practices and seduction to move to Israel, “Concerning exhortation to become religious, I am unfamiliar with this aspect. Maybe there are organizations like that who preach being religious, but within this program there is no religious propaganda or propaganda of repatriation.”
Some people come back changed after their trip, like Kufman, and some not so much. After her first time in Israel through Ezra, current counselor on the trips, Inna Amchislavskaya, 29, expresses her afterthoughts: “When I came back, I was on emotions for the first couple of weeks and then it started to fade away. So, I didn’t think it was strong enough for me.” Only on her subsequent returns to Israel, her relationship to her heritage deepened.
The participants might have all come with their own goals and interests to this trip. To some it might just be a vacation to their “homeland,” or an educational expedition, for others a spiritual realization and manifestation of their culture. For Kufman, the most important part of the 10 days was the relationships she built with her peers and her community: “The amazing new friendships I’ve made will definitely stay with me forever.”