RU EN HE
 
ORIGINAL of the CONCEPT
About the role of Russian Jews. Yuri Shtern.
 
From the speech at the Founding Assembly of the World Congress of Russian Jewry. July 1, 2002 in Moscow
 
I am deeply convinced, that Russian Jews have a very special quality, a special purpose, a special mission in modern Jewish history. The community, as well as any person who is not following its mission, does not fulfill its mission, betrays itself. Therefore the opportunity to do what entrusted to us in history, it is also the responsibility and duty.
 
Without much exaggeration we can say that the State of Israel - is a project of Russian Jewry. Intellectual and ideological work on creation of state, the practical organization of the most ambitious social and economic projects carried out the Russian Jews. The tragedy that happened to Jewish people in general and the Russian Jews, in particular, in October 1917, was in this context is particularly devastating. The main reservoir of Zionism, that is, the bulk of Russian Jewry, which has appeared in the Soviet Union was cut off from his avant-garde, "abandoned" in Palestine well as from a huge diaspora of Russian-Jewish immigrants who settled in North America and Western Europe.
 
Today, this relationship was restored, and we are able to regain the lost historic initiative.
 
In my view, the historical importance of our community is defined by three main qualities:
-first, the inherent Russian Jews "imperial mentality";
- secondly, the Jews of the former USSR were unique in the 90s only in Jewish Diaspora (that is, outside of Israel) by carriers of industrial culture and industrial occupations;
- third, if there is exist in a world at the Jewish solidarity, not virtual, not merely ideological, but one that is based on human contact, the simple family or friendship ties, the one that 50 years ago still existed among the Jews of Europe, settled in Northern part of America, partly caught up in Israel, but today it is in its purest form is manifested among the Russian Jews, scattered across dozens of countries in the recent waves of immigration.
For Jews of the former USSR, these connections between themselves and relations with Israel are absolutely specific, personal nature - the quality lost in the main, for example, American Jews. At all meetings of the American Jewish question always arises about the loss of Jewish youth, the third generation after the Holocaust, elementary dating, spiritual and personal ties with Israel. For all of us, Jews from former Soviet Union this is no problem, and this is a very positive factor.
 
Focus in detail on these distinctive qualities of Russian-speaking community in Israel.
One of the most important contradictions of Israeli life - this the gap between ambitions and capabilities of the Jews as a great nation with a global scope habitats and global thinking on the one hand, and the other - the smallness and provincial territories and, consequently, resources and opportunities that are allocated to us by God and history for our nation's sovereign existence. This country has become a national home for self-realization and to enable people, who are deservedly proud of a long list of Nobel Prize winners, prominent chess players and musicians.
Why is it at home, in Israel, the list of geniuses and the winners is much shorter? Because there is a significant difference between the ethnic group, a thin layer, which may consist, for example, from violinists and chess players, and the people who should plow, sow, pick up trash, working in factories, and, among other things, to fight.
A sovereign nation - is a completely different state and different distribution of national power than the minority in the Diaspora. And, in addition, create opportunities for growth of Nobel laureates and musical geniuses in the Middle East, in our cross-country, between the desert and rocks much harder than to do the same in a ready infrastructure, and in the centuries-old cultural traditions of Russia, Europe and North America.

Therefore, our supertask is the development of country Israel as a Superpower in spite of the given, in which our country is built. And this problem is solved, in spite of any standard calculations and projections. Not just today, but since its beginnings of formation of the State of Israel for many cultural, scientific and economic parameters denies this fact. Enter into the computer all that we have, and most importantly - what not (water, land, energy resources, peaceful neighbors), and you'll never get forecast, which would include Israel among the most developed states 20-25.

 
But the conflict between the small, provincial and, most importantly, willingness to accept these characteristics as a fact and live with them at the level of thinking of the political, economic, bureaucratic and megalomania of the Jewish ambitions and remains critical to the future of our country.
Israel can not exist as the Middle East, even though technically well-developed province.
Israel will not only exist, but will stand against any threat, if it continue to evolve towards a "Low-Superpower."
Nobody feels so keenly the conflict and do not take it so to heart, as the Russian Jews. Take ordinary Israelis, or, say, American or French Jews - they are for the most part, the question of why they do not have world chess champion, did not care. But Russian Jews, this question is often deprived of sleep and rest, becomes the cause of hysterical-negative-first attitude to the Israeli reality in which they see not what is, and what is not there. They are not content with the fact that we have quite a decent ballet and opera, but worry that there is a Bolshoi or the Mariinsky. We are not satisfied with what we have. We have already tasted of the heavenly apples of high achievement, and it has deprived us of the intellectual and psychological unassuming, sufficient to satisfy average level of achievement.
 
It was initially lead out Russian Jewry Zionism is outside of reach. I am sure that if Peter, who is also Pinhas Rutenberg, has not arrived in time from Russia, then on the river Jordan would never have been built power plant. But he thought certainly the extent of the Volga and the great rivers of Siberia, as Novomeisky - creator of the industrial complex at the Dead Sea – and the creators of grand and daring for its time, social projects, such as the Histadrut and the kibbutzim. They were dreamers Russian Jewish origin, and did things that were not described in the books, and if they are described, under the headline "This can never happen." But they had a vision, they generally fly above the earth, and Israel acted in their familiar surroundings for Russian measurements are not consistent with the actual scale.
 
I am confident that this approach - opposition to the smallness and provincialism - able to turn Israel into a Jewish country in the true sense of the term, a country in which to live, and to receive the Nobel Prize in physics, and to become world chess champion, and to be a musician world-class, without going for it in America or Europe.
 
The special features of mentality is also vocational and educational profile of the modern Russian Jewry. Today in the West, a Jewish engineer, is a rarity, because the typical Jewish profession - a lawyer, doctor, businessman. Soviet Jews is not so much by its good, how much ill will on the state in a mass order to the trained engineers and scientists and technicians. In the 90 years they have proved to be the main reserve recruitment engineers on the technical staff of Israel, and their arrival in this country has allowed the Israeli industry to make a qualitative leap. Qualification of the former Soviet Jews, including those living outside of Israel, their industrial training and technocratic approach to solving any problems today are the most important factor shaping the future of scientific and economic aspect of the Jewish state.
 
And finally about Jewish solidarity.
Jews "of Soviet origin" is about 10% of the Jewish population of the Diaspora. Russian-speaking Jews represent a significant and growing economic and political power, at least two dozen countries: in the former Soviet Union, Germany, USA, Canada, and quite possibly in Australia. This - the basis for the consolidation of Israel around the powerful international lobby. Today the potential of this lobby is not fully understood, and very little used, since no mechanisms and specific organizational and ideological framework of unification of disparate immigrant groups and communities.
 
In order to use these opportunities to fulfill our shared historical mission, you must first join resources, efforts to coordinate action. But, besides all the above, the Russian Jews for self-realization is not enough in many cases more than one property - their Jewish dimension. Therefore, in recent years begun the process of integrating the Russian-Jewish communities in the world, we have one of the main tasks to consider the restoration of Jewish origin, the revival of proper Jewish education, a sense of his Jewish origin among our current and former compatriots. Too often, encyclopedic knowledge and a phenomenal amount of reading in our environment are combined with a complete ignorance of all that concerns itself Jewry. This, in my opinion, one of the fundamental flaws, which does not overcome the current generation of Russian Jews would not be able to participate fully in the world of Jewish and Israeli life.
 
Text of the speech of Jury Stern (by Russian) is given on Web site http://evrofilm.com/yurij-shtern-o-roli-russkix-evreev.html
The authors of the site: Aleks Megen, Walrus-Kay
 
 
Comments of author of the GERDCOMM project:
The fate brought me to meet of Yuri Stern in Tel Aviv on Allenby street in the summer of 1998 ... '99, I do not remember the exact date. Yuri Shtern has had discussed the theme "The role of Russian Jews" in a small group of Russian olim. Meetings - discussion resembled a "sparring", which performed a single task - to bring a partner in the right direction. Yuri Stern's solutions - to go towards to the creation of the global Jewish community structures we have seen as positive steps towards the Jews of Russia and Israel.
 
It took several years. Died Yuri Shtern. But the ideas are still alive!
 
In 2010 I discovered inhttp://izrus.co.il article entitled "Three years ago, died on the ideologist of the "Russian Israeli". The author of article is certainly right in the title of "... Yuri Stern was an active figure in the movement of national revival of Soviet Jewry, and one of the first leaders of the consolidation of the Russian-speaking community in Israel for the sake of its political and social interests. Among the many politicians of repatriate 90s - the 2000s, Stern was the only one architect of the ideological concept of "Russian Israeli"..."
 
Unfortunately, the full text of speech Yuri Stern was cut that made me start looking for. Searches in 2010 ..2011 years are not was lucky. Fortunately, it was possible to detect the full text of speech of Yuri Stern on site http://evrofilm.com in 2012. . I was incredibly happy and express my gratitude to the authors of this wonderful site.
At same time the idea was intercepted by Russian authorities and its subsequent incarnation has gone the way of oligarchic structures in the leadership of Jewish organizations. American participants in the initiative have refused to cooperate with the Russian oligarchy.