The Soviet Jewish Americans (The New Americans)

Contents......Page 8
Series Foreword......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Introduction: The Third and Fourth Waves of East European Jewish Immigration......Page 16
PART I: WHAT THEY LEFT BEHIND AND WHY THEY LEFT......Page 24
Prologue: Memory and Identity......Page 26
The Background: Jewish Life in Russia on the Eve of the Revolution......Page 28
The Russian Revolution and Its Aftermath......Page 32
The Oktyebrawnok Generation: Children of the Revolution, 1919–1937......Page 36
“The Terrible Years,” 1937–1945......Page 40
After the War: The Annihilation of Soviet Jewish Culture, 1945–1954......Page 46
The Khrushchev Years, 1953–1964: Some Breathing Room and a More Refined Anti-Semitism......Page 54
The Theater as a Font of Jewish Cultural Revival, 1955–1978......Page 56
After 1967: Anti-Zionism, Quotas, and a New Government Crackdown......Page 64
1967–1975: The Dream of Israel Realized......Page 67
Toward a Different Promised Land, 1975–1981......Page 73
Behind Closed Doors Once Again, 1982–1987......Page 79
The Fourth Wave Begins, 1987–1991......Page 83
Why They Continue to Leave, 1991 to the Present......Page 88
Childhood\'s End: The Fallout from Chernobyl......Page 92
PART II: WHAT THEY FOUND AND WHAT THEY CREATED IN THE UNITED STATES......Page 98
The Russification of New York......Page 100
The Creation of New Ethnic Enclaves: Settling an Exodus in the 1970s......Page 104
A Case Study of Brighton Beach: The Most Famous “Russian” Neighborhood in America......Page 107
Welcome, Conflict and Negotiation: New Immigrants Meet the Old......Page 111
Bonding Across the Immigrant Waves Through Communal Mourning......Page 116
How Brighton Beach Became “Little Odessa”......Page 118
The bar mitzvah as a Rite of Americanization......Page 125
From Little Odessa to Vorovskoy Mir (Thieves\' World)......Page 130
Other Soviet Jewish Enclaves in New York......Page 132
Bukharan and Georgian Jews in Rego Park and Forest Hills, Queens......Page 136
Beyond New York: Urban and Suburban Settlements Across the United States......Page 146
A Parting Snapshot: Soviet Emigres with Palm Trees and Smog......Page 154
4. Gender and Generation: The Varied Rhythms of Acculturation......Page 164
The Elderly, A Traumatized Population......Page 165
Struggles in the Workaday World: Adults from 25 to 60......Page 173
Gender as a Factor in Adult Adjustment......Page 179
Adolescents and Children: The 1.5 Generation......Page 184
New Arrivals: Making Friends and Rebuilding Identities......Page 187
Parents, Grandparents and Teen-age Rebellion......Page 193
Epilogue: Personal and Political Transformations—Soviet Jewish Life in the United States After 25 Years of Immigration......Page 200
Appendix: Noted Soviet Jewish Americans......Page 210
Bibliography......Page 214
B......Page 226
E......Page 227
K......Page 228
P......Page 229
S......Page 230
Z......Page 231