-A look at alleged attempts being made by the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv to persuade Russian emigrants to return from Israel to Russia. (Haaretz)
–What’s doing with the refuseniks Ida Nudel, Yosef Begun, and Yuli Edelstein? (J.)
-Sergey Kadinsky writes about how it has happened that Soviet-born Jews “do not have a clear identity in America,� and remain a divided community. (The Jewish Week)
The territories of the former Russian Empire were the cradle of Jewish modernity, the birthplace of Zionism and Jewish socialism, and a major center of the Hasidic movement.
A former Soviet dissident, Sharansky spent nine years in prison and became the face of the movement to free Jews living under communism.
How an ancient ritual has been reimagined for a variety of new purposes.