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Somewhere in Between: A Look at the American Russian-Speaking Jewish Experience
Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Photo: Wiki Commons.
On a gray weekday afternoon, on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk in Brooklyn, the rhythmic clatter of dominoes on plastic tables mingles with the scent of fresh pirozhki and the soft murmur of Russian spoken with a Brooklyn lilt.
Down the street, a synagogue hosts Torah classes in three languages — English, Russian, and Hebrew — while a young woman in a puffer jacket scrolls through a WhatsApp group where Russian-speaking Jews discuss the latest news from Israel and the rise in antisemitism.
Brighton Beach — affectionately nicknamed “Little Odessa” — is the epicenter of a community that has straddled continents, ideologies, and generations: American, Russian-speaking Jews.
More than just immigrants or transplants, the Russian-speaking Jewish (RSJ) community in the United States has built a cultural enclave that is as complex as its history. Defined less by a single nation than by the Soviet past they share, the community spans immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Uzbekistan, the Caucasus, and other former USSR republics. They came not as one people, but have become one — at least on American soil.
Their journey to the US began in earnest in the 1970s, as Cold War tensions and rising antisemitism in the Soviet Union sparked a wave of emigration. Thousands of Soviet Jews — often stripped of professional status and burdened by state suspicion — left for the promise of religious freedom and opportunity. For many, the US was a distant, idealized land. For others, it was merely the first country that would take them.
The first major waves were driven by the Jackson-Vanik Amendment of 1974, which linked US trade relations with the USSR to the latter’s emigration policies. With support from Jewish aid organizations like HIAS and the Joint Distribution Committee, families arrived in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago — many with little more than a suitcase and Soviet engineering degrees that carried no weight.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, another, larger wave arrived — often poorer, less assimilated, and more religiously indifferent. This second migration reshaped the contours of the community, fusing intelligentsia with working-class grit.
For many Soviet Jews, religion was an abstraction — Judaism inherited more as ethnicity than faith. In the USSR, synagogues were shuttered, rabbis monitored, and Jewish holidays unofficial. Yet in America, that secular Jewishness found new expression.
Enter established organizations, such as Jewish Federations, JCCs, synagogues, and RSJ-founded community groups, which have spent the last three decades building Jewish identity among young Russian-speakers, often reintroducing them to traditions their parents never had a chance to learn.
That pride often takes unexpected forms: the community has produced world-renowned scientists and Silicon Valley entrepreneurs such as Google co-founder Sergey Brin, actresses like Mila Kunis, and comedians like Eugene Mirman, all shaped by the push-and-pull of Soviet-Jewish cultural inheritance and American possibility.
Politically, Russian-speaking Jews are notably distinct from some other Jewish American demographics. Shaped by memories of authoritarianism and state control, they lean more conservative — often voting Republican in higher percentages than other Jewish groups. Many immigrants, particularly of the older generation, view terms like socialism and social justice with reprehension, as the rhetoric of the American left reminds them of Soviet talking points.
Still, this political tilt doesn’t negate the community’s internal diversity — generational divides run deep, and younger Russian-Jewish Americans often find themselves bridging the worlds of their parents’ nostalgia and their own liberal-leaning social environments.
Today, as the community enters its third and fourth generations in America, a new identity is forming — one less tied to survival and more to self-expression. Russian-Jewish-American artists, businesspeople, and professionals are weaving together old-world trauma and new-world irony.
Many Russian-speaking Jews are discovering that Zionism and Israel are playing a larger part in shaping their identity. Masha Merkulova, Club Z’s founder and executive director states, “In our work with young American Jews, including those from Russian-speaking families, we teach them that while we embrace our American identity, our Jewishness connects us to something deeper and older. This is especially relevant for Russian-speaking Jews who have already navigated multiple identities. We carry Judea—our ancestral homeland in what is now Israel—in our heritage, not the steppes of Russia. Archaeological evidence, genetic studies, and our unbroken cultural traditions confirm that Jews are indigenous to the Middle East, regardless of where history scattered us. At Club Z, we emphasize that understanding this indigenous connection doesn’t diminish our Russian or American chapters—it enriches them, giving context to our ‘between-ness’ and purpose to our journey.”
Still, traces of the old world remain: the Russian-language newspapers that line newsstands in neighborhoods where Russian-speaking Jews live, the lavish weddings that combine demonstrations of newly found opulence with Jewish ritual, and the grandparents who still call America “zagranitsa” — the “foreign country.”
To walk through the Russian-speaking Jewish neighborhoods of America is to hear echoes of exile and endurance. It is a community forever navigating between languages, ideologies, and histories — a community of “between-ness.”
But perhaps that’s what makes them most American: their hybridity, their hustle, their contradictions — all worn with pride, all deeply earned.
Or, as a Brighton Beach grandmother might put it, “We’re not from here, we’re not from there — we’re from somewhere in between. But here, at least, we can be who we are.”
Gennady Favel has co-founded a number of nonprofits in the Russian-Speaking Jewish community, for which he led community outreach. His work has appeared in NY Daily News, The Forward, Times of Israel, eJewish Philanthropy, and many other publications.
The post Somewhere in Between: A Look at the American Russian-Speaking Jewish Experience first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Russia, China Maintain Cautious Diplomacy Amid Israel-Iran Conflict, Despite Deepening Ties With Tehran
Smoke billows following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Gideon Markowicz ISRAEL
Despite deepening their ties with Iran, Russia and China have held back from concrete action amid Israel’s recent attacks, choosing cautious diplomacy over direct support for their supposed partner.
Last week, Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat, as nuclear negotiations between the United States and Tehran appear on the brink of collapse.
The Israeli strike killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and dealt a major blow to the country’s retaliatory capabilities by destroying not only much of its ballistic missile stockpiles but also crippling its launch platforms.
According to Janatan Sayeh, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based think tank, Israel’s air superiority, combined with the element of surprise and Iran’s weakened air defenses, has left the Islamic regime incapable of sustaining its nightly missile attacks.
Tehran’s “only path to narrowing the battlefield gap lies in external military support,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner. “Yet Moscow, having previously depended on Iranian drones and missiles for its war in Ukraine, is unlikely to offer more than diplomatic backing.”
“That leaves China — a longtime economic lifeline for Tehran through illicit oil purchases — as the regime’s only potential partner in rebuilding its military infrastructure,” he continued.
So far, as the conflict between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, Beijing and Moscow have offered their so-called ally little more than public condemnation of the Israeli military campaign and formal offers to mediate the conflict.
“China is highly concerned about Israel’s attacks on Iran and deeply worried about the potential serious consequences of these actions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in a statement.
“China opposes any violation of Iran’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, and opposes actions that escalate tensions and expand the conflict,” he continued.
The Chinese diplomat also urged both Middle Eastern adversaries to take greater action in promoting regional peace and stability and to avoid further escalating hostilities.
“China is willing to play a constructive role in helping to de-escalate the situation,” Jian said.
According to Jack Burnham, a research analyst at FDD, China’s capacity to offer Tehran support beyond diplomatic channels is limited by the country’s inability to effectively manage rapidly evolving crises.
“Having built the foundations of Iran’s missile program, Beijing can now only watch as it goes up in flames — incapable of projecting power on a scale that could tip the balance of power and wary of committing resources during a period of heightened tensions in its own region,” Burnham told The Algemeiner.
As China seeks to establish itself as a key power in the Middle East and counter Western influence, Beijing sees this conflict as an opportunity to position itself as a peace broker and leverage its partnership with Iran.
China, a key diplomatic and economic backer of Tehran, has moved to deepen ties in recent years — signing a 25-year cooperation agreement, holding joint naval drills, and continuing to purchase Iranian oil despite US sanctions.
Amid US-Iran nuclear talks, Chinese officials have consistently opposed Washington’s sanctions on Tehran and defended the country’s right to enrich uranium.
For its part, Russia also proposed on Monday to mediate the conflict between Israel and Iran, while reiterating that its earlier offer to store Iranian uranium on Russian soil still stands.
According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to discuss the ongoing conflict.
During the conversations, he emphasized “the importance of resuming the negotiations and resolving any issues pertaining to Iran’s nuclear program exclusively via political and diplomatic means.”
After US President Donald Trump suggested that Putin could play a role in mediating efforts between Iran and Israel, the European Union rejected the idea, saying that Russia has “zero credibility” as a potential mediator between the two adversaries.
“There has been a recent Russia-Iran partnership agreement, which signals deepening cooperation across multiple areas, including foreign policy and defense. In light of such, Russia cannot be an objective mediator,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said in a statement.
Similar to China, Russia has expanded its ties with Iran to counter Western influence in the Middle East and mitigate the impact of US sanctions. For example, Russia pledged earlier this year to fund the construction of new nuclear power plants in Iran as part of a broader energy partnership that also includes a major gas deal between the two countries.
The post Russia, China Maintain Cautious Diplomacy Amid Israel-Iran Conflict, Despite Deepening Ties With Tehran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Launch Rescue Flights for Nationals Stranded Abroad Amid Iran War, Over 60,000 Register Immediately
El Al planes are seen on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion International airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, March 10, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
Israel will begin by Thursday operating a limited number of one-way flights to Tel Aviv to bring home the tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad since the outbreak of the conflict with Iran last week.
Israel’s national airline El Al opened an online registration for flights for the more than 100,000 citizens who have been stuck abroad since the Jewish state closed its airspace to civilian traffic early Friday morning, when hostilities erupted. Within less than two hours of opening the online form, more than 60,000 stranded passengers registered on the airline’s site despite the ongoing conflict, according to El Al.
“At this time, El Al is formulating the list of destinations and the scope of flights that will be allowed to operate under this plan,” the airline said. “The purpose of the registration is to map the location of our customers in the world, and accordingly build a flight schedule.”
On Friday morning around 3 am, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched Operation Rising Lion, a multifaceted campaign involving airstrikes, covert sabotage by Mossad, and other operations targeting Iran’s missile infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and military officials. Israel launched the operation with the goal of dismantling Iran’s nuclear capabilities, which Israeli officials have declared an existential crisis.
Israel has continued its military campaign since then, striking nuclear and military targets.
Iran has responded each night with barrages of ballistic missiles, largely targeting large civilian centers. Most of the projectiles have been intercepted by Israel’s missile defense system.
Despite enduring continuous barrages of Iranian strikes, the effort of tens of thousands of Israelis to return home suggests an effort to stand in solidarity with their families and homeland amid growing national uncertainty but a deepening sense of collective resolve. In highly populated areas like Tel Aviv and Haifa, residents have been observed resuming regular outdoor activities during the day, seemingly trying to maintain a sense of normalcy.
Conversely, Iran has seen a mass exodus of civilians from Tehran following Israeli strikes on key military and nuclear sites. Faced with widespread panic, power outages, and fears of further attacks, over 100,000 Iranians have reportedly fled the capital. The government’s attempt to downplay the situation with censorship and public reassurances has appeared to do little to stem the public’s anxiety.
Observers have noted that Tehran, the Iranian capital, is not equipped with modern bomb shelters, leaving residents to shelter in existing infrastructure such as underground tunnels, building basements, and metro tunnels.
The post Israel to Launch Rescue Flights for Nationals Stranded Abroad Amid Iran War, Over 60,000 Register Immediately first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Jewish West Virginia Student Targeted by Dining Hall Employee Over Pro-Israel Views
Illustrative: Pro-Hamas activists gather in Washington Square Park for a rally following a protest march held in response to an NYPD sweep of an anti-Israel encampment at New York University in Manhattan, May 3, 2024. Photo: Matthew Rodier/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) on Monday implored West Virginia University (WVU) to lift a no-contact order imposed on a Jewish pro-Israel student following a bizarre series of events in which he was reported for promoting pro-Israel speech on campus, The Algemeiner has learned.
According to a letter sent by the nonprofit organization, WVU freshmen Eliyahu Itkowitz was distributing copies of attorney Alan Dershowitz’s book The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies: And How to Refute Them With Truth during the final weeks of fall semester when he was approached by dining hall employee Hannah Harper — who, as uncovered by an Algemeiner investigation, is a white female who recently converted to Islam. Itkowitz offered Harper a copy of the book. She accepted it.
However, Harper, who had been made aware of Itkowitz’s Jewish identity and support for Zionism through her dealings with the campus’ Muslim Students Association (MSA), apparently had ulterior motives for accepting the book. Following the interaction, she delivered the copy of Dershowitz’s book to the university’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DDEI) and with it a complaint alleging that the student had handed her an “anti-Muslim book” as a discriminatory act. Itkowitz has denied that he meant Harper any harm.
Harper continued her pursuit of Itkowitz weeks later in the main dining hall after he had returned to school for spring term. Having caught sight of him, she falsely told her manager, Brad Dobson, that the student had been banned from eating there due to the complaint she had filed. The unsuspecting manager accosted the student and demanded that he take lunch somewhere else. Itkowitz refused, choosing instead to record the incident with this smartphone while Harper escalated the situation by calling the police.
“The university launched an investigation, despite the fact that even if all of her allegations against Eli were true, and there is evidence to suggest that they aren’t, all of the described actions constitute protected speech under the First Amendment,” Jessie Appleby, FIRE program counsel for campus advocacy, told The Algemeiner on Monday during an interview. She added that school officials ultimately determined that Harper’s allegations did not merit punishing Itkowitz. However, they did so after an invasive investigation and handing down a no-contact directive, which carries inculpatory implications, ordering Itkowitz to avoid all contact with Harper
The measure should be lifted, Appleby said.
“Because the investigation itself threatened discipline, it chilled free speech. It lasted five months, exhaustive interviews, and the no-contact order even though it never found him guilty of misconduct. Eli should not feel threatened that exercising free speech will incur disciplinary sanctions,” she continued. “One issue with schools investigating complaints investigating protected speech is that it allows students to use the complaint process to cudgel those with whom they disagree into silence, and we’ve seen a lot of that at West Virginia University.”
The case of Itkowitz is not the first time FIRE discovered that a university allegedly incriminated pro-Israel students for expressing their support for Zionism.
In 2023, it partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to publicize a Princeton University incident in which Alexandra Orbuch, a writer for conservative publication The Princeton Tory, was assaulted by a male member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) while filming a protest the group held on campus. The man allegedly followed Orbuch to obstruct her efforts, eventually stepping on her foot and pushing her. When Orbuch complained to a nearby public safety officer, the officer told her that she, not her attacker, had “incited something.”
Despite the gendered nature of the assault — an issue Princeton has dedicated an entire office to dealing with — the university granted the male student a no-contact order against Orbuch, explaining that any reporting she published which alluded to him would be considered a violation of the order and result in disciplinary charges. A similar incident occurred in 2022, when Tory reporter Danielle Shapiro attempted to report on the Princeton Committee on Palestine. After being notified of the order, Shapiro was told refer to a “Sexual Misconduct & Title IX” webpage, according to a guest column she wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
Princeton University later banned the practice of placing no-contact orders on conservative and pro-Israel students. In Monday’s letter, FIRE called on West Virginia University to do the same.
“WVU has a responsibility to prevent discriminatory harassment, but in doing so it must not sacrifice its constitutional obligation to protect free speech,” the group said. “An investigation and no-contact order based on protected expression is likely to chill student speech — even when, like here, the process ultimately concludes in favor of the speaker — because such a process implicitly threatens punishment for that speech.”
The Algemeiner has reached out to WVU for comment.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
The post Jewish West Virginia Student Targeted by Dining Hall Employee Over Pro-Israel Views first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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