Jewish Life In Russia...

[RickM]

I didn't quite understand what one local Jewish/Russian lady living in my area was telling my wife...Apparently,her whole family arrived here very recently and all are currently living around the greater Boston area allowed here from Russia as Jewish Exiles...
Anybody know anything about that???
Is it still difficult being Jewish and living in Russia???
Do Jewish/Russians have such an oppertunity to arrive so easily to the USA as exiles in this day and age???
My wife said she didn't know if she could believe everything this lady told her...they met in a supermarket here and traded telephone numbers....

[Mike]

... in response to Jewish Life In Russia..., posted by RickM on Feb 17, 2003

I'm surprised that this is still going on. My wife went to school with jews in Russia and had jewish teachers (durring soviet times). They own TV stations in Russia and there are many that jumped on the get rich train when the soviet union fell, and many are now deeply involved in the mofia types of bussiness there. All this seems strange to accomplish for a group that is suppose to be treated so badly. If anything I suspect it is a loop hole that is still being used to come here. I'm sure there are many there that don't like them because of their abilities to rise above the common man just as there are many here that feel the same way.

Off topic- someone told me that the reason America supports Isreal is for fear that if they were to lose their country to Arabs they'll pack up and come to America.

Mike- who has an Uncle that is Jewish.

[WmGo]

... in response to Re: Hmmmm strange!, posted by Mike on Feb 18, 2003

Mike,

Re your off topic: If you research the matter you will discover that the reason that the U.S. supports Israel is threefold:

1. Strong Christian lobby
2. Strong Jewish lobby
3. History of persecution of Jews
culminating in Holocaust.

Both groups base their strong support on Scriptural grounds.

Bible prophecy is being fulfilled in dramatic fashion right before our very eyes. The restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948 and the retaking of Jerusalem in 1967 are undeniable fulfillments of God's promises in Scripture....

[Mike]

... in response to Re:strange!, posted by WmGo on Feb 18, 2003

I agree that the lobby is making decisions based on what you said (which it shouldn't if it truely were to seperate church from state). I'm agnostic I beleive there is something over me but I disagree that if it was written by man then it must be the truth. I respect those that have strong beliefs as long as they don't try to push it on me. In this case I feel that if the bible had told the English they will own Normandy because it is promised to them, and at the same time said the jews will own Isreal then we would see a war in France. Meaning they have followed these writtings for so long while relying totaly on it being the truth, even though it has been proven to be full of holes and impossible events and far too many questions then answers.(the bible that is)If I were god I would come down and say "hey guys everyone is wrong all you need to do is talk to me yourself" then we would have a heck of a better world to live in!
Mike

[WmGo]

... in response to Re: Re:strange!, posted by Mike on Feb 19, 2003

Mike,

Can you honestly say that you have personally burned the midnight oil in studying the Scriptures? If you take the time, and it will take a lot of time, you will learn that there is not a single inconsistency or contradiction in Scripture. Science, history and archaeology are also in complete accord.

Now, it is all about the battle for Jerusalem. And what you need to realize is the spiritual reality behind what you see...it is all fortold.

Also, I am sorry but your understanding of "seperation of church and state" is in error. Again, to understand this issue you must *personally* study the relevant history and law. It takes time. But you can do it. In summary, you will learn that the First Amendment was designed to prohibit the establishment of a *national* official Christian denomination. It has nothing to do with prohibiting one's personal beliefs (religious or otherwise) from influencing, deciding etc. one's political views, agenda, legislation etc.

To help you in your new Bible study I recommend some first rate internet sites: bible-prophecydotorg and bible-prophecydotcom. These are excellent sites and have a lot of links. But always remember - there is no substitute for personally studying the Bible. And most importantly, Salvation is a *free* gift - you must only receive it.

Good luck!

WmGO

[JohnL]

... in response to Re: strange!, posted by WmGo on Feb 19, 2003

Hey William !
Wonderful post, how perfectly true. That most sought after piece of real estate on planet earth, Jerusalem. Oh Jerusalem .......

Gee isnt it a pity that more people dont attempt to find out why. When you find a spare FSU woman or two who understands that as well, dont forget to give us a yell down south!! After all .... who wants to be unequally yoked in todays world.

Best wishes down south your way WG!
J.

[WmGo]

... in response to Re: Re: strange!, posted by JohnL on Feb 22, 2003

Thanks JohnL. And best wishes to you! Hope 2003 is good to ya.

[Michael B]

... in response to Jewish Life In Russia..., posted by RickM on Feb 17, 2003

Back about 1995 or 96 a Jewish Russian woman suddenly showed up working in my office as a rookie level computer programmer. She had been some kind of engineer in Russia and came over on that exact program, along with her husband and a couple of kids. Her husband was an optician (not the doctor, just the guy who makes the glasses), his English was barely understandable, but he still managed to get a job as a techniciation at Eye Masters. Her English was excelent even the day she arrived. She stayed with us a couple of years then moved on and I've lost track of them now. But she did say that they had come over on that program and I remember her saying that Russia was glad to be rid of them (Jews in general, not this family in particular) and that while it wasn't exactaly 1938 Germany, that they were pretty much descriminated against. Actually, they were real nice, well educated and very hard working people (and the woman was #9 pretty to boot).

[WmGo]

... in response to Jewish Life In Russia..., posted by RickM on Feb 17, 2003

Rick,

During the Cold War, I believe beginning in the Reagan Administration, the U.S. Government persuaded the Soviets to begin to allow Russian Jews to emigrate to the U.S. and Israel. Christian leaders in the U.S. were the primary moving forces behind the advent of this program. I do not know the exact number that came to America under this special program but I think it was a lot - at least tens of thousands, maybe more. This information should be on the internet. I think that at least one million have emigrated to Israel under this program. Israel is loaded with Russian Jews.

Yes, Jews have always been looked down on by Russian society. They have been discriminated against and sometimes persecuted. The famous "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" , which is universally acknowledged by academics throughout the world to be a made up forgery, was written in Russia about a hundred years ago as anti-Semitic propaganda. There are a lot of white supremacists, Nazis, skinheads, etc. that believe that The Protocols are real and use this belief as justification for their anti-Semitism.

Yes, it is still difficult to be Jewish in Russia as you are looked on with suspicion and viewed as a second class citizen.

It is probable that most Russian and Ukrainian Jews are descended from the Khazar Jews who had a large and great kingdom north of the Caucusus during the first millenium B.C.

Hope this helps.

WmGO

[BURKE89]

... in response to Jewish Life In Russia..., posted by RickM on Feb 17, 2003

the 1980 'refugee' act did give special status, in terms of immigration, to FSU Jews. Approximately 500,000 have emigrated the the USA, since it's inception.

If my memory serves me correctly, the volume has decreased since the middle 1990's. I do, however, recall stories that many of these 'refugees' weren't Jewish refugees at all, but criminal elements 'kindly' placed here by our friends in the FSU. Analogous, at least in effect, to Fidel's 'gifts' of the late 1980's.

[Bobby Orr]

... in response to Senator Frank Lautenberg's 1989 amendmen..., posted by BURKE89 on Feb 17, 2003

I live in a Russian area of Brooklyn, New York.  There are plenty of support groups for all the Russians.  What is interesting is I run into alot of Jewish and Non-Jewish Russians.  Here in America they quickly forget their religious differences and help each other, for the most part.  There does seem to be a big "mafia" element around - but that might just be a New York City immigrant type of thing - it seems all the immigrant groups have them.  The Russians do seem to be particularly good at the mafia thing.  Anyway, my Russian teacher is a Russian Jew from Moscow.  She said that she always was descriminated against because she was Jewish (stamped in her passport in Russia) - whether she asked for it or not.  That is why she emigrated here with her family when she could.  Never the less, I think she wishes she were still living in Moscow.  The only thing that keeps her and her family here is the higher standard of living - I believe.  I think the racial / ethnic / religious persecution people in Russia generally suffered for centuries is on the decline.  People hate Jews all over the world, particularly in Europe - why still in Europe I can only surmise because of the huge Arab populations in countries like France, Germany, England etc. - because Hitler sure eliminated just about all Jews.  In Russia, especially in the North-West the people look and act like Jews, there is alot of mixed blood - yet they descriminate there as well.  I guess misinformation / the terror of Middle Age Christianity / ignorance still goes a long way.  Anyway, another thing that is pretty funny I heard from my real estate agent, who is a really tall Latvian Jew (looks about as NW Russian as they come, with the blond hair blue eyes etc.) - is that Russian Jews came to America, help all the other Russians when they come over, yet every once in a while the Russia / Russians still try to make the Russian Jews feel like second class citizens in America - that gets the Russian Jews here mad!  I find it all amusing (perhaps I should not as a mixed religious with Jewish blood / European Mutt myself) - but for sure nobody, especially here in the US where we all end up being European Mutts likes descrimination.

[BURKE89]

... in response to Support groups, posted by Bobby Orr on Feb 17, 2003

the other post.

Yes, the new 'anti-semitic' furor in Europe is from: North Africa (all Africa for that matter) & immigration from less developed regions of our world, into the west. However, Ex-Marxist rabble still 'prance' about throughout 'EU galas' , without an ounce - of moral doubt nor rectitude for their crimes. I sense a double-standard: regarding the two faces of totalitarian thought of the last century.  

Fellow "European-American -Heinz 57- Mutt"

[Alfred]

... in response to Senator Frank Lautenberg's 1989 amendmen..., posted by BURKE89 on Feb 17, 2003

But many of them *were* real Jews, who did suffer persecution.

[BURKE89]

... in response to Re: Senator Frank Lautenberg's 1989 amen..., posted by Alfred on Feb 17, 2003

Christians were persecuted, as well. They simply didn't receive the same 'status' intially, at least.

Just not a fan of our immigration policy -post 1965- 'tis all.

[Bobby Orr]

... in response to I concur, however..., posted by BURKE89 on Feb 17, 2003

Burke -

Thanks for clearing things up below.  I appreciate the help.  I did not think I was starting a brawl - went to sleep / work and woke up to this.  All I thought I was doing was stating that I am attracted to white women and did not appreciate what has happened to the cultural and face of the USA as a direct result of the 1965 immigration policy change.