Abstract
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there were several groups of Jews who immigrated to the US. The four most notable came from Latin America, Israel, Iran, and the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The largest immigrant group came from the FSU, especially in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As the Soviet Union collapsed, millions of Jews who were living there emigrated, primarily to Israel and the US. In the US, American Jewish organizations helped Russian-Speaking Jewish (RSJ) immigrants adjust to life in the US, but they didn’t understand that their view of Judaism differed. RSJs were not able to practice Judaism as a religion for decades because of the Soviet Union’s restriction on religion. Their connection to Judaism came from their family history and culture, not religion. There were many that were not interested in engaging with Judaism at all, and the ones who wanted to do so on their terms. In the early 2000s, RSJ immigrants created several of their own grassroots organizations. These organizations use the RSJ understanding of Judaism as a form of Jewish education. New York and Chicago both now have RSJ organizations that are funded by their cities’ federations. Newer Jewish organizations that engage communities around the world also created programming specific for RSJs. Jewish organizations succeeded in including RSJs when they appealed to their sense of Judaism. One religious group that markets specifically to RSJs is Chabad, because they create an environment in which some RSJs are comfortable.