From Exodus to Freedom: A History of the Soviet Jewry Movement

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Rowman & Littlefield, 2005 - History - 213 pages
Between 1967 and 1991, almost half of the entire Jewish population of the Soviet Union left for freedom to Israel, America, and other western countries. From Exodus to Freedom: The History of the Soviet Jewry Movement tells the story of the American Jewish community's involvement in this exodus, and is the first of its kind to explore how such a massive emigration occurred for a population virtually written-off by world Jewry as 'doomed' just two decades before. Using primary documents, letters, and first hand experience, From Exodus to Freedom puts into historical context what could become known as the one of the most uplifting and positive episodes in modern Jewish history.
 

Contents

The Soviet Jewry Movement in America in Historical Perspective
1
The Soviet Jewry Movement before 1985 Gorbachev and a New Chapter for Soviet Jews
27
The US Government and the Soviet Jewry Movement in America
35
Tactics and Strategy of the Soviet Jewry Movement
75
American Jewry Chooses Aliyah or Rescue
119
The Last Months
167
Epilogue
183
Bibliography
197
Index
209
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About the author (2005)

Stuart Altshuler is an ordained rabbi and visiting professor in the Department of History at the University of California, Irvine. He was an activist/participant in the Soviet Jewry movement as Chairman of the Rabbinic Action Committee for Soviet Jewry.