Jewish Identities in Postcommunist Russia and Ukraine
An Uncertain Ethnicity

This book examines in depth post-Soviet Jews' attitudes toward religion, intermarriage, emigration, anti-Semitism and rebuilding Jewish life.

Zvi Gitelman (Author)

9781107023284, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 October 2012

379 pages, 10 b/w illus. 25 tables
24.1 x 16 x 2.3 cm, 0.66 kg

“Gitelman's book goes much beyond in-depth historical and contemporary accounts of Jewish identities in postcommunist Russia and Ukraine. Its comparative perspective turns it into a broader study of Jewish identities worldwide, especially in the United States and Israel. It touches on the nature, fate, and future of the Jewish people. Gitelman sets a model for a scholarly analysis of ethnic identity, Jewish and non-Jewish. His book is a must-read for anyone interested in minority identity and ethnicity.” – Sammy Smooha, University of Haifa

Before the USSR collapsed, ethnic identities were imposed by the state. This book analyzes how and why Jews decided what being Jewish meant to them after the state dissolved and describes the historical evolution of Jewish identities. Surveys of more than 6,000 Jews in the early and late 1990s reveal that Russian and Ukrainian Jews have a deep sense of their Jewishness but are uncertain what it means. They see little connection between Judaism and being Jewish. Their attitudes toward Judaism, intermarriage and Jewish nationhood differ dramatically from those of Jews elsewhere. Many think Jews can believe in Christianity and do not condemn marrying non-Jews. This complicates their connections with other Jews, resettlement in Israel, the United States and Germany, and the rebuilding of public Jewish life in Russia and Ukraine. Post-Communist Jews, especially the young, are transforming religious-based practices into ethnic traditions and increasingly manifesting their Jewishness in public.

1. Ethnicity and identity
2. The evolution of Jewish identities
3. Soviet policies and the Jewish nationality
4. Constructing Jewishness in Russia and Ukraine
5. Judaism and Jewishness: religion and ethnicity in Russia and Ukraine
6. Becoming Soviet Jews: friendship patterns
7. Acting Jewish
8. Anti-Semitism and Jewish identity
9. Identity, Israel, and immigration
10. Ethnicity and marriage
11. Polities, affect, affiliation, and alienation
12. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Jewish studies [JFSR1], Religion & politics [HRAM2]