The War in Ukraine: Jewish News #45
In This Issue: Russian Jews Invade Israel, Mini-Matsot for Ukrainian Soldiers.
Russian Jews Invade Israel: A Three Year Overview
The Numbers
One of the unintended consequences of the war in Ukraine has been a significant wave of Aliyah (emigration to Israel) from the two warring countries. According to the Israeli Ministry of Absorption, 95,365 people immigrated from Russia in the years 2022-2024 , and 18,209 from Ukraine.
As the numbers indicate, the wave of ‘olim from Russia is much larger, and if one assumes that the influx during the first three months of 2025 was unchanged from 2024, the total number of Russian ‘olim since the full-scale invasion has surpassed 100,000.
There are many reasons for the numeric disparity between the two countries. Israel is one of the few countries that accepts migrants from Russia outside of Georgia and Central Asia; direct flights between Moscow and Tel Aviv continue to function. Since Israel is an advanced country that is part of the Western world, it is a more desirable destination than those other countries. People who are interested in leaving Russia eagerly research their family trees to find Jewish ancestors, so they can qualify for Israeli citizenship.
By contrast, all of Europe is open to Jews who leave Ukraine, and most of them have settled in Germany, Poland, and other European countries. From Europe, it’s easier to stay in touch with family and friends who remain in Ukraine, and to visit them periodically. The main limiting factors for emigration from Ukraine are age/gender. Men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country during wartime. Therefore, Jewish ‘olim from Ukraine are overwhelmingly senior citizens, many of whom already had children in Israel before the war.
The largest spurt of ‘aliyah from Russia was in 2022, in response to the crackdown on anti-war protests, and fear of mobilization. The numbers decreased after the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in Gaza. Many people were (and remain) reluctant to leave one country at war for another country at war. Nonetheless, 19,474 people made aliyah from Russia in 2024, more than 2.5 times as many as made aliyah before the war, in 2021.
The problem with these numbers is that It’s hard to measure the retention of immigrants. A sizeable proportion of the ‘olim from Russia stayed in Israel long enough to obtain citizenship, and then moved on to a European country, or back to Russia. A recent study by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics found that 26,300 new olim left Israel in 2023 to reside in other counties. (The number includes new olim from the United States, France etc. but consists overwhelmingly of new olim from Russia and Ukraine.) So the real number of new immigrants living in Israel is somewhat less than meets the eye.
Peculiar Features and Political Profile
The new wave of Russian ‘olim is young, urban, highly educated, relatively well-to-do, and liberal in political views. This is not your grandmother’s Soviet aliyah. According to one study, conducted by a team at Tel Aviv University, 97% come from large cities – mainly Moscow and St. Petersburg - and 83% of them have higher education. (In Israeli society at large, the figure for higher education is 33%.) As far as employment, 45.5% of them worked back in Russia in High-Tech, 22.7% in Culture, the Arts, Journalism and Media, and 13.8% in Science and Education.
A survey conducted in the summer of 2023 (that is, before October 7) found that 43% of the new immigrants defined themselves as “Left”, 29% as “Centrist” and only 14.5% as “Right”. Because they were brand new immigrants at the time of the survey, this political self-identification had more to do with their experience in Russia than with anything else. These people left Russia to escape its oppressive political environment; they did not want to belong to an aggressor state or be drafted to fight in a war they opposed. This aliyah is politically aware and engaged. “They left in search of a democratic society, freedom of speech, freedom of choice”, says the researcher from Tel Aviv University.
The new immigrants’ liberal views were confirmed by their responses to specific survey-questions. When asked about the statement “Israel needs a strong leader in order to deal with its special problems”, only 12% of the new immigrants from Russia agreed, whereas the number for Israeli Jews at large is 50%. Only 4% of them agreed with the statement “Jewish citizens should have more rights than non-Jewish citizens”. Among Israeli Jews, the number is 43%. 53% of the newcomers agree that Arab citizens of Israel are disadvantaged, whereas only 31% of Jewish Israelis at large agree.
This peculiar political profile has not gone unnoticed. An opinion piece by a sociologist in Zman Yisrael called on Israeli liberals to reach out to the new immigrants, and to integrate them into the country’s struggle for democracy, tolerance and human rights. Without such outreach by Israeli liberals, the new immigrants would be subject to the influence of the “old” Russian aliyah of the 1990s, which is much more conservative and pro-settler in outlook. The author estimated that as many as 5 Knesset seats were at stake in the struggle for these new voters. In the mirror image of that opinion-piece, an article on the website of the right-wing Channel 14 warned that the Russian language media in Israel – television, radio and press – is controlled by the left, and people who are alienated from Jewish tradition and values. It warned that there would be electoral consequences if the right wing did not take action.
Immigrant Impressions of Israel
A journalist from Ha’aretz recently visited Ulpan Gordon , a public Hebrew-language school, and asked students what they liked and disliked about Israel. On the “like” list: the weather, the beaches, the warmth and friendliness of people. At the top on the “dislike” list: The cost of living. A group of students literally called out in unison: “Its expensive here”. Their second complaint was bureaucracy. One ‘oleh responded: “The service here is really lousy. It took me a very long time to get citizenship. The banks and post office don’t answer.” Despite their high level of skills and training, many complained about not finding work in their field. The Knesset recently passed a law that will cut through red tape, and shorten the time to get work-permits in various specializations (accounting, medicine) and offer automatic work permits in other fields.
Because this wave of migration is young (the average age is 37), and many of them work in Hi-Tech, they are more mobile than typical immigrants. The 1 Million Lobby, an organization that represents the needs of Russian speaking Jews in Israel, has been warning that Israel is losing many of its new immigrants because of a lack of attention to their employment placement.
An Actor’s Tale
A remarkably high proportion of the new ‘olim, 15.7%, are professionals in culture and the arts. Some were stars back in Russia; most are in the early stages of their career. Authors, journalists, and theatre-people have a notoriously difficult time adjusting to emigration, because their professions are dependent on their use of language. It isn’t easy for a new ‘oleh actor or journalist to break into the Hebrew theatre world; it isn’t easy even for an aspiring Israeli actor or journalist.
Alex Rif, Executive Director of the One-Million Lobby, who is herself a poet, warns that the absorption of artists is not going well: “Government offices don’t really have plans to absorb immigrant artists. When the war in Ukraine broke out, we appealed to the Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, who wanted to obtain a budget to establish a Hothouse for immigrant artists in the ‘Anu’ Museum of the Jewish People. The plan was to give them a set of workshops on the Israeli cultural scene, access to grants, and a home for creativity, rehearsals and performances. But the project was delayed and the budget passed only a few months ago - in a severely curtailed form. If the state wants this population, which is educated and enormously talented, it must act to absorb it. But I don’t see it happening. The state is barely acting on behalf of ‘olim in areas that are considered engines of economic growth, such as Hi-Tech and medicine. So culture will of course be left behind.”
The case of star-actor Anatolii Beliy, who was interviewed by Ha’aretz, is a success story. Born in Bratslav, Ukraine, in 1972 as Anatolii Vaysman, Beliy was for nineteen years a cast-member of the Moscow Drama Theatre, a highly prestigious ensemble, where he performed a classical repertoire – Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov. He also appeared in numerous Russian films and TV series.
Then the war broke out in February 2022, and the Ukrainian-born Beliy was shaken. He was unable to go on, and left for Israel in July of that year. His parents and sister had settled there 25 years ago. Upon arriving, he posted on Facebook that “I cannot live in a country which is waging a vile, unjust, terrible, bloody war. I can't pretend that nothing is happening, I can't see people laughing in summer cafes, I can't hear cheerful music. I can't remain silent any longer.” In December 2023, the Russian authorities declared Beliy a “Foreign Agent”.
In his interview with Ha’aretz, Beliy added that “when I left Russia, the only thing I cared about was being a free person. All the rest, and I say this in all honesty, wasn’t important. I didn’t think I’d have any luck here. I thought I wouldn’t perform again, and I was ready for that possibility.”
Beliy has been fortunate. He picked up Hebrew with relative ease, and this last December, he performed in the Gesher Theatre’s Hebrew production of “Crime and Punishment”. He had a Hebrew part in the Israeli film “Halisa”, and now co-stars in an Israeli television crime series called “The Russian Compound”.
Beliy reports that he knows other actors who did not study Hebrew, fell between the cracks, and did not find work in Israel. They have since been enticed to return by the Russian Film industry, which lost much of its talent to emigration, and which reached out to them with generous offers. Those colleagues now work in Russia and keep their mouths shut about the war. Beliy says he doesn’t judge them.
As a young man, Beliy never attributed any significance to his Jewishness. Even when his parents and sister left Bratslav for Israel in 2000, he didn’t think of Israel as anything other than a place with nice beaches to visit. “The push I got in 2022, against my will, that forced me to come here, was magical. I got here because there was no alternative, but as soon as I landed at the airport, I understood that I wanted to be here; that I must be here.”
“Surprising things have been happening with my Jewish identity over the last few years. I started feeling myself more Jewish than I felt my entire life. I was full of fear on October 7, but after it calmed down, I looked around and saw people supporting each other, helping each other, doing the necessary things to survive. That wouldn’t have happened in Russia. On the other hand, before October 7, I wasn’t afraid that my son would be drafted. Now, my son is seventeen years old and received his first summons from the IDF. And I’m afraid.”
“I’m crazy about Hebrew. I love its sounds, the guttural het and the resh. If I could, I’d study in Ulpan all day. When I studied my part in ‘Crime and Punishment’ I enjoyed it so much. It was an enormous challenge for me. But it came relatively easily, because when I arrived here everything opened up in me psychologically to study the language.”
When asked what he thought of Israeli theatre audiences, Beliy had a mixed response. “On the one hand the behavior-culture is horrible. People walk around, have conversations, and telephones ring [during a performance]. On the other hand, I recently appeared in Be’er Sheva in a one-man show that is based on poems by Mandelstam, Pasternak and Brodsky. I suddenly forgot a line, and someone from the audience filled it in for me.”
Mini-Matsot for Soldiers at the Front
The Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, the umbrella organization of Chabad-Lubavitch communities, distributes matsot to Jewish communities across Ukraine every year. But this year there is an innovation. The Federation prepared “mini-matsot” for the hundreds of Jewish soldiers in the Armed Services.
The hand-baked shmurah matsot are exactly the minimum size required by Jewish law – a “ke-zayit” (olive size), or 18 centimeters in diameter. A regular matzah is 30 centimeters in diameter. The goal is for soldiers to be able to take matzah with them wherever they need to go, without any difficulty or inconvenience. The soldiers also received special Passover kits for the seders – including grade juice, a seder plate, candles, and a haggadah with Ukrainian translation.
The matsot were baked in Dnipro, the largest and wealthiest Chabad community in Ukraine. The Federation claims that they are “the smallest matsot in the world”, but I think we’ll need to leave that determination to the Guiness Book of Records.
Prayers for Ukraine
As a follow-up to my piece on prayers for the welfare of Ukraine (newsletter #44), I wrote to Ukraine’s State Service for Ethnic Groups and Freedom of Conscience (DESS). I wanted to check that what I wrote, that “there is no state requirement or demand that such prayers be recited”, was in fact true. Viktor Voynalovich, Deputy Head of DESS, was kind enough to reply. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
In accordance with Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations”, […] the state does not interfere in the lawful activities of religious organizations; meaning it does not have the right to establish mandatory requirements regarding the content of religious rites, services, or prayers. […] Consequently, any prayers for the state or its well-being are solely voluntary initiatives of religious communities and are not mandated by state bodies, including DESS.
Although legislation does not require prayers for the state, many religious organizations in Ukraine have historically maintained the tradition of offering prayers for peace, the state, and its people. In response to the current challenges facing Ukraine, particularly in light of Russian aggression, religious organizations have initiated significant efforts to pray for the state, its people, and its defenders.
DESS […] does not issue directives, recommendations, or any instructions regarding the content of religious services, and does not establish mandatory prayer texts or standard formulations to be used by religious organizations.
