The war in Ukraine increases the emigration of Jews

Since the outbreak of war, the emigration of Jews from Russia has increased. More and more people are fleeing from Ukraine to the promised land. The Israeli authorities reported that the number of immigrants to Israel from Russia was already 40,000 in 2022 and that 20,000 had arrived from Ukraine. In 2023, the number has increased further. This is partly due to the fact that a large number of Jews have been mobilized in Russia, at the same time as anti-Semitism has increased.

Already in the late 1980s, the Soviet Union opened up the possibility for Jews to emigrate to Israel. As a result of this, more than 60,000 Jews emigrated during the most intense months. Emigration from Russia has increased after the country’s attack on Ukraine, but there are still some who have decided to stay and wait. Some of them have become believers in Jesus and become involved in Christian churches.

During the last period of time many pastors of evangelical churches have been forced into silence in their criticism of the war, and the situation of believers has become increasingly worrying. This has reduced the willingness of Messianic Jews to remain in the land, as discrimination against minorities becomes more evident day by day.

At the last Soviet census in 1989, there were officially 1.7 million Jews in the country. At the same time, Jewish organizations gave figures of 4-6 million. The difference was due to the fact that many registered themselves as Russians to avoid discrimination because of their Jewish origin.

Today, estimates of the number of Jews in Russia range from 228,000 to 1.5 million. The number dropped dramatically due to the wave of emigration, which almost exploded when the Soviet Union changed its religious policy in 1988. This led to 800,000 Jews moving to Israel between the years 1989-1994.

Promised Land in Siberia

When the Russian Jews’ dreams of a Promised Land increased in the 1920s, Joseph Stalin wanted to give them an area of their own – in Siberia, near the Chinese border. The idea had been presented by the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer, which led to the decision being confirmed in 1931. Three years later, the Jewish Autonomous Region was founded and Birobidzhan became its capital in 1937.

Author David Bergelson then began writing propaganda articles in Yiddish, which inspired Jews to move to the Jewish Autonomous Region. This resulted in over 1000 immigrating families to Birobidzhan from the United States and South America.

In 1946-1948, a wave of Jews also came from the Soviet Union, when 10,000 were deported to Birobidzhan. Prisoners sentenced to internment in Siberia were not allowed to return to their home regions after serving their sentences. Therefore, many Jews were sent into exile to the Jewish Autonomous Region. In the 1950s, when the persecution of Jews culminated in Russia, Stalin banned all Jewish organizations, and Yiddish replaced Hebrew as the official language of the Jews.

At its peak, there were 30,000 Jews in the autonomous region. Today, the number of inhabitants in Birobidzhan is 75,000, just under 2000 of whom are of Jewish descent. In addition to the local synagogue, there is also a Baptist and Pentecostal church in the town. The Messianic congregation has services in both Hebrew and Russian.

Are Jews persecuted today?

In recent years, discrimination against Jews in Russia, Belarus and the eastern parts of Ukraine has created problems for many people. Often, the persecution has been purposeful. Sometimes it does not occur at all. Discrimination comes and goes and seems to depend on the political winds.

After the outbreak of war in Ukraine, patriotic feelings have surfaced. This has led to minorities being worse off. According to the chief rabbi of Ukraine, several of the political leaders are of Jewish descent. This has improved the situation for them in recent times. However, there are difficulties, as the government’s democratic policy has not really gained a foothold. Corruption also creates problems for the poorest.

Many Jews have been prominent in the political arena in Russia and Ukraine. Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov – who was assassinated in 2015 – former presidential candidate and chess world champion Garry Kasparov are both of Jewish origin, as are Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former president Petro Poroshenko, and former prime minister Volodymyr Groysman.

Famous Jewish musicians such as David Oistrach, Yehudi Menuhin, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Leonard Bernstein received a lot of positive attention during the Soviet era, as did the legendary actor Yuri Stoyanov. Then there are the elderly and sick, who cannot fend for themselves and whose dream of the promised land feels very distant.

Messianic Congregations

In both Russia and Ukraine there are over 100 Messianic congregations. The largest groups are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Rivne and Minsk. Members are engaged in social activities and they also distribute Bibles in Russian and Hebrew. In Ukraine, the Messianic congregations have registered a union, which assists those who are persecuted because of their faith, especially in the eastern parts of the country. The situation is better in western Ukraine and in Kiev, where the largest Messianic congregation has over 2000 members.

In Central Asia, there are still many so called ”Bukhara Jews”, who moved from Iran to Uzbekistan during the Middle Ages. Several of them have become Christians and joined churches in Samarkand, Bukharah, and Bishkek, where the largest Messianic congregation is located. Discrimination against Jews and Christians in Central Asia has increased in some regions, making it difficult to celebrate religious services and cultural festivals.

Moscow’s leading rabbi Pinchas Goldsmith left Russia in 2022, because he got into big trouble, when he refused to bless the war against Ukraine. Since then, he has encouraged Jews to leave the country: ”We see a growing anti-Semitism that is reminiscent of the Soviet era. Step by step, the Iron Curtain is being lowered – the only chance is to escape and move to the Promised Land”.

When I talk to some of the Messianic Jews, I am struck by the fact that their vision still seems to be: ”Next year in Jerusalem!” They dream of moving to Israel. For many believers, the vision has already come true. The Messianic Jews have taken their faith with them to Israel. There are today over 10,000 Russian-speaking Jews, who confess Jesus as their savior and/or Messiah.

Rauli Lehtonen 

(AI-translation from Swedish)