If Not Now, When? NFTY’s Role in Freeing Soviet Jews

by Rachel Mersky Woda Growing up in a Reform Jewish household meant that you learned at an early age the value of tikkun olam, repairing the world. In our home, we were surrounded by opportunities for activism, and the one that occupied us for years was the plight of the Jews in  Russia. In the early 1980s, those of us preparing to become b’nai mitzvah were paired with a “twin,” a Russian refusenik (one who was refused a visa to exit the USSR) who didn’t have the opportunity to achieve this milestone. It was up to us to prepare for this important day with our twins standing on our shoulders so we could enter the Jewish community as young adults in their honor as well.

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?   - Rabbi Hillel

We wore silver bracelets etched with the names of Russian refuseniks so that we had a daily reminder of our brothers and sisters who could not live freely as Jews in their home country. Leaders in our communities traveled to Russia in a show of solidarity. We helped them smuggle in siddurim (prayer books), tallitot (prayer shawls), and other tangible Jewish items to allow the refuseniks to have a tangible connection with our people and our heritage.

You sustain life through love, giving life to all through great compassion, supporting the fallen, healing the sick, freeing the captive, keeping faith with those who sleep in the dust. - G’vurot prayer

In NFTY, resolutions about the plight of Soviet Jewry and our obligation to help began in 1980 and continued for a decade until the fall of the Iron Curtain. Temple Youth Groups were encouraged to welcome new Russian teen émigrés into youth groups at no cost and the NFTY Board made a special board position “in absentia” in honor of the teens still in Russia. We sang songs about Anatoly Sharansky – the most famous refusenik who served time in prison for his “crimes” of being a Jew, who now serves as the Chairman of the Jewish Agency. He was released from Russia in 1986, immediately made aliyah (emigrated) to Israel and changed his name to Natan.

As long as you’re not free, neither are we. - from Anatoly by Doug Mishkin

And we marched for their freedom. In December, 1987, two days after I turned 14, I boarded a bus with my fellow members of WeFTY (Westchester Federation of Temple Youth) in Westchester, NY, and drove to Washington, D.C., to make history. We joined Jewish teens from all of NFTY that night at the Washington Hebrew Congregation for a special concert by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, after which we camped out in the social hall. The next morning, we braved the cold to join 250,000 people on the National Mall in protest. We held signs and sang at the top of our lungs calling for the USSR president, Mikhail Gorbachev, to put an end to the forced assimilation of Soviet Jews. We begged for them to be granted their freedom. At the time, it was reported to be the largest Jewish rally ever held in Washington. It occurred only 24 hours before Gorbachev was scheduled to arrive in Washington to meet with President Reagan. Natan Sharansky was there, along with Peter, Paul and Mary, members of Congress and prominent leaders of the Jewish community. The voice behind the curtain who kept the day moving was Leonard “Leibel” Fein z”l, a leader in social justice and the intellectual light of our generation.

Justice, Justice you shall pursue. - Deut. 16:20

Looking back now, that rally was the turning point in the struggle that led to the release of more than one million Soviet Jews over the next several years. It was an extraordinary time when we saw the direct result of our advocacy. We felt as if we were truly changing the world, because we did. Rachel Mersky Woda, R.J.E is the Assistant Director of Camp JORI in Rhode Island. She was an active member of NFTYY from 1987-199. Rachel lives in Providence, RI with her husband and two sons. They are members of Temple Beth El where Rachel is a Board Member and Chair of their Youth Committee.