Scholars at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, are undertaking a unique project to help newly arrived Russian immigrants begin their new life as Jews in their historic home land. Nearly 100 Russian students are studying at Bar-Ilan, and they are encountering inevitable problems brought on by a vastly different social background than that of the Israelis. But, according to University Chancellor Dr. Joseph H. Lookstein, the biggest single problem is the language barrier. Some of the students know a little Hebrew which they gleaned in secret from “radical literature” or from furtive encounters in synagogues or back alleys. They speak of learning Hebrew words from a song or from photostats of smuggled copies of the Hebrew textbook “Eleph Milim.” But by and large they have relatively little knowledge of their. Jewish language and heritage. Many of them have never read the bible or especially the Talmud. As one Russian girl at the university said, “I had no idea what Talmud was. I had never seen one before I came to Israel.”
Bar-Ilan scholars are making it possible for Russian students to begin catching up with their cultural heritage by providing Russian translations of the Talmud and the Bible. Previously it has not been possible for Russians to read these holy books in their native tongue. Now Bar-Ilan is providing these translations for the students to use in their Judaic studies, and, ultimately, to help Russian Jews all over Israel deal with their new culture. The translation project is only a part of Bar-Ilan’s effort to help Russian students. The Absorption Committee of the Students’ Union conducts orientation on Judaism and on Israel in their mother tongue. Regular trips to all parts of the country show the students something of life on kibbutzim and in villages, and they get to know Israel’s natural sights and historical landmarks. Rabbi Mordecai Chanzin, adviser to Bar-Ilan’s Russian students and himself a Russian Jew who spent 21 years in prison before being allowed to come to Israel, says the aim of the university’s program is to give the students the opportunity to know and understand Israel and its life, and to help them become a part of that life.
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