A new samizdat (“self-published”) journal of the Jewish emigration movement, “Jewish Thought,” has begun circulating in the USSR, according to the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) and Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (UCSJ). The typewritten publication, now in its second issue, joins the unofficial “Jews in the USSR” and “Tarbut” as efforts by activist Jews to counter the Kremlin’s destruction of Jewish life and education.
The SSSJ and UCSJ reported that each issue of “Jewish Thought” contained about 120 pages, with articles on Moses, Rabbi Akiva, Yehuda Halevi, Chaim Nachman Bialik, Achad Ha’am and Martin Buber. It emanates from the Riga Jewish cultural symposium, whose chairman, Arkady Tsinober, recently received a long-awaited exit visa to Israel.
The group also promotes Jewish awareness through youth “Erev Shabbat” evening. Kiddush is recited, passages from the Bible, letters from Israel, and a review of the foreign press are read. Jewish songs, culture, history and Israeli geography are taught.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
