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Jewish organizations step up to the plate
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BY: Jennifer Daddario Staff Reporter
When Russian émigrés stepped onto the tarmac for the first time at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, they were faced with the daunting prospect of rebuilding their lives.
But they didn’t have to do it alone. Cleveland organizations stepped up and helped their new neighbors settle in.
Mt. Sinai Medical Center had two major responsibilities during the Soviet Jewry movement, says former chief of medicine Dr. Victor Vertes. “One was to the Russian Jewish doctor and the second was to the Russian Jewish patients,” he explains.
Mt. Sinai provided free English classes to the Russian doctors, an invaluable service that enabled them to continue their profession in the U.S.
“We felt it was an absolute responsibility for us to get the Russian Jewish doctor around challenges, so he or she could practice,” says Vertes. “There was a good feeling when they (Russian doctors) had done it at Sinai; they felt like they belonged.”
A small percentage of immigrants “went to medical schools that were really not equivalent to U.S. medical schools,” Vertes says. One Russian doctor sat outside and picketed the hospital because she wasn’t qualified for a position.
Russian patients, meanwhile, felt right at home at Mt. Sinai’s Russian clinic, formed shortly after the influx of immigrants. “It was supply-and-demand,” explains Vertes. “The demand was getting so big, there had to be this kind of clinic set up.”
In 1991, the clinic had a staff of five Russian-speaking doctors, all former émigrés themselves. In addition, there were two full-time translators and other part-time Russian- or Yiddish-speaking personnel on hand to assist patients.
All Russian immigrants, about 1,600 in 1991, were screened and immunized within two weeks of their arrival in Cleveland. Despite financial help from the Ohio Department of Health, United Way, and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Mt. Sinai donated more than $1 million in un-reimbursed expenses to serve the arriving Soviets.
The Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland (JFSA) and the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) helped immigrants in myriad ways.
JFSA resettlement workers focused on finding immigrants housing and helping them with insurance and Medicaid. JVS staffers focused specifically on assessing Russian immigrants’ skill levels and helping them find appropriate jobs.
In 1978, Mira Kramarovsky resettled with her family in Cleveland, helped by JFSA. A year later, she got a job at the agency as a resettlement case worker, the first Russian immigrant to be hired for the position. “It was very rewarding to do the task that somebody did for me,” she says. By early 1980, nearly all the resettlement and JVS workers were immigrants themselves.
JFSA also provided newly resettled immigrants with ESL (English as a second language) and citizenship classes, which they attended for a few months immediately after they arrived. “One of the obstacles was having patience with people starting from the beginning,” says Sue Biagianti, director of maturing family services at JFSA. “You had some very highly trained and educated people who couldn’t find something in their field right away but had to go to work to support their families. It was very hard for them.”
The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland was crucial to the movement. It provided financial support to agencies helping immigrants. In addition to fundraising and raising awareness of the issue, Federation had another important job, says Federation president Stephen H. Hoffman: To “bring community muscle behind the initiatives of others.”
Early in the movement, when the West Side pioneers brought attention to the issue, the most important thing Federation did was “give them initial support and to some extent, legitimacy in the eyes of others,” notes Hoffman.
Federation also encouraged people to visit refuseniks in the Soviet Union. (See related article on pagr 4.)
Bobby Goldberg was part of a group that visited the Soviet Union in 1978. During the day and early evening, the group acted as tourists. At night, they would attend events for 15 minutes, then take taxis to the apartments of refuseniks.
After one visit, Goldberg would return to his hotel and then go out and visit another family. “I did that for three days and nights,” he says. “It was the most rewarding three days of my life. I felt I was really doing something firsthand.”
One example of the “muscle” Federation and the Jewish community provided was during the 1987 National Mobilization for Soviet Jews. Under Federation auspices, nearly 1,800 Clevelanders, many with young children, traveled to Washington, D.C., to march down Constitution Avenue and listen to speeches from advocates for Soviet Jews and human rights.
“We had a huge banner in Browns colors for Cleveland,” Hoffman says. “It was the single largest energizing experience for everybody. Even those who didn’t go were conscious of the rally.”
The Cleveland Federation and other federations around the country “stepped up to the plate and had campaigns for the Russians,” Goldberg noted. “Without a federation system, we never could have accomplished what we did.”
jdaddario@cjn.org
But they didn’t have to do it alone. Cleveland organizations stepped up and helped their new neighbors settle in.
Mt. Sinai Medical Center had two major responsibilities during the Soviet Jewry movement, says former chief of medicine Dr. Victor Vertes. “One was to the Russian Jewish doctor and the second was to the Russian Jewish patients,” he explains.
Mt. Sinai provided free English classes to the Russian doctors, an invaluable service that enabled them to continue their profession in the U.S.
“We felt it was an absolute responsibility for us to get the Russian Jewish doctor around challenges, so he or she could practice,” says Vertes. “There was a good feeling when they (Russian doctors) had done it at Sinai; they felt like they belonged.”
A small percentage of immigrants “went to medical schools that were really not equivalent to U.S. medical schools,” Vertes says. One Russian doctor sat outside and picketed the hospital because she wasn’t qualified for a position.
Russian patients, meanwhile, felt right at home at Mt. Sinai’s Russian clinic, formed shortly after the influx of immigrants. “It was supply-and-demand,” explains Vertes. “The demand was getting so big, there had to be this kind of clinic set up.”
In 1991, the clinic had a staff of five Russian-speaking doctors, all former émigrés themselves. In addition, there were two full-time translators and other part-time Russian- or Yiddish-speaking personnel on hand to assist patients.
All Russian immigrants, about 1,600 in 1991, were screened and immunized within two weeks of their arrival in Cleveland. Despite financial help from the Ohio Department of Health, United Way, and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Mt. Sinai donated more than $1 million in un-reimbursed expenses to serve the arriving Soviets.
The Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland (JFSA) and the Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) helped immigrants in myriad ways.
JFSA resettlement workers focused on finding immigrants housing and helping them with insurance and Medicaid. JVS staffers focused specifically on assessing Russian immigrants’ skill levels and helping them find appropriate jobs.
In 1978, Mira Kramarovsky resettled with her family in Cleveland, helped by JFSA. A year later, she got a job at the agency as a resettlement case worker, the first Russian immigrant to be hired for the position. “It was very rewarding to do the task that somebody did for me,” she says. By early 1980, nearly all the resettlement and JVS workers were immigrants themselves.
JFSA also provided newly resettled immigrants with ESL (English as a second language) and citizenship classes, which they attended for a few months immediately after they arrived. “One of the obstacles was having patience with people starting from the beginning,” says Sue Biagianti, director of maturing family services at JFSA. “You had some very highly trained and educated people who couldn’t find something in their field right away but had to go to work to support their families. It was very hard for them.”
The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland was crucial to the movement. It provided financial support to agencies helping immigrants. In addition to fundraising and raising awareness of the issue, Federation had another important job, says Federation president Stephen H. Hoffman: To “bring community muscle behind the initiatives of others.”
Early in the movement, when the West Side pioneers brought attention to the issue, the most important thing Federation did was “give them initial support and to some extent, legitimacy in the eyes of others,” notes Hoffman.
Federation also encouraged people to visit refuseniks in the Soviet Union. (See related article on pagr 4.)
Bobby Goldberg was part of a group that visited the Soviet Union in 1978. During the day and early evening, the group acted as tourists. At night, they would attend events for 15 minutes, then take taxis to the apartments of refuseniks.
After one visit, Goldberg would return to his hotel and then go out and visit another family. “I did that for three days and nights,” he says. “It was the most rewarding three days of my life. I felt I was really doing something firsthand.”
One example of the “muscle” Federation and the Jewish community provided was during the 1987 National Mobilization for Soviet Jews. Under Federation auspices, nearly 1,800 Clevelanders, many with young children, traveled to Washington, D.C., to march down Constitution Avenue and listen to speeches from advocates for Soviet Jews and human rights.
“We had a huge banner in Browns colors for Cleveland,” Hoffman says. “It was the single largest energizing experience for everybody. Even those who didn’t go were conscious of the rally.”
The Cleveland Federation and other federations around the country “stepped up to the plate and had campaigns for the Russians,” Goldberg noted. “Without a federation system, we never could have accomplished what we did.”
jdaddario@cjn.org
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| Where they are now: Soviet Jewry series | Once out, it’s hard to get in … to U.S. |
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