Leni
Bump
The article fails to consider the possibility that among the immigrants returning back to Russia a majority are ethnic Russian non-Jews, a significant number of whom immigrated to Israel in the 90s.
2. Russian medical doctors would have to be janitors in the U.S. as well because their training is not up to Israeli or American standards.
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME I FEAR
Return of the Jews: To Russia not Israel @ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1240231/posts
A European friend of mine who has traveled and studied Russia extensively, recently sent an email with the following:
"In Soviet aera, that was even more bureaucratic, but today, it might be easier for some people to emigrate than to move from their home town to Moscow, if only they would get a visa from a foreign country. That is why Israel has been flooded by more and less genuinely Jewish Russian immigrants."
There is no doubt that many Russian Jews made Aliya for genuine reasons. However, many of the Jews who imigrated from Russia to Israel weren't even Jews at all. Still others, with residual Jewish blood, were not committed to Zionism or Israel. I know, because I interviewed many of them during my stay there. Plus, you can bet, the Russians were sure to mix-in plenty of FSB agents for good measure. In short, many of the people we see going back to Russia never belonged in Israel in the first place.
Having lived and worked in Israel I can attest to a near complete lack of assimilation of Russian Jews. They retained their Russian identities and lived, socialized and congragated in Russian speaking enclaves. Most grew up in the Soviet era and were not practicing Jews and I never met one who was kosher.