Seven decades of severe Soviet cultural-religious suppression and two world wars had isolated and demolished the once flourishing Jewish communities behind the Iron Curtain. When the era of Glasnost and Perestroika presented an opportunity for world Jewry to reestablish its lost ties with the three of four million Jews still living throughout the former Soviet Republics, it was unknown whether there was any hope for some kind of Jewish community renewal. The story of how the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a voluntary, humanitarian organization supported by American Jewry, made its entry into the isolated, poverty-stricken world, is a dramatic one. Beginning with only a few highly motivated and experienced workers, contact was made through music, literature, food packages, and religious holiday celebrations. Local Jewish leadership emerged and was encouraged. Plans for community development through social, religious, educational and welfare services were made and implemented. With the guidance of AJJDC and its dedicated community workers came rehabilitation and renewal.

About the Author
Anita Weiner is Retired; Former faculty member, Haifa University School of Social Work.

Reviews
?Weiner has written a thorough study that will enrich anyone interested in Jewish community development and life in the former Soviet Union. -- Andrew Harrison, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation * American Jewish History *
...Weiner has written a thorough study that will enrich anyone interested in Jewish community development and life in the former Soviet Union. -- Andrew Harrison, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation * American Jewish History *



Book Information
ISBN 9780761824763
Author Anita Weiner
Format Paperback
Page Count 486
Imprint University Press of America
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 667g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 151mm * 33mm