"Tell the Truth, Feldman: You Are Jewish"
Our reviewer * "Tell the Truth, Feldman: You Are Jewish" 'At the age of seven when I entered school, I learned that something was wrong with my being Jewish,' said Rabbi Leonid Feldman, a former...
...I was successful...
...I said, Why would 11* to you...
...Its my first day in schooL' She said, We know the truth, Feldman...
...It has nothing to do with how Jewish you are, how aware you are whether you go to shui or keep kosher...
...One was Ukrainian...
...Well, think about it' I said, 'How much do you get for that...
...Because I could buy a refrigerator without paying taxes.* Even though Israel was the "opposite of the Soviet Union,* a place where being a 'Feldman' was acceptable, it fell short of his idealization...
...I decided to go to rabbinical school...
...It was the Olympics of my life I was training, I was playing, I was excited.' Two weeks before the departure I was called into the office of the Moldavian Sports and Recreation Committee...
...Usually it takes longer than just ten days...
...Our reviewer * "Tell the Truth, Feldman: You Are Jewish" 'At the age of seven when I entered school, I learned that something was wrong with my being Jewish,' said Rabbi Leonid Feldman, a former refusenik who left the Soviet Union in 1976...
...he said...
...I figured I must be Russian...
...I said no...
...I was pushed into a little van with two men on both sides of me and taken to |ai Ten days later, the KGB man who was in charge of my case walked into my cell and said, 'Congratulations We reconsidered your case and we found a mistake If you stop your hunger strike we will give you a visa.' I was very lucky...
...The first day of school the teacher walked in and said, 'Okay, children, lefs introduce ourselves...
...I said, 'I don't know what you want from me...
...Share the truth with your comrades' I began to shake and cry...
...My name is Maria tvanovna...
...Now Feldman is on the faculty of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership He is on the board of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews...
...somebody on the bus asked me who I was and we began to talk...
...Thafs where I fell In love with Judaism as a religion.' he said...
...You can get two weeks, you can get nine years...
...You are Jewish, Feldman, and you should not hide it'' At the age Of 12, Feldman was denied his place in a chess tournament because of his Jewish name...
...Invited to attend Columbia University in 1980, but unable to pay the tuition, Feldman went to California instead...
...I want to hear your name and your nationality.' * The first few children stood up and said they were Russian...
...I sent a telegram to Brezhnev, walked into the building and sat down...
...Of course' He looked at me and he said...
...He was the spokesman for Soviet refuseniks and dissidents...
...It says on a government document that you are Jewish and a lot of options in life are closed to you...
...Last night And this Israeli looked at me and said, Trou could have gone to America...
...introduced Feldman to the idea that "Judaism is logical, that religion and reason can go together...
...There were two turning points One at the age of 21 in Kishinev, reading Exodus by Leon Uhs Another in Los Angeles, when t read Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism...
...Feldman met Sharansky in Moscow in 1976...
...The second day I was in Israel, somebody met me on a bus," he said...
...Until then I was told you had to do it because 'It is written in a book called Torah.'' "f came out of a society where it was assumed I would accept everything without questwn," Feldman explained The moment I was given good reasons to the question that my generation is asking-Why should I be Jewish?—I embraced Judaism passionately...
...Shortly afterward, Feldman arrived in Israel, at the age of 23...
...I see him every time he is in New York...
...Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, written by Dennis Prager and Joseph Telushkm...
...And I said, Of course.' 'And you came here...
...Two hours later I was arrested...
...My life has been turned upside down twice...
...And this bureaucrat said, 'Feldman, we have decided not to send you to Leningrad.' I said, What do you mean...
...I was shaven—in Russia they shave you in prison—and 1 had lost a lot of weight I obviously looked funny...
...What have I done...
...He said, "You never know...
...It's a very serious business I want you to think about it' * 'So I went on a hunger strike m the city hall of Kishinev...
...I speak the Russian language...
...He has spoken on many occasions about his experiences in the Soviet Union, and continues to work on projects involving refuseniks Feldman has also renewed his friendship with Natan Sharansky...
...I don't know what my nationality is' And thafs how I learned for the first time that my family was Jewish She said...
...So I said 'My name is Leonid Feldman and I'm Russian.' * 'At which point the teacher looked at me and said, with a strange grin on her face...
...Feldman, do not lie to us Tell us the truth' I became uncomfortable...
...Refusen-iks all knew him Me was this short guy who knew all the answers People would come from all over the country to ask his advice...
...Have you tried a hunger strike...
...Sharansky was instrumental in publicizing my hunger strike in Kishinev in 1976 that got me permission to leave the Soviet Union...
...Schmuckr That was my introduction to Israel* Three days later, in the country Feldman had painted as 'ideal,* 'a paradise where Jews love each other, where all Jews are one family.' Prime Minister Yitz-chak Rabin resigned over a money scandal in which a bank account under his wife's name was discovered in Washington, D.C Then about a month later* Feldman remembered, Two Jewish girls committed suicide because their religious neighborhood put them down for wearing pants...
...A "Feldman" cannot represent Moldavia.' And I said, 'No, I don't understand This is my homeland I was born here, I grew up here, and I'm proud to represent Moldavia Please give me a chance' All the official said was, "Shut up.' * 'Anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union has nothing to do with anh-Semitisnvthe way American Jews understand if explained Feldman, a 1987 graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America...
...I was the chess champion of my state among young people I was supposed to go to Leningrad to represent Moldavia in the national championships It was the most exciting event of my childhood* recalled Feldman...
...I was penniless I had left my entire family, my culture, my language Why did he envy me...
...My first week in Jerusalem I saw religious Jews throwing stones at non-religious Jews My first day in the army I almost got into a fist-fight with a Moroccan sab/3 who envied me I could not believe that an Israeli sabra could envy me I had nothing...
...He said, 'I'm sure you understand...
...I said, 'I arrived from Russia yesterday...
...The first time I heard about a hunger strike was from him...
...We keep in touch," he said...
Vol. 13 • September 1988 • No. 6
