Jewish Identity Essay

Jews all over the globe throughout millennia have had challenges that would have caused many other groups to lose their group identity. In the Soviet Union the Jews first had to overcome state-sponsored atheism, then outright oppression and anti-Semitism. This was followed by suppression of religion. Lastly came restriction of movement, by refusing to let Jews emigrate during the Iron Curtain bringing the oppression of Jews a full circle as in the years leading up to the founding of the Soviet Union the Jews were forced into a specific area known as the Pale of Settlement. The techniques the Jews used to hold onto their identity were varied but worked at least to an extent for two to three generations until the fall of the Soviet Union.

The two main components of Jewish ethnicity and identity are religion and national elements such as a national myth. However these components are interwoven according to Herman who claims “A Jewish identity is a peculiar blend of religious and national elements inextricably interwoven.” Religion started slowly dissolving during the early part of the …show more content…
By now the main Lubavitch movement was headquartered in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, although it also had village established by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson in Israel since 1949 known as Kfar Chabad. Since Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson’s passing in 1950, he and his work was succeded by his younger son-in-law Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson greatly encouraged the Jews who lived in Communist states. He sent many emissaries on covert missions to sustain Judaism under Communist regimes and to provide them with their religious and material needs. Many Jews from behind the iron curtain would correspond with Schneerson, sending their letters to him via secret messenger and addressing Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in code