Since the inception of Project Judaica, JTS has struggled to find appropriate faculty members willing to work in Moscow alongside local instructors in Hebrew language and other topics. The practice during the past few years has been for regular and/or adjunct JTS faculty members to come to Moscow in one- or two-month rotations, teach in an intensive format, and then return to the United States or Israel. Because few such individuals are able to teach in the Russian language, Project Judaica students are required to learn English. Jewish-subject courses for first- and second-year students often must be taught through an interpreter.

In response to a question, Dr. Kupovetsky said that entrance to Project Judaica is dependent upon satisfactory scores in a general state admissions exam plus English-language skills. The most talented students, he said, generally go into business or law, not humanities. Professional opportunities for graduating students are “a problem,” he acknowledged. Very few work in archives because compensation for such work is very low. Some graduates have gone abroad, some are in graduate school here or abroad, and others are working for the Russian Jewish Congress, JDC, Israeli government representations in Moscow, Jewish day schools, or in positions outside the Jewish organizational world.

Despite their inability to find employment in fields for which they have trained, Project Judaica students have made several notable contributions to Jewish scholarship, asserted Dr. Kupovetsky. They have compiled detailed guides to Jewish materials in Moscow archives as well as research information about Jewish-related archives elsewhere in Russia, in Ukraine, in Belarus, and in the Soviet Army. Project Judaica also has published a Russian-language anthology of Jewish literature.

Some academic observers in Moscow believe that Project Judaica is an intrinsically flawed undertaking, citing several problems inherent in the program. First, as noted, few positions are available in archival work and the low compensation for such positions is a deterrent to filling those vacancies that do exist. Second, Project Judaica students are taught and trained according to American methodology, which does not prepare them for employment in the Russian educational environment. Third, visiting American and/or Israeli instructors lack the influence and associations with colleagues that are necessary to assist graduates in finding appropriate employment in Russia or neighboring countries. Fourth, the English-language teaching culture at Project Judaica actually encourages students to identify with the United States or England and to pursue careers in an English-speaking country.

In response to a question about other Masorti programs, particularly those of a popular outreach nature, in Russia, Dr. Kupovetsky said that both he and Dr. Fishman were concerned about this issue. In reality, he said, the Masorti movement does the least post-Soviet Jewish outreach of the three major streams in Judaism. Chabad, he continued, does the most, and the World Union for Progressive Judaism (Reform) is beginning to implement its own programs. He is pessimistic about Masorti outreach because the Masorti movement itself has not identified post-Soviet Jewish outreach as a priority. Funding for outreach work seems unavailable. The Masorti movement must define itself and its objectives in the post-Soviet states, he said.

9. Maimonides Academy is a tuition-free state-supported undergraduate institution offering a five-year undergraduate degree in modern Hebrew.36 Many students also learn English and/or Yiddish. Language study is complemented by enrollment in courses in Jewish history, Jewish tradition, and related subjects. The writer spoke with Mikhail (Micha) Chlenov, Dean of the Academy and an instructor in Hebrew and other courses. An anthropologist by education and outlook, Dr. Chlenov also is President of the Russian Va'ad.37

Dr. Chlenov said that Maimonides Academy currently enrolls 120 students, 40 percent of whom are Jewish. Graduates teach at Maimonides and in Jewish Agency ulpans, and some work for the Joint Distribution Committee. A few teach Hebrew in Jewish day schools, but the low compensation level at most day schools discourages more graduates from selecting that career path, said Dr. Chlenov.

In addition to his teaching and administrative responsibilities at Maimonides Academy, Dr. Chlenov also teaches at CJSC and at Project Judaica. Multiple teaching assignments are common in Moscow, said Dr. Chlenov, because compensation at one institution is rarely sufficient for support of a family. Circulation of faculty among different institutions is beneficial in that it reduces the likelihood of destructive competition between them, observed Dr. Chlenov.

10. Vladimir Shapiro is a sociologist at the Jewish Research Center (also called the Jewish Scientific Center) at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The writer met with him at his home.

36. Five years is the normal duration of undergraduate study in the (post-) Soviet Union. High school graduation normally occurs at age 17, i.e., one year earlier than in the United States and some other countries.
37. Dr. Chlenov’s remarks on the Va’ad and other Jewish communal issues are recounted in the section of this report on Jewish communal organizations. See pp.29-30.
38. Dr. Shapiro said that his own 28-year old son emigrated six months ago and is now living in New York, as is Dr. Shapiro’s former wife. Dr. Shapiro, who was born in 1937, expects to remain in Moscow as long as he is able to continue working in his profession. He is in daily contact with his son through e-mail and ICQ telephone.
39.  Note: In November, Russian media controlled by Boris Berezovsky mounted a fierce assault on Primakov and Luzhkov, questioning their fitness for high office. The intent was to malign the coalition leaders so as to boost the Presidential prospects of Vladimir Putin, current Prime Minister and favored candidate of retiring President Boris Yeltsin and the Kremlin “family”. Most observers believe that Mr. Berezovsky’s campaign was effective in limiting the Communist Party share of Duma seats to 24 percent in the December Duma elections, increasing the pro-Kremlin Unity Party’s share to 23 percent, and limiting the Primakov-Luzhkov coalition’s seats to 13 percent. Candidates associated with Yabloko won barely six percent of the Duma votes.
40. Evgeny Primakov was born as Yonah Finkelshtein in 1929 in Kyiv. He does not identify as a Jew.
41. Kristallnacht or “Night of the Broken Glass” refers to November 9, 1938, when government-inspired forces rampaged through German cities, attacking Jews, Jewish-owned property, and synagogues. Because many windows were broken, the Aktion became known as Kristallnacht. Thirty-six Jews were reported killed, another 36 severely injured, more than 800 shops and 170 dwellings were destroyed, 76 synagogues were destroyed, and another 191 synagogues were severely damaged.