The Russians in Israel - The Ordeal of Freedom (Hardcover)

During the last four years, half a million Jews have emigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union: one third of all Soviet Jews, and more than 10% of Israel's population. Penniless, but dazzled by the world of credit cards and consumer goods, only the brightest theoretical scientists and computer technologists find themselves in demand. Almost all the rest - from doctors whose diagnostic techniques are 30 years out of date, to writers and artists who think Hemingway and Dali are current models, to children who want more discipline at school - are baffled by liberty and democracy. The upheaval both for Israel and for the immigrants is dramatic and in this graphic, anecdotal account, Naomi Shepherd tells the personal stories of individual immigrants, from their arrival in search of homes and jobs in this outpost of the West to the Israelis who are trying to come to terms with the influx and help them survive the ordeal of freedom.