Roots, #21
January-March 2004
Summary
The section called History of Jews
of Soviet period opens the magazine. The first work of the section is the
article State Anti-Semitism by Alexander N. Yakovlev. The author is a
famous politician who played a great part in formation of democracy in Soviet
Union and Russia. Alexander N. Yakovlev mentions and analyzes facts of
infringing upon Jews rights by Soviet state. The material is completed with the
article about Alexander N. Yakovlev. A list of the books issuing under the
editorship of A.N. Yakovlev is given.
Zalman-Simha (Steve) Levin from
Israel is the
author of the next article Religious Opposition to Soviet Regime. He tells
about Jewish religious groups of Hasids which continued their activity in spite
of political persecution by Soviet regime.
The next article of the section is called
Mamas Siberian. Nikolay Erdmans Letters from Tomsk by Victor Ushkovskiy
from Tomsk. The article is about Nikolay Erdman, a Soviet playwright, who
was one of the script writers of the famous Soviet comedies Merry Lads and
Volga-Volga. The author writes about Erdmans exile to Tomsk and his work in
the theatre of Tomsk.
The following section Israel and
Us is opened with the article by Dr. Alek Epshtein from Israel Past,
Present and Future of Russian Jews as a Research Problem. The author supposes
that Russian Jews have a special historical mission therefore this Jewish group
should be studied. A review of works which investigate problems of Russian Jews
is given.
The article Jewish Traditions in
Modern Jewish Theatre by Zlata Zaretskaya from Israel describes the
image of the Hebrew dramatic theatre which has developed in Israel. The author
tells about some plays staged in Israel by the best theatres.
The next section of the magazine is
called Jewish Family. It consisted of three articles. The first article is
Jewish Parents through the Prism of an Anecdote by Katherine Kopilkova
from Moscow. The author analyzes relationships between members of Jewish
families described in anecdotes. The author gives special attention to
relationships between children and parents. The article is illustrated with
pictures by Lera Kemtitz.
The second article of the section is
Roman Trahtenbergs memoirs called Grandmothers Letters. The author
cites three letters written by his grandmother before and during the Great
Patriotic War (The Second World War) and the letter written by his older
brother Leonid who was lost during that war. L. Trahtenberg tells about the
atmosphere of love which was in his family.
The article called Memorable
Lessons of Life by Mirra Saxonova who lived in Velikiy Novgorod completes
the section. The author remembers her life in Jewish family of her aunt in
Feodosia. She described the pedagogical talent of Mirra Faybisovich, her
cousin.
The section Jewish Literature is
opened with the article by Alexander Krukov (Moscow) The Window into
the World. Kh. N. Byalik is a translator. The author tells that Byalik was not
only an outstanding Jewish writer but also a translator of Jewish writers
(Sholom Aleihem, Ben Ami, Mendele Moiher Sphorim etc.).
The article Matvey Roizman which
was written by Matvey Geizer from Moscow follows. The author describes
some of the aspects of M. Roizman creative activity. M. Roizman was a Jewish
poet, writer and films script writer.
The next article written by Sergey
Katstov from Samara is called Song Must Re-sound. The author submits to
the readers some examples of translations of famous Jewish poets made by Tsilia
Segal and Basya Volovelskaya from Samara.
The section Jewish Theme in Russian
Literature is opened by Vera Efremova from Orel. She presents the
article Jew in Russia. V. Efremova analyzes books Jews in Russia. Some
Remarks on Jewish Matter written by the famous Russian writer N. Leskov.
The next author is Emmanuel
Mendelevich who lived in Orel. His article is called Maximilian
Voloshin and Jewish Culture and tells about interest of the famous Russian
poet M. Voloshin in Jewish culture and problems of Jews in the world and
Russia.
The section Pages of Memoirs
contains the article by Miron Morduhovich from Lipetsk Zheludok Town.
The author describes way of life in the small town (shtetl) before the World
War II. 2500 people lived in Zheludok and there were 2000 Jews among them. The
author tells about structure of population, customs and national holidays,
traditions and everyday life of Jews who lived in Zheludok. The article is
illustrated with authors pictures.
Elena Grib from Moscow opens the next section Our Readers
Books and Sites. Her article is called Holocaust and Literature. The author
describes her own site www.len-grib.narod.ru where she has collected a
bibliography on Holocaust theme.
Vladimir Gleizer from Saratov presents three chapters of his autobiographical book Notes
of a Drinking Provincial.
The last
section of the magazine is titled Comments. Reviews. Criticism. It contains
numerous letters of readers to materials published in No 20 of the magazine.