This program originally took place at the Center for Jewish History on September 5th, 2024 at 6:30pm Eastern.
Author Shaul Kelner joined us with moderator Gal Beckerman to discuss his new book A Cold War Exodus: How American Activists Mobilized to Free Soviet Jews.
Shaul Kelner speaks about how his interest in the American activist movement to free Soviet Jews originated with his own experience participating in a twinning program. Twinning programs linked American and Soviet Jewish teens about to celebrate their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs though letter writing. This experience emotionally connected him to the experience of Soviet Jewish teens who could not celebrate their own religious milestone events due to persecution, discrimination, and antisemitism.
In A Cold War Exodus, Shaul looks at how American activists mobilized Jewish rituals and holidays to create awareness and advocate to free Soviet Jews. Just as the twinning program harnessed Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, the Passover Seder inspired the Freedom Seder. By connecting religious ritual to activism the movement emphasized that it was not only a moral obligation to speak out, but a religious obligation as well. Shaul also examined how activists harnessed consumer culture and the use of boycotts to create awareness. He also looked at how volunteer tourism to the Soviet Union enabled the spread of information about the Soviet Jewish experience to America and Israel.
Topics covered in this program: Intergenerational activism, human rights, activist jewelry, protest, tourism, boycotts, Cold War, religious freedom, national freedom.
