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Emigre Program |
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Most are not ready yet to join the mainstream programs, because they still do not feel comfortable in a “purely” American Jewish setting. They are the first generation of immigrants and for them, it is more comfortable to start studying with other émigrés, and have initial studies in Russian, before transitioning into the broader Jewish community. The Émigré program was founded in 1989 by Rabbi Richard Block and Peggy Shapera with the funding and programming support of Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS). Today the program is directed by Inna Benjaminson, supervised by Beth Am Senior Rabbi Janet Marder and the board of directors, and enjoys ongoing support from JFCS and the Jewish Community Federation. While initially our émigré program focused on resettlement (and assisted almost 700 families in their process), today the needs of émigrés are different. Our focus now is on educating and engaging émigré families in order to strengthen their Jewish identity and embark them on a lifelong Jewish journey. All our programs are open to Russian speaking families in the community, whether they are members of Beth Am or not. We welcome participants from San Francisco to San Jose and our program has been recognized as the leading émigré program in the Bay Area.
Adult learning is another major focus of the program. We offer a wide array of educational opportunities in Russian which include study sessions on different philosophies in Judaism, Jewish traditions and values, and the history of the Jewish people. Topics range from the very intellectual fare of Jewish text to game nights and Jewish humor. We use creative social and educational formats to engage people in Jewish learning in new and different ways. We also offer holiday study sessions and the annual Feast of Jewish Learning event which includes learning sessions in Russian. The annual trilingual Shabbat service led in Hebrew, Russian and English attract hundreds of members of the larger Russian speaking community. We also organize special weekly or monthly programs and lectures for senior émigrés who attend the
 An integral part of our program is the celebration of holidays throughout the year. Russian speaking Jews from all over the Bay Area convene at Beth Am for Hanukkah parties, Passover and Tu B’Shvat seders, Simchat Torah and Purim parties, and Sukkot and High Holiday observances. In addition, both adults and families with children up to 13 years take part Passover seders and Hanukkah festivities in Russian.
In addition to creating all curriculum materials for our programs, we also translate rabbis’ High Holiday sermons into Russian and distribute them before the services. A great milestone for us was the translation of the Friday Night Siddur and "Gates of Prayer" for weekdays and the “House of Mourning” into Russian and transliteration of them into Cyrillic. In addition, we have created a trilingual funeral booklet that is now used by other synagogues around the country. If you are interested in obtaining copies of any of our trilingual materials, please contact Inna Benjaminson.
We offer both group and private English tutoring services for people of all ages. Please contact Inna Benjaminson or call 650.493.4661 ext. 301.
All these wonderful educational opportunities would not be possible without the help of our very talented and committed Russian-speaking educators. We are grateful to our talented teachers: Masha Farber, Elena Zusmanovich and Diana Alper, who inspire us with their generosity of time, spirit and energy contributing to the life and vitality of our Russian speaking community.
Beth Am's Émigré Program was started in partnership with Jewish Family and Children's Services and receives continual support from JFCS, the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) and The Koret Foundation. In addition our program is supported by members of Beth Am and by the program participants themselves. We are grateful to our partners for their ongoing support of Beth Am’s émigré program.
To learn more about this unique program and volunteer opportunities, contact: Inna Benjaminson, Program Director, or call 650-493-4661 ext.301. |
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About 45,000 Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) reside in the Bay Area. Russian-speaking Jews face unique obstacles in integrating into the Jewish community. Even if they know English well, they often prefer to engage in cultural and intellectual discourse in their native language. In addition, their approach to religion differs vastly from that of American-born Jews. 
Our family education program starts with Gan Haggim for families with children ages 1-4. The next stage is My Jewish Discovery, for families with children from 5-8 years. For families with children from 8-13, we offer Biblical Characters in World Art and Russian Shabbaton. Sessions are offered for children and parents separately and together, and instruction takes place in Russian, Hebrew and English. 
