Jewish Russian Immigrants
in the US and around the
world. Health Needs.
Part 1: Immigration history
Olga Greg and the Supercourse team
University of Pittsburgh
Some definitions:

Immigrant - a person who migrates to another
country, usually for permanent residence.

Migrant - a person that moves from one
region, place, or country to another.

Refugee - a person who flees to a foreign
country or power to escape danger or
persecution; somebody seeking safe place.
Causes for Jewish Migration:
similarities to other migration waves




Economic
Demographic
Political
Religious freedom
Learning objectives
This lecture will explore the psychological and
social factors affecting Jewish immigrants
use of health services, and address
implications for social workers and health
care professionals, concluding that the
educational process needs to be directed to
immigrants when they are first introduced to
US health and social institutions
American Immigration History
Four immigration periods important for this lecture:
 the colonial period (During the 17th century,
approximately 175,000 Englishmen migrated to
Colonial America, about 400,000—crossed the
Atlantic during the 17th and 18th centuries)
 the mid-19th century (Northern Europe)
 the start of the 20th century (From 1836 to 1914,
over 30 million Europeans migrated to the US,
mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe)
 post-1965 (Latin America and Asia).
Peak of Immigration

The peak year of European immigration was in
1907, when 1,285,349 persons entered the
country.* By 1910, 13.5 million immigrants were
living in the United States.** In 1921, the Congress
passed the Emergency Quota, followed by the
Immigration Act of 1924. The 1924 Act was aimed at
further restricting the Southern and Eastern
Europeans, especially Jews, Italians, and Slavs,
who had begun to enter the country in large
numbers beginning in the 1890s.
Russian Immigrant Family 1918
Jacob Mithelstadt and his family from
Russia at Ellis Island in 1905
Ashkenazic Jews:




Ashkenazic Jews are the Jews of France, Germany,
and Eastern Europe and their descendants.
The adjective "Ashkenazic" is derived from the
Hebrew word "Ashkenaz," which is used to refer to
Germany.
Most American Jews today are Ashkenazim,
descended from Jews who emigrated from Germany
and Eastern Europe from the mid 1800s to the early
1900s.
The Yiddish language, which many people think of
as the international language of Judaism, is really
the language of Ashkenazic Jews.
Sephardic Jews:




Sephardic Jews are the Jews of Spain, Portugal,
North Africa and the Middle East and their
descendants.
The adjective "Sephardic" is derived from the
Hebrew word "Sepharad," which refers to Spain.
Most of the early Jewish settlers of North America
were Sephardic.
Sephardic Jews have their own international
language: Ladino, which was based on Spanish and
Hebrew in the same way that Yiddish was based on
German and Hebrew.
Modern Immigration

After ethnic quotas on immigration were removed in
1965 the number of actual (first-generation)
immigrants living in the United States eventually
quadrupled, from 9.6 million in 1970 to about 38
million in 2007*. Over one million persons were
naturalized** as U.S. citizens in 2008. The leading
countries of origin of immigrants to the United States
were Mexico, India, the Philippines, and China.[5]
Nearly 14 million immigrants entered the United
States from 2000 to 2010. Family reunification
accounts for approximately two-thirds of legal
immigration to the US every year.
Immigrants who have been in the United States
for 20 years are much more likely to



live in poverty;
lack health insurance;
access the welfare system more often than
native-born Americans.
The large share of immigrants arriving as adults
with relatively little education partly explains
this phenomenon.
Modern Immigration general numbers:

The number of immigrants (legal and illegal) in the
country hit a new record of 40 million in 2010, a 28
percent increase over the total in 2000.

Of top sending countries, the largest percentage
increase in the last decade was for those from
Honduras (85 percent), India (74 percent),
Guatemala (73 percent), Peru (54 percent), El
Salvador (49 percent), Ecuador (48 percent), and
China (43 percent).
Labor Force:

In March of 2011, the share of working-age (18 to 65) immigrants
holding a job was the same as natives — 68 percent. Immigrant
men have higher rates of work than native-born men, while
immigrant women have lower rates.

While immigrants tend to be concentrated in certain jobs, natives
comprise the majority of workers in virtually every occupational
category. For example, natives comprise 52 percent of maids, 73
percent of janitors, 66 percent of construction laborers, and 65
percent of butchers and meat processors.

More than one-quarter of physicians and surgeons (27 percent)
were foreign born, as were more than one out of every five (22
percent) persons working in health care support jobs as nursing,
psychiatric, and home health aides.
Poverty:

In 2010, 23 percent of immigrants and their U.S.-born children
(under 18) lived in poverty, compared to 13.5 percent of natives
and their children. Immigrants and their children accounted for
one-fourth of all persons in poverty.

The children of immigrants account for one-third of all children in
poverty.

Among the top sending countries, poverty is highest for
immigrants and their young children from Mexico (35 percent),
Honduras (34 percent), and Guatemala (31 percent); and lowest
for those from Germany (7 percent), India (6 percent), and the
Philippines (6 percent).
Entrepreneurship:

Immigrants and natives have very similar rates of
entrepreneurship — 11.7 percent of natives and
11.5 percent of immigrants are self-employed.

Among the top sending countries, self-employment
is highest for immigrants from Korea (26 percent),
Canada (24 percent), and the United Kingdom (17
percent). It is lowest for those from Haiti (6 percent),
Honduras (5 percent), and Jamaica (3 percent).
Education:

Of adult immigrants (25 to 65), 28 percent have not completed
high school, compared to 7 percent of natives.

The share of immigrants (25 to 65) with at least a bachelor’s
degree is somewhat lower than that of natives — 29 vs. 33
percent.

The large share of immigrants with relatively little education is
one of the primary reasons for their lower socioeconomic status,
not their legal status or an unwillingness to work.

At the same time immigration added significantly to the number
of less-educated workers, the share of young, less-educated
natives holding a job declined significantly. The decline began
well before the current economic downturn.
Jewish Immigration from Russia
1850-1910
Survival Advantage among Jewish
People in the US over Russia.

Several published studies pointed out
survival advantage of Jewish people in the
US over Russia. Some of the potential
reasons for survival advantage include:
higher education, lower level of alcohol
abuse, and adherence to Jewish Dietary
Laws (Kashrut)
Ellis Island Health Exams

While admission decisions were made by the
Immigration Service, the law required medical
inspection of immigrants by the United States Public
Health Service (PHS). When a PHS medical officer
formally diagnosed an immigrant with a disease or
defect, throwing his or her admissibility into
question, that individual was considered "medically
certified." The law required the PHS to issue a
medical certificate to those who suffered from a
"loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease“*.
Exclusion of those diagnosed with infectious
diseases such as tuberculosis, venereal disease,
trachoma, and favus was mandatory.
Awaiting examination, Ellis Island
Definition of "Jews" from the Former
Soviet Union (FSU) *

1. whose religion is Jewish, OR

2. who has no religion and has at least one
Jewish parent or a Jewish upbringing, OR

3. who has a non-monotheistic religion, and
has at least one Jewish parent or a Jewish
upbringing
Russian Jews Before and After Czars



Under the Czars, Jews had been mostly restricted to the socalled Pale of Settlement in the far west, and along China
border.
The Jewish autonomous region experienced modest growth
and development through the mid 1930s. Its nearly 18,000
Jews then constituted 16% of the total population. The
region’s current government boasts that Jewish settlers were
enticed to migrate from “Argentina, Lithuania, France, Latvia,
Germany, Belgium, the USA, Poland and even from
Palestine.” Yiddish schools, publishing firms, and other
institutions were established.
The Jewish Autonomous Region itself survived both the
demise of Stalin and the end of the Soviet Union. Today it is
one of Russia’s 83 federal subjects, and its only autonomous
oblast. The Jewish population, however, is no longer
significant, numbering between 2,000 and 4,000
Jewish Immigration History
The history of the Jews in the United States has been part of the
American national fabric since colonial times.
 Until the 1830s the Jewish community of Charleston, South
Carolina was the most numerous in North America. With the
large scale immigration of Jews from diaspora communities in
Germany in the 19th century, they established themselves in
many small towns and cities.
 A much larger immigration of Eastern Ashkenazi Jews, 1880–
1914, brought a large, poor, traditional element to New York
City Refugees arrived from diaspora communities in Europe
after World War II, and many arrived from the Soviet Union
after 1970.
 In 1989, the U.S. Congress passed the Lautenberg
Amendment classifying Soviet Jews and certain other religious
communities as persecuted groups, automatically qualifying
them for refugee status. Over the next decade, a huge wave
of new Russian-Jewish immigrants headed to American shores

Soviet hostility toward Jews followed by the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to
millions of Soviet Jews leaving to seek refuge
elsewhere. Over a million of them settled in
Israel, hundreds of thousands emigrated to
European countries—primarily Germany—
and others landed in Canada, Australia, and
New Zealand.
Population
In the 1940s Jews comprised 3.7% of the national population.
Today the population is about 5 million—under 2% of the national
total in the US.
The largest population centers in 2011 are the states of:
 New York - 1,635,020
 California – 1,219,740
 Florida – 638,635
 New Jersey – 504,450
 Illinois – 297,935
 Pennsylvania – 294,925 and
 Massachusetts – 277,980
Summary report of the Jewish population
in the United States
Russian speakers make up 10% of the American Jewish
community, but no one is entirely sure how many Russianspeaking Jewish people there are in the United States.
Estimates for this number fluctuated from as high as 750,000
people to fewer than 500,000
“By any account, the number of Russian-speaking Jews in
the United States now probably exceeds those of Russia and
Ukraine combined,” states Kliger, a sociologist who is director
of Russian community affairs at AJC. “New York today is
populated by more Russian Jews than any other place in the
world.”
About 50% of the Former Soviet Union immigrants live in
New York City; there are large communities in Chicago,
Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles.
The Department of Justice does not keep data on the religious
affiliation of immigrants. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
settled most Jews who came directly from the FSU. Mark
Hetfield, HIAS senior vice president for policy and programs, said
that since 1970, the agency resettled 410,000 people, mostly
Jews.
There is a question of how many of those Russian speakers
should be counted as Jewish, particularly when many nonJewish immigrants came as members of families that include
Jews.
The numbers are particularly important for the Russian-speaking
community because it is such a large demographic group —
estimates range from about 6% to 12% of American Jewry —
and because it has needs that are distinct from the wider
American Jewish community.
Migration
Russian Jews






More likely to be members of a Jewish community
than of a synagogue
Have stronger bond to Israel that an average
American Jew
Have relatives in Israel
Only 70% are “real” Jews according to Israel’s Law
of Return*
Other 30% are non-Jews who belong to Jewish
household or more distantly related
Most do not speak Hebrew
Social structure




Compared with other major immigrant
populations, Russians are generally older –
83% are age 50 or older
About 35% have a college degree
Russians hold professional positions as
physicians, engineers, and teachers.
Many encounter difficulties pursuing careers
in the U.S. due to certification or licensing
requirements.


The most recent arrivals to the U.S. tend to
be less educated than earlier immigrants.
They are often employed in manufacturing,
trade, and service industries, and many have
launched successful businesses.
Native Russian language is usually spoken at
home. Only the oldest generation of Russian
Jews can still understand and speak Hebrew,
however they do not use it to communicate
with there family or friends.