Larissa Remennick, Israel at 75: Thriving on Diversity and Conflict? Part 3 of 3

Shoshana Shier Distinguished Visiting Professor Lecture Series

Larissa Remennick (Bar-Ilan University)

Three Part Lecture Series: "Israel at 75: Thriving on Diversity and Conflict?"

The extreme diversity of modern Israel is both its strength and liability. President Reuben Rivlin warned a few years ago that Israeli social space is increasingly divided into separate tribes, each with its own values and lifestyles, and the walls between these tribes may threaten national solidarity. This lecture series will introduce complex social stratification of the contemporary Israeli society along the lines of ethnic origin, religion and religiosity, and immigration status (natives, long-timers, and newcomers). We will explore the origins and expressions of these internal divisions between Jews and Arabs, and within the Jewish majority – between religious and secular Israelis, those living within the Green Line and West Bank settlers, Ashkenazim and Mizrahim, the Jewish immigrants of Russian and Ethiopian origin, and recently-added non-Jewish labor migrants. The lectures and discussions will foster a deeper understanding of a complex and dynamic social history of Israel and current relations between different segments of this ultimate immigrant society.

Lecture 3: "Russian-Speaking Jews in Israel and in the West: The Formation of a Transnational Diaspora"

The last lecture will zoom on the main target of my own research over the last 25 years – former Soviet Jews who left in the wake of the Soviet collapse and resettled in Israel, North America, and Europe. I will briefly present the composition of the Russian-speaking Jewish diaspora in the main host countries (Israel, US/Canada, and Germany) and the efforts at transnational network building. Much more can be found in my book “Russian Jews on Three Continents: Identity, Integration, and Conflict” (Transaction: 2007, 2012).

Prof. Larissa Remennick left Moscow in 1991 as an early-career social scientist and since 1994 has worked at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv. Her main research interests revolve around social history and migration experiences of Russian/Soviet/Post-Soviet Jews in Israel and in the West. She has written about economic mobility of immigrant professionals; issues of health, gender, and language use; intergenerational relations in immigrant families, and more. Her recent studies focused on the Generations 1.5 and 2.0 of Russian Israelis. Larissa has published three books in Russian, three books in English, and about 150 articles and chapters in the major social science journals.

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This lecture will be delivered in-person at JHB318 and virtually via Zoom. To attend virtually, please click THIS LINK on Thursday, September 22, at 4 PM.