Unity Day: Jewish or Russian?

Today is a Russian national holiday, dubbed the National Day of Reconciliation and Unity. It is only two years old; before 2005, the holiday was celebrated a day later, on November 7, in tribute to the Bolshevik Revoluntion of 1917. Ironically, the holiday seems to bring out ultranationalist sentiments, which only widen the gap between Russians and other nationalities living in Russia. An article from the Los Angeles Times captures the situation from this past weekend: In Russia, schisms are evident on unity day.

This brings me to a point that continues to beguile us: Judaism as a nationality. We are so comfortable in the US with being both Jewish and American. There is no inherent contraditiction to us. One is a religious identity, the other a nationality. Here, apparently, you are either Russian or Jewish, certainly not both. Judaism does not really exist here as a religious entity; it is far more a cultural entity. And, since the Jews of Russia are not "ethnic Russians" (whatever that means), they identify ethnically as Jews. The locals seem to be ok with this idea. After all, many of them are proud to be Jewish, despite undertones of anti-Semitism. They want to be able to openly place greater value on their connection to other Jews (in Russia, Israel or abroad) than to other Russians. Frankly, one of our Jewish Service Corps colleagues who is posted to Kiev has tackled this issue much better than I can on her blog. I urge you to read her posting to understand the confusion that exists on this topic.