ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the wave of migration from the former Soviet Union (FSU) to the United States (US) and shows what type of formal ethnic/religious identity these migrants bring with them and how does this identity relate to their lives in the US It considers the impact of migration on two and three-generation families arriving together, a new phenomenon, on their daily lives and on their self-definitions in terms of ethnicity and religion. Entire families are arriving together, which means that the process of settlement in the United States is very different from that of previous generations of immigrants. The reasons for immigration among Jews in the FSU are varied and complex. While the West only saw a desire to escape persecution and live a Jewish life, the reasons any individual migrated are much more complex. Soviet immigrants were to be handled within the standard organizations that had handled such immigrants before, especially the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
