Despite the catchy and more appropriate name for the journalistic genre, the reviewed collection is a serious scientific publication. Through the efforts of leading domestic and foreign experts, it analyzes rather complex socio-cultural and ethno-confessional problems of the State of Israel, traces interesting processes of the formation of the Israeli nation, as well as contradictory trends in interaction between various segments of Israeli society.

The collection is a remarkable example of a fundamentally new approach to the socio-cultural problems of Israel, in which the reader has the opportunity not only to expand, but also to significantly deepen their understanding of the country with which Russia has a lot of ties and brings together. The new book about Israel is a unique collection of articles that need to be read not selectively, but sequentially, moving from one article to another. It is this familiarity with works that differ in the type of research and style of presentation that will eventually allow you to get a holistic view of what the compilers of the collection were actually thinking about - creating a realistic "portrait" that reflects the fullness and diversity of modern Israeli society.

Another special feature of the collection is that its authors - well - known historians, sociologists, anthropologists, philologists, literary critics, and cultural scientists from Russia, Israel, and the United States-are united by their native Russian language; for many of them, the problems of adaptation on the Israeli "Russian street", as noted in the preface (the author - E. Nosenko), were passed through the prism of personal experience.

The introduction is followed by an article by the Israeli sociologist and political scientist A. Epstein (Open University of Israel), who is well-known in the circles of Russian experts on Israel and the Middle East "Baruch Kimmerling and his intellectual pursuits". Fundamental studies of Arab-Israeli relations, ethnic and religious contradictions in Israeli society by an outstanding Israeli sociologist, Prof. B. Kimmerling's Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1939-2007) was recognized not only in Israel, but also abroad. In his works, B. Kimmerling insisted that the viability of Israel largely depends on the growing alienation and tension between those socio-cultural groups (Ashkenazi-old - timers, Sephardic-traditionalists, ultra-Orthodox, religious Zionists, new immigrants from the USSR-CIS, Israeli Arabs, etc.) that make up Israeli society, or they will come to understand that tolerant relationships are mutually beneficial.-

Reconciliation is the best way to build a stable co-existence. For his calls for Israeli and Palestinian intellectuals to formulate new ideas and new forms of dialogue, B. Kimmerling was often criticized and accused of irresponsibility, including by some colleagues at the university. "And in this absence of any... The tragedy of dialogue between different segments of a disparate society was not only its tragedy, but the tragedy of modern Israel as a whole," Epstein concludes his essay (p.30).

The first section of the collection - "Models of Cultural Identity: Languages, Communities, Religions" - opens with an article by A. Kryukov, a well-known Russian and Israeli expert in the field of teaching and studying Hebrew, as well as Hebrew literature (Center for Russian Culture and Science, Tel Aviv) "Sociolinguistic phenomenon of Hebrew in the socio-political sphere in Israel in the 60s and 90s of the XX century". Over the past two decades, interest in studying classical and spoken Hebrew has significantly increased in Russia. It seems that for the first time in Russian, the author raises the issue of interaction between society, language and politics in modern Israel, and proves by the example of extensive concrete material that the results of this process through the speech of politicians and the media have a significant impact on the formation of public opinion. As you know, since the foundation of Israel, language policy has been the most important means of consolidating the Israeli nation and creating a national culture. The paper presents interesting statements, often used in colloquial Hebrew cliches, popular phrases and other expressions related to the category "Israelisms", which, according to the author, were consciously used and are now being used in state language policy as a tool for purposeful influence on the mass consciousness of Israelis.

Article M. Elenevskaya (University of Haifa)" Humor and violence: the laughter culture of immigrants from the former USSR in Israel " is a continuation of her series of works on the study of modern folklore of new immigrants from the former USSR republics. The author focuses on the so-called black humor, which has taken quite a significant place in the Russian-language media in Israel. The peculiarity of immigrant black humor is its focus on the theme of Israel's confrontation with the Arab world, especially with the Palestinians. It is noteworthy that the study of the political humor of Russian-speaking immigrants objectively leads the author to the same conclusions that political scientists and sociologists make. First, the new immigrants from the USSR-CIS in Israel mostly adhere to right-wing political views; secondly, they are pessimistic about the peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the near future.

A. Epstein, S. Michaeli (Ministry of Absorption of Israel) and N. Heimets (Ministry of Education of Israel) discuss the current issues of demography in Israel in the context of objectively weakening Jewish immigration and the steadily increasing trend towards re-emigration in the article "Preserving the Jewish majority: on the prospects for developing a national doctrine for preventing emigration and working with compatriots abroad".). Currently, in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation and the growing crisis in the economy, local authorities are experiencing great difficulties in implementing a policy of attracting new immigrants and their absorption in Israel: the immigration boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s began to decline sharply in the second half of the 1990s. In 2007, the authors note, only 6,445 people moved to the country from the CIS and Baltic countries (which is the main source of immigration), i.e. 15% less than in 2006. At the same time, the number of re-emigrants remained at the same level. Attention is also drawn to the information provided in the article that the number of Israelis permanently living outside of Israel exceeds number of Jews in all diaspora countries except the United States1. I would like to add to these statistics that almost 50 thousand Jews have returned to Russia from Israel alone. Public opinion polls conducted in 2006, after the war in Lebanon, showed that 32% of Israelis are considering changing their country of residence.

¹ Currently, there are about 13.5 million people in the world who identify as Jews. Most Jews live in Israel and the United States - 5.7 million and 5.6 million people, respectively. There are not many more than 400,000 Jews left in the former Soviet republics, more than half of them in the Russian Federation.

Two simultaneous processes are currently taking place: the natural process of assimilation is taking root in the countries where the Jewish population is dispersed; the diaspora is becoming more interested in the cultural and historical heritage of the Jewish people, but it does not lead to a change of country of residence. Given the importance and strategic importance of the demographic factor for the very existence of Israel as a state, as well as the negative consequences of re-emigration against the background of a constant decline in the number of immigrants, the authors of the article sharply criticize the miscalculations of state officials responsible for immigration policy and demand effective changes aimed at increasing the immigration flow to Israel.

In the article "Mass immigration to Israel 1948-1953: the first difficulties" N. Semenchenko (Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) analyzes the experience of Israel's immigration policy in the first five years of its existence. The immigration wave of 1948-1953 was the most massive in comparison with the previous ones. The difficulties of accommodating and absorbing new immigrants lay not only in the difficult situation of confrontation with neighboring Arab countries, but also in the fact that more than half of the Jews who moved to Israel came from Muslim countries in Asia and North Africa. Their low cultural, educational and socio-economic level created insurmountable obstacles to the formation of a homogeneous society. The article provides a complete picture of the countries of origin, population, professional skills and other socio-demographic characteristics of the immigration wave of 1948-1953. The author also considers all the pros and cons of the state policy of absorption of new immigrants, based on the concept of "melting pot". To a certain extent, this model in a short time provided a departure from the "baggage" that repatriates brought with them from the former Soviet Union. galuta (Heb. - "exile"), as well as introduction to new national values and culture. However, as the author rightly points out, the "melting pot" policy failed to achieve ethnic, linguistic and confessional uniformity in Israeli society.

Author of two well-known books about Jerusalem² T. Nosenko (Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in the article "Yerushalayim against Al-Quds: religious symbols in the national consciousness of Israelis and Palestinians "emphasizes:" Religious shrines have become an integral part of the national consciousness of Israelis and Palestinians, symbols on which the collective self-identification of both peoples is based" (pp. 124-125). Among all the religious shrines, Jerusalem occupies a special and defining place in the process of forming national consciousness among both Israelis and Palestinians. The extrapolation of religious ideas about the Holy City on the basis of ethnic contradictions provokes bloody clashes between Arab-Palestinians and Jews since the 1920s. Until now, the issue of Jerusalem is at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, and both sides of the conflict have held irreconcilable positions on the status of the Holy City.

At the same time, according to T. Nosenko, although religious values and symbols are an important component of the Israeli and Palestinian identities, there is no reason to absolutize their significance in solving the political problems facing both peoples. The possibility of resolving the main issue for the survival of the Israeli nation as a whole, overcoming the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, between Muslims and Jews, is seen by many in Israel on the path of compromises and concessions, even on such sensitive issues as Jerusalem and its holy places. The author notes that there are forces among the Palestinians who are ready to seek a sober approach to deciding the fate of Islamic shrines in Jerusalem.

The article by D. Sanoyan (Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University) "The Armenians of Jerusalem: past and Present" tells about the ancient history of the Armenian community, which lives compactly mainly within the walls of the Old City and plays a significant role in the spiritual and social life of Jerusalem. Based on numerous facts, the author examines the issues of religious and socio-political life of Armenians, traces the relations of the Jerusalem Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has the status of a Patriarchate, with Israel, the PA, Jordan, Armenia and Russia.

² Jerusalem - three religions, three worlds. Moscow: Olma-Press, 2003; Secrets of Jerusalem. History. Legends. Legends. Moscow: Veche Publ., 2007.

The second section of the collection - "Russian Israel: from ghetto to Integration" - combines a block of articles that raise the most serious problems of Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel, mainly related to social, professional, linguistic and cultural adaptation in a new society. L. Remennik (Bar-Ilan University), one of the most respected researchers of modern immigration in Israeli academic circles, analyzes numerous problems of socio-economic and cultural adaptation of Russian-speaking immigrants in Israel in the article "Russian Israelis through the eyes of a sociologist: Culture and Way of Life". She comes to the following conclusion: "My vision is far from the brilliant socio-economic situation of the wave of immigrants of the 1990s... It proceeds from two theses: the crisis of inflated expectations and the lack of readiness for a radical revision of one's own capabilities in a new situation, which are the key to success in any immigration" (p.183). Even those of the immigrants who have managed to achieve professional success continue to remain in their own Russian-speaking niche in the neighborhood of all-Israeli institutions.

In the article "Jews and' Non-Jews 'from the former Soviet Union", Ts. Gitelman (University of Michigan) addresses a sensitive topic for Israel related to the presence in the country of a large number of non-Jewish citizens who immigrated from the republics of the former USSR (about 300 thousand). The author considers possible answers to the question of their fate in the context of preserving the Jewish identity. Israel as a Jewish and democratic State.

"Transformation of the ethnic, national and cultural identity of non-Jewish immigrants in Israel" is the research topic of M. Koenigstein (Tel Aviv University). The conclusion obtained as a result of processing the data of sociological surveys is not without interest: "Non-Jewish immigrants, as a rule, consider themselves "Russian Israelis", value and are often proud of their Israeli identity. In many cases, the connection of immigrants with Jewry is strengthened and becomes stronger due to the Jewish communication environment, more frequent and diverse contacts with Jews, familiarization with Jewish history and culture, traditions and holidays of the Jewish people" (p.233).

Sociologist V. Khanin (Bar-Ilan University), well-known to the Russian reader who is professionally engaged in or interested in Israel, in the article " Did we all leave Russia? Multiculturalism and the emergence of" Russian-Jewish" politics in modern Israel " continues to develop a theme related to the phenomenon of the rapid transformation of the Russian-speaking community in the last decade of the XX century and at the beginning of the XXI century into one of the most influential factors in Israeli politics. Indeed, of all the countries to which Russian Jews have emigrated in recent decades, they have managed to establish their own parties and become members of parliament and government only in Israel. The author acknowledges the validity of the conclusions that the model of rapid suppression of one culture by another was acceptable for tens of thousands of immigrants, but not for hundreds of thousands, 60% of whom have higher education. Under these circumstances, there was a natural shift away from the assimilative "melting pot" policy of Aliyah to a policy of loyalty to bicultural or multicultural communities that simultaneously absorbed the new Israeli culture, while not only preserving but also developing the culture of the country of origin.

The following three articles by Israeli sociologists examine various aspects of the interaction of new immigrants with Israeli society.

The article "Integration Criteria - CIS immigrants in Israel" by S. Lisitsa (Ariel University College) and I. Peres (Tel Aviv University) examines in detail the differences in the approach to the integration process between new, mainly Russian-speaking immigrants and old-timers (vatican City). Based on the results obtained, the researchers see a solution to the current conflict between the two groups by combining the flexibility of new immigrants and the tolerance of old-timers. The Russian-speaking immigrant community of Jerusalem is studied by sociologist N. Zilberg (Bar-Ilan University) in the article "Symbols, cultural codes and secular traditions of Russian Jews in Jerusalem". In the final part of his work, he emphasizes that the essentially secular community of Russian-speaking Jews significantly contributed to the formation of a broad secular sector in Jerusalem and the transformation of the city into the center of business and cultural life in Israel. The object of study is N. Khvorostyanova and N. Elias (University named after V. I. Shvetsov). Ben-Gurion, Negev) in the article " Old House on New Street? Cultural institutions of the "Russian" community of Beersheba " became the social and cultural life of the community of Russian-speaking immigrants, who make up a third of the population (about 60 thousand people)

Beersheba, the analysis of which allows us to state: first, culture occupies an important place in the daily life of immigrants, and secondly, "this process of 'cultural adjustment' is closely connected with the realization of the urgent needs of the immigrant community, which determine the very fact of its existence - the needs for preserving the cultural identity of the country of origin and in intra-community communication"(p. 327).

The third section of the collection, entitled "Multi-faced Israel through the prism of Literature and cinema", combines articles that differ in topics and style of presentation, which follow the general idea: there has never been and will never be a homogeneous society, just as there has never been and will never be a total national identification, including in Israel. Modern society can only be multicultural. Israel is no exception in this regard. This topic is cross-cutting for all articles, but each author reveals it in his own way.

The first article in this section is an article by a literary critic and translator from Russian to Hebrew and from Hebrew to Russian, including the works of the famous Israeli writer and Nobel Prize winner in literature Sh. Y. Agnon, E. Rimon (Ariel University Center) " The image of the other in Hebrew literature of the XX century: Jewish lucrimax". The two main concepts that the author uses are conflict and the Arab, or the image of the "other" opposing the Jew in the existing conflict. Both concepts are considered not as semantic definitions, but as the main components of Israeli literature in both Russian and Hebrew. The theoretical work of such a plan makes the reader realize how great is the discrepancy between the image of the "other" in Israeli literature and the rational stereotypes that are replicated by various Israeli media.

M. Weiskopf (Hebrew University, Jerusalem) is well known to the Russian readership for his publications on the history of Russian literature and literature, which cover the period from the 1820s to the mid-20th century. In the article " The Red Dress: The image of the heroine in anti-Zionist prose of the 1930s "(Mark Egart. The author turns to a critical analysis of the rather popular novel by M. Egart, which reflects the views of the authorities of Soviet Russia and the Comintern on the Zionist idea and the activities of Zionist organizations in Palestine during the years of the British mandate.

O. Gershenzon (University of Massachusetts, Amherst) and D. Hudson (Amherst College, USA) in their article "In love by choice: immigration, gender, cinema" talk about the history of the formation of young Israeli cinema and the role that immigration from the USSR - CIS played in its development.

A. Wexler-Katznelson (Harvard University) in his article "Zionist Realism" uses the example of the controversial creative biography of Soviet film director Mikhail Kalik, who left a noticeable mark on the cinematographic culture of the thaw era in the USSR, and gives a unique and well-thought-out commentary on art created in the conditions of transition from one culture to another, to the very possibility of the artist's living in an alien society.

Success accompanied the work of the writer Dina Rubina, who lives in Israel: her novels and collections of short stories are extremely popular in all countries of the world where there is a Russian-speaking readership. Her work is a typical example of the integration of an immigrant with a "Russian" mentality into the dynamically developing multicultural Israeli society. This topic is covered in the article by A. Ronel (Brandeis University, Boston) "Russian immigration in the mirror of Dina Rubina's books".

The reviewed collection is a significant event in the Russian book market. Undoubtedly, it will attract the attention of many researchers, especially those who are connected with the Russian-speaking scientific, humanitarian and cultural space, and this space goes far beyond the borders of Russia and Russian-speaking Israel. I would like to emphasize that the original approaches proposed by a well-chosen team of authors are combined with a clear, clear and consistent presentation of various aspects of the life of our compatriots in a country with which Russia has strong historical and cultural ties. This makes the collection accessible and interesting to any reader.

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