Tag #148650 - Interview #95166 (Semyon Vilenskiy)

I’ve always identified myself as a Jew, but I am a person of the Russian culture. Everything I’ve done in my life has been tied to Russia. I think Russia is a conglomerate of peoples. I believe the Russian culture and the Russian religious idea in their deep demonstrations to be exclusive phenomena.  Jews have made a valuable contribution into the Russian culture. Jews have been always beaten and Jews do feel themselves Jews in the Russian culture, Russian business and Russian science. I believe that the mission laid upon this nation – and this has historical grounds – is to ferment societies in many countries. If all Jews lived in Israel, nothing good would come out of it. It’s wrong to demand that Jews in Diaspora were citizens of Israel. This would only raise anger and distrust of the people among which they live. The line of Israel is very wrong, in my opinion. Each Jew is proud of the Army of defense of Israel, that girls serve in it, that for the first time in history this nation is as heroic as others. For each Jew, wherever he lives, this is a balsam for his heart since he identifies himself with this nation. The Jew identifying himself as a Jew, but his roots are in Russia, at some moment identifies himself with these people. He shouts from a Russian football team and identifies himself as Russian at this moment. There are also more serious things. Or when he reads Russian classics, this person perceives it closely and deeply, and his way of thinking is Russian at this instant, and he understands the characters, which is not like a native Israeli would understand it. I think that in any case after the Holocaust only some kind of degenerates would not acknowledge their Jewish identity or conceal their Jewish origin. If you are a Jew in basic things, what kind of Russian patriotism would you be talking about. I know Mexican Jews, who visited here. Hey are big patriots of Mexico, and this is probably the right thing.