Russia beckons Jews who fled

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Anti-Semitism lurks
But even in the new Russia, there are hurdles, too. Though Jewish leaders say it’s too early to draw conclusions, the cultural renaissance appears to have sparked an anti-Semitic backlash.

In January, an Orthodox rabbi was attacked near the Jewish Community Center in Moscow. And a group of nationalist deputies in the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, published a letter that suggested banning Jewish organizations from Russia.

The letter was roundly criticized in the media, and in the wake of the resulting uproar President Vladimir Putin apologized at a recent ceremony at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland.

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“Russia will always not only condone any such manifestations but will also fight them with the force of the law,” Putin said.

Rabbi Lazar calls the recent events “worrisome, because this could be the beginning of a new trend — people feeling free to speak openly against Jews, against Jewish community, against Israel.”

Even so, Lazar says the community is undaunted. “We’ve opened centers in Yekaterinburg, in Nizhny-Novgorod and in (Russia’s) Far East. These are statements that the Jewish community is here, we are back, we're back in the open and we're not going to backtrack, we're not going to go back in hiding.”

A foot in both countries
The Israeli government — with one eye on economics and the other on a rapidly growing Palestinian population — sees immigration as vital to the survival of the Jewish State. So far, the reverse immigration of Jews who came from the former Soviet Union is not seen as a threat.

“First of all, Israel is a democratic country. We don't have that problem which was in the Soviet Union,” said Natan Sharansky, enjoying a bit of irony as the Soviet Union’s most famous Jewish dissident. Jailed, tortured and long refused permission to emigrate, he’s now Israel’s minister in charge of immigration.

“Everyone who wants to go back to Russia has the right and the opportunity to do go. For those who leave, we understand it.”

Sharansky said Israel sees value in the “small” number of Jews returning to Russia, who can enhance links between the two countries.

He could be talking about Anton Nosik, who immigrated to Israel in 1990 and returned to Russia seven years later. He keeps two passports and runs some of the most popular news Web sites in both countries.

For Nosik, the decision to return to Russia was made for economic reasons: Russia’s population and bigger online audience holds the key to bigger profits. Yet Nosik credits Israel with giving him the foundation to succeed in business.

“I had extremely useful schooling in Israel. I learned many things related to business administration and the free press. I learned capitalism and how to operate in a competitive environment.”

“Now I can work in Russia, because the country is no longer a concentration camp.”

Preston Mendenhall is an NBC News' Correspondent based in Moscow.

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