- Israel

Azad Helps Fellow Kavkazi Immigrants Find Their Way in Israel

A knowing smile on her face, Azad explains how, for her family, making aliyah from Azerbaijan was "a dream come true." Her smile quickly fades as she continues, "Once we arrived, we awakened from our dream to the difficult challenge of integration."

Like all immigrants from the Caucasus Mountain region (Kavkazim) Azad had to learn a new language, rules, and the norms of an alien Israeli society and culture. She and her fellow Jews from the Caucasus have a particularly difficult time settling into their new surroundings. Ironically, it is the very same trait that enabled and empowered the Kavkazim to survive in the far west — their conservative, close-knit insulated community — that now cripples them in successfully acclimating to their new land.

Having lived through this struggle, Azad has made it her goal to ease the burden of other Kavkazi immigrants, which she is accomplishing through her work with JDC. In her role as Kavkazi Program Coordinator at Kiryat Yam Community Center, Azad creates and runs JDC-sponsored programs aimed at helping women, children and youth lead successful lives in Israel.

One of the largest problems facing the long term success of Kavkazim is the inordinately high school dropout rate of Kavkazi teens. This worrisome figure is due to three key of factors: 1) students having to help financially support their families, 2) the inability to compete with their peers in school, and 3) a lack of understanding within the family unit. Azad’s programs target these issues by offering economic empowerment; working to close the language gap which helps the Kavkazi students catch up to their veteran-Israeli peers; and encouraging and fostering greater understanding between the many generations of their home. The result is that fewer students are dropping out of school and more are passing the State Matriculation exam, enabling them have more choices in the future.

Closest to Azad’s heart is the programming for women. Women are sent out of the home to work — for the first time in generations of the Kavkazi culture — most often as low wage cleaning ladies. Among other issues, this change of tradition totally alters the family’s way of life, causing conflict and tension. JDC programs coordinated by Azad offer help and hope to these struggling families in several ways. For example, weekly gatherings of women only, where they set aside time for themselves, give them a great sense of support and encouragement to continue.

For younger women, Azad has organized educational and vocational programs. They are taught skills for finding employment as hairdressers, makeup artists and manicurists — jobs that will earn them money while allowing them to work from home. Another program works to encourage girls to stay in school and helps them pass their exams.

Today, a confident, married and working mother of two, Azad reflects on the difficulty of her journey. She explains that upon their arrival she and many other Kavkazim feel that they must make a choice "to assimilate into the Israeli culture and completely shed our rich heritage, or remain a closed community." Tamir’s family, like most others, chose the latter. As a young woman Azad found herself torn between tradition and Israeli society. "Growing up, although I loved my mother and respected her values, I vowed never to be like her."

After making the difficult and unconventional decision to continue her education, Azad participated in the JDC Leadership Development Program. This program gave her the encouragement and support to continue her studies. With great determination, Azad managed to earn a degree from Haifa University, while raising two small children. Today, she is continuing her education at the Mandell Institute for Educational Leadership; her thesis is on Kavkazi Women’s Folklore. JDC often acts as a conduit connecting its program participants to institutions where they can further their education.

While Azad still struggles to balance her job and many family responsibilities, she feels she lives in "the best of both worlds — higher education and my rich Kavkazi heritage." "Without JDC’s support none of these successes would be possible."