Slice of LIFE
The 'Refuseniks' Who Refused to Compromise on their Jewish Values (Part 2 of 2)
(Continued from last week)
Sofya Sara Esther Tamarkin
In 1987, during the “Let My People Go” rally in Washington, D.C., the Furmans joined half a million protestors on the other side of the ocean in Palace Square, the site of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, where the Furmans held up their handmade posters of their refusenik status. Unsurprisingly, they had been followed by KGB agents and were immediately arrested, along with their baby daughter.
At the police station, Marina and Lev were separated from their baby, and they heard her scream in another room. Lev was jailed for 10 days and released on the first day of Chanukah. On the last day of the holiday, the Furmans experienced a Chanukah miracle: They received their exit visas to finally immigrate to Israel!
They landed in Israel on the country's Independence Day, watching fireworks from the plane. For them, it was their personal Independence Day.
The Furman family was greeted by many refuseniks and friends from around the world. It was particularly meaningful and joyous for Lev to be reunited with Yitzchak Kogan.
Sofa Kogan gave simple advice to Marina: “In the Soviet Union, you learned how to survive. Here in Israel, you need to learn how to live.”
The Furmans often think about these profound words. Life went on, and in 1994, the family welcomed their second daughter, Michal, named after Lev's father. Lev found a job as a Hebrew teacher, working with new immigrants. Marina worked for the United Jewish Appeal, eventually becoming the main speaker for the organization, traveling the world and advocating for the Land of Israel.
Yitzchak Kogan continued his work on behalf of the Jewish people. He followed the guidance of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and was given the task to evacuate Jewish children from Chernobyl after the nuclear explosion. Yitzchak facilitated the dramatic airlift of Jewish children from the danger zone to Israel.
Eventually, the Kogan family returned to the former Soviet Union under the direction of the Rebbe to rebuild Judaism after the fall of communism. They were sent to Moscow, where Yitzchak became the chief rabbi at the Bolshaya Bronnaya Synagogue in Moscow.
In 2001, Lev and Marina visited Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, for the first time since their immigration. In an emotional reunion, Lev visited Yitzchak in Moscow. While the streets and the surroundings looked the same, the two friends met in a completely different reality. They were no longer prisoners of communism. They had won their battle, just like the Maccabees in the story of Chanukah. May their legacy be a blessing upon our people.
Aliyah, 9 months old, with two posters the evening before a demonstration
The beginning of the protest on Palace square. Lev and Marina with the baby in the carriage with the 2 posters. Next to the Winter Palace, a bus is visible. It is waiting to take the family to the police station.
Five minutes into the protest, the family is forced into the bus
Rally in Washington DC, December 6, 1987. The Furmans were protesting in Leningrad that same day.
First steps in Israel. L-R: Baby Aliyah, Marina, Lev, mother-in-law Ella, father Mikhail.
