CROSSING NEW BRIDGES - THE PROCESS OF ADAPTATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS IN ISRAEL

BETWEEN the end of 1989 and June 1992, 380,152 Russian Jews left the f ormer Soviet Union for Israel, swelling Israel's Jewish population by nearly 10%, Absorbing great waves of immigrants was not new to Israel, Since its establishment in 1948 and the enactment of its Law of Retur n, large population groups from dozens of different ethnic and cultura l backgrounds had immigrated into the country. In 1992 Israel's Jewish population totaled 4,242,500, Of that number, 360,949 had been born i n Asian countries, 458,009 in Africa, 1,252,131 in Europe, and 184,317 in America and Oceana.