210 · Alanna E. Cooper
from the sale of their car in the bank, that sum could not even buy them
a shirt. Financial instability also manifested itself in severe faults with
social welfare systems including health insurance, unemployment, and
social security. Corruption in the university system was rampant, where
grossly underpaid professors would regularly accept bribes from stu-
dents in exchange for good grades. Public culture also suffered a decline.
Explaining why she was encouraging her nineteen-year-old son, Misha,
to move to Israel, Nina noted, “There used to be things for the kids to do
here. Now they have nowhere to go. There are no movies and no cafes
open.”
In short, a feeling of economic chaos prevailed in the post-Soviet era,
along with the sense that there was no one accountable for keeping the
instability in check. One man aptly summarized this sensibility: “During
the Soviet period, we knew what the laws were. We believed in the head
of government, even though he was in Moscow. Now we no longer feel
sure of ourselves or strong.” Nevertheless, in deciding to move to the
United States or to Israel, people did not feel they were leaving behind
this financial insecurity. Indeed, they constantly weighed the chaotic eco-
nomic situation in Uzbekistan, with the total sense of helplessness they
feared they would experience upon migration with the prospects of not
being able to learn the language, find a job, negotiate the system, or buy
a house. While people were quite aware that salaries were many times
higher in Israel and the United States than they were in Uzbekistan, they
were also staggered by the reports of the cost of living there. And for
those who had food, a house, and the cultural knowledge to negotiate
Uzbekistan’s bureaucracy (even if it was in a state of flux), the fear that
they would not be able to make a living upon immigration was palpable.
Social Position
Press reports that focus on the Jews’ fear of rising nationalism and Mus-
lim fundamentalism depict them as occupying a marginal, stigmatized
position in the wider society in which they lived. In fact, Bukharan Jews
occupied a complex social place. Throughout their long history in the
region, they were both outsiders, in that they were marked and perceived
themselves as a minority, but they were also “Central Asians,” who
strongly identified with the other local ethnic groups. Both these senti-