New York Jewish Week

November 30, 2007

A Moment That Made Jewish History

by David Harris

For months in 1987, there had been reports that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev would make his first visit to Washington to meet with President Ronald Reagan. How would the Jewish community respond? 

At the time, Soviet Jewish emigration was only about 800 per month, one-fifth of the peak reached in 1979. And while some prominent Prisoners of Zion and refuseniks had recently been released, many more continued to languish behind the Iron Curtain. Soviet Jewry activists wanted to take advantage of a Gorbachev trip to publicize the plight of their brethren trapped in the USSR.

But the activists were cognizant of the fact that, unlike New York, Washington historically had not produced large-scale Jewish rallies. The record of 13,000 was set when Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev traveled to the nation’s capital in 1973.

That’s why there was considerable discussion about organizing a “leadership assembly” of a mere several hundred Jews from across the country that would be deemed to represent millions of American Jews. That seemed a safer bet than planning a major demonstration.

No way, said Natan Sharansky, who had been released the previous year from the Gulag. Instead, he insisted that American Jewry set a goal of 250,000 participants at a mass public event in Washington. His view prevailed.

Yet no date had been set for the Gorbachev visit. Would there be sufficient time between the announcement of a date and the Soviet leader’s arrival to have a shot at turning Sharansky’s lofty goal into reality?

As it turned out, there were 37 days to do so. The rally was set for Sunday, Dec. 6, on the eve of Gorbachev’s arrival. The Jewish community went all out. Institutional differences were set aside in a spirit of common purpose. There was a growing sense that Dec. 6 would enter the Jewish history books, and the Washington Mall would be the place to be.

The media took notice, which helped greatly. But there was one constant question: How many people are expected? The truth was we didn’t know. All that could confidently be said was that this would be the largest Jewish rally in Washington’s history. Fortunately, the normally inquisitive press didn’t ask about the previous record, or they might not have been so impressed with our prediction.           

The day arrived. It was cold and crisp, but thankfully, no sign of snow. By early morning, groups began arriving at the Ellipse, just behind the White House. A dream was starting to become a reality. The first arrivals had traveled by bus all night, or even longer, from the Northeast, the South, the Midwest and Canada. If they were tired from their long journeys, it didn’t show. With their signs, slogans and songs, they created an uplifting mood.

Throughout the morning, the numbers kept growing. Some participants flew in from Europe, Israel and Latin America. Many non-Jews, particularly noticeable in the crowd by their signs, were also there. 

It came time to march east toward the demonstration site in front of the Capitol, with top politicians and religious figures, former Prisoners of Zion, refuseniks, and Jewish community leaders up front. And then came the rally itself, with its long list of distinguished speakers, including Vice President George H.W. Bush, senators and congressmen, governors, mayors, Catholic and Protestant clergy, the singing group Peter, Paul and Mary, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Natan Sharansky, Israeli Ambassador Moshe Arad and others. 

I will never forget standing on the stage and looking out at the crowd, which extended almost as far as the eye could see. What a moving sight. People had responded to the call and come. In doing so, they sent a powerful message to Jews in the Soviet Union: You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Together, we will succeed.

More than 250,000 people from all walks of life gathered on that chilly day in Washington, joined by a spectrum of top national leaders, to stand as one. This was the largest Jewish rally in American history. And the effort surely helped. Shortly afterward, the gates of the USSR opened and the Jews flooded out.

In “The Reagan Presidency: An Oral History of the Era” by Gerald S. Strober and Deborah Hart Strober, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Richard Schifter is quoted as saying:

“What the American Jewish community did was to put the Soviet Jewry issue on the U.S. government’s human rights agenda. And the U.S. government, in turn, put it on the Soviet agenda. The rally in Washington took place on a Sunday. The following Tuesday, Gorbachev met with Reagan, and the person who was the note taker at the meeting told me that Reagan started out by saying to Gorbachev, ‘You know, there was this rally on the Mall the other day.’ And Gorbachev said, ‘Yes, I heard about it. Why don’t you go on and talk about arms control?’ And for five minutes, Reagan kept on talking about the rally and the importance of Jewish emigration to the United States, when Gorbachev wanted to talk about something else.”

Dec. 6, 1987, was a moment in Jewish history. Actually, it was a moment that made Jewish history. And it should serve as a model for what American Jews can achieve when we choose to act in unison.

David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, served as the national coordinator for the Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jewry Rally in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 6, 1987.