Chronicle

Michael Beizer & Ann Komaromi. A Time to Sow. Refusenik Life in Leningrad, 1979-1989. University of Toronto Press, Toronto Buffalo London, 2025. 310 pp.

      A Time to Sow offers a glimpse into the unofficial Jewish life in 1980s Leningrad shaped by numerous long-term refusals from authorities to grant exit visas to Jews seeking to migrate to Israel. The book reveals how the lives of the "refuseniks" were marked by continues struggle for the right to emigrate, as well as by the formation of an unofficial community. It traces how the community provided mutual assistance in times of distress, particularly offering support to imprisoned activists and their families. The community also maintained contacts with co-religionist supporters visiting from abroad, engaged in Hebrew teaching, facilitated religious revival, celebrated Jewish holidays as a group, disseminated samizdat publications, conducted popular lectures on Jewish history and culture, and pursued Jewish studies. The book divulges how all these activities took place in private, despite the ban and persecution by the authorities.

      Drawing from analyses of historical sources, rare archival materials, as well as personal experiences including interviews with activists, the book provides a rich and nuances understanding of this unique period. Ultimately, A Time to Sow presents a critical, unapologetic perspective on a distinctive, little known chapter of Jewish history of Leningrad, one of the Russia's most important cities.

      “A superbly detailed account of a crucial – also astonishing – chapter in contemporary Jewish life. Amidst the small mountain of memoirs depicting the waning years of the Soviet Union, the book stands out for its capacity to relate this complex story with rare combination of empathy and scholarly rigour.”

      Steven J. Zipperstein, Daniel E.Koshland Professor in Jewish Culture and History, Stanford University.