Alexander Yakubson, 48
lawyer

My family and I went to Israel in 1991. We lived there three and a half years and then came back here. Why did we come back? It's a complicated question.

I was never unemployed there. Some can't find work, but I did whatever I needed to do. I drove a tractor, worked in a factory. By profession I'm a lawyer, but I didn't have the necessary training to practice law in Israel. When would I have time to get such training? I had to work to feed my family. When you go to a country and start from nothing, you have to work at whatever you can get.

When we left Russia in 1991, the economy was more stable, the factories were still working. There was almost no crime. Then when we returned last year, the picture was totally different. There are so many unemployed here now, so many people are poor. Now the Russians envy the Jews in this country, because the Jews can leave.

My wife wants to go back to Israel. I'm not sure what I want. Time will tell what happens to us.

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