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OUR PORTABLE SELVES by Martha Bohachevsky Chomiak Regardless of the origin of our ancestors, or of the century in which they arrived in America, the move was a period of painful uprooting. Most of the immigrants came from stable societies in which they had often been the very low man on the totem pole. Nevertheless, they knew where they fit. Their status may have been low, but it was a status, a place in the universe. Most Ukrainians, regardless of when they came to America and regardless of the social origin of their ancestors, were not far removed from agricultural life. Even urban dwellers had close ties with the village. For reasons that can be easily explained by the historical vicissitudes of our people, an urban class is only now emerging in contemporary Ukraine. It will lead to urban culture and urban patterns of behavior including ready mobility. But mobility was a painful process for our ances tors, for many of our parents, and I suspect, for many of us. The ties that bind us are not only cultural ties, but ties to place: church, cemetary, even grandma’s house and all the cooking and embroidery it entails. Evidence of our heritage is often external and group oriented, and it tends to work as a bungee cord, letting us go but also jerking us back. No wonder so many of us cut the cords, to make full use of the exhilaration of striking out on our own, moving into our own place and making our own lives. For many, the background is an encumbrance. Yet this should not be so. Our heritage must be undestood, internalized, and be part of our very selves. It should motivate us to move on, not shackle us to place, role, and stifling tradition. America, the land of opportunity and the land of mobility, provides both only to those who are willing to chance it, who can make use of mobility, who can build a new home in an unknown place. Because of historical accident, Ukraine was home to many of the Jews who built American businesses, the film industry, the garment production industry and the entertainment networks. Others Jews were among the pioneers that wrested verdant Israel from Arabic sands. Whatever nostalgia they had was transformed into pro ductive activity, longing became action, anxiety was turned into art. For most, Ukraine had been home for hundreds of years, and many remained attached to it emotionally. Nevertheless, they broke loose and made full use of new opportunities. Their success was due partly to Jewish women who had to demonstrate business acumen to keep their fami lies fed while their husbands studied the Torah. Partly, of course, it was due to a perceived hostile environment between town and village, and mostly due to Tsarist Russian policies. That is not our concern now. What we ought to notice is that the identity of the Jews was internalized and thus could become mobile. Jewish her itage served as a source of strength, not as an anchor to keep them in the same place. Every religious and national heritage, when duly studied and understood, is a source of strength and hope. The realization that one is a link in a chain, that one’s existence is part of a larger flow, that the end is never the end, helps give meaning to each life. To find that meaning, it is necessary to know one’s self, to be secure of one’s individuality, to understand one’s back ground. It means realizing that tradition is symbol, not a binding cord, and that the country of our ancestors was a land of diversity and not the extension of the ancestral village. Shevchenko, the Ukrainian Martin Luther King, wrote paraphrasing the scriptures. Know the truth and the truth shall sets you free. And the truth is recognizing the difference between myth and reality. While tradition encompasses myth self-knowledge cannot be based upon myth either in individual or in group existence. In modern times, when more than ever before, we are cognizant of the various layers of identity that envelop us, not to the exclusion of each, but complementarily, we need to know our real history, our real background, and the reality of con temporary Ukraine. If we limit ourselves to fairy tales and mythology, then those who choose the opportunity of reality over the comfort of the nursery, will not be able to remain in our midst. Ukraine is a large country, with room for much diversity. Should we go against the tradition of our her itage by setting ourselves so readily apart from what is? Should we not make it easier for our children to soar, strengthened by what they are rather than shackled by what others think they ought to be? As Amercian women with ties to Ukraine we can only reiterate for ourselves that our ancestors under stood the portable values of their society enough to build a new life upon them. Let us not forget that lesson. We carry our values and our traditions, and we alone can interpret them for ourselves and our children. As we managed to transform our Ukrainian background and our American opportunities into our successful lives, so shall our children. Let them also fly. 16 ’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ", СІЧЕНЬ 1995 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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