Alex Rif
Israeli-Russian Poet and Social Activist, The Cultural Brigade
Alex emigrated with her parents from Ukraine in 1991 at the age of five. She soon realized that if she wanted to fit in she was going to have to stop being "Russian," and for 20 years she erased her Soviet identity and tried to become a "real Israeli." This meant volunteering with the school board as a student, embarking on a year of community service as a Bronfman Fellow in Jerusalem, becoming an officer in the IDF and graduating from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a B.A. in business and political science and an M.A. in public policy, as part of the Cadets for Public Service program. After graduation, she started working as an advisor to the Senior Deputy Director General in the Ministry of Economy. Once she felt "Israeli" she realized something was missing: that "thing" was her. So she decided to try to fulfil her true voice by turning to what she loved best, writing. Alex started studying screenwriting in the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, and noticed that she kept returning to the theme of immigration experiences. At the same time she joined Generation 1.5, a group of young Russian-speaking activists, and started initiating Russian cultural events for Hebrew speakers, as a way to share the Russian immigarnt story through art. Recently she initiated Israeli Novy God, a project that explains the idea behind the Russian celebration of New Years to Hebrew speakers and inviting people to join a traditional dinner celebration in Russian-speaking homes, making Novy God part of the Israeli lexicon.