Jerry Goodman was a leading activist in the Soviet Jewry Movement and the founding executive director of the

National Conference on Soviet Jewry The National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ), formerly the National Council for Soviet Jewry (NCSJ), is an organization in the United States which advocates for the freedoms and rights of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic S ...

, a national agency established to coordinate the efforts of the American Jewish communities on behalf of Jews in the Soviet Union. He co-established the organization in 1971 and directed it until 1988. Prior to creation of the National Conference, Goodman was Director for European Affairs at the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

and helped coordinate the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry that was later restructured and renamed to National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Goodman acted as a consultant to the U.S. Congress in creating the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe and helped the passing of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a 1974 provision in

United States federal law The law of the United States comprises many levels of Codification (law), codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution of the United States, Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the ...

intended to restrict U.S. trade relations with USSR. He was one of the coordinators of the 1987

Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews was the title of a national march and political rally that was held on December 6, 1987 in Washington, D.C. An estimated 200,000 participants gathered on the National Mall, calling for the General Secretary of the ...

, the largest human rights national manifestation for Soviet Jews in the history of the Soviet Jewry movement. Goodman is the founder of the Archives of the American Soviet Jewry Movement, a project of the American Jewish Historical Society, and served as its Senior Advisor. He serves on the board of

Ameinu Ameinu (, "our people") is a left-wing American Jewish Zionist organization. Established in 2004 as the successor to the Labor Zionist Alliance, it is the continuation of Labor Zionist activity in the United States that began with the founding ...

Organizational leadership

*1971–1988: Founding Executive Director of the

*1990–1992: Executive Director, International Committee for ''Sepharad'' '92 *1992–2006: Executive Director
''National Committee for Labor Israel''

Publications

Goodman authored a Study Guide
''Politics and Protest''
to teach future generations about the history of the American advocacy movement for Soviet Jews. The study guide includes an annotated timeline of historic events as well as a detailed bibliography.

References

External links

''Politics and Protest: A Study Guide''
by Jerry Goodman
Guide to the Records of National Conference on Soviet Jewry
at the American Jewish Historical Society
Guide to the Papers of Jerry Goodman
at the American Jewish Historical Society * Archived recordings of "Russia Reports" radio program (WEVD) by Jerry Goodman at th
''Blavatnik Family Foundation - Refuseniks & Activists"
project Jewish American community activists American community activists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American Jews American Jewish Committee Soviet Jewry movement activists {{US-activist-stub