2. Since they gave up Judaism why emigrate just convert.
If Jews in Russia were to give up Judaism anyway, why go to all the trouble of emigrating anywhere when they could have just converted and be done with it in Russia, why emigrate to the US, Argentina, Palestine to be goyim when they could have led a life unmolested by remaining in Russia, what they were to be everywhere else, goyim? Why do goyim need another state albeit one that speaks hebrew, but that could have just as well been german or russian or yiddish? They could have desecrated Shabbat in Russia, have eaten treif in Russian, etc, etc.
