This year marks what some are calling the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Jewry movement. Sparked in part by Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, perhaps half of all Jews in the former Soviet Union spent the next 25 years struggling for the right to move to Israel and elsewhere. Twenty years ago, 250,000 American Jews marched in Washington on behalf of Soviet Jewry, an event that is remembered for focusing the world's attention on the Jews' plight on the very eve of perestroika.

The march is considered a high point in the collective expression of Jewish "peoplehood" — a movement in which Jews put aside their theological, political, generational, and social differences to act as one on behalf of their brothers and sisters. Some suggest, however, it also represented the last flowering of peoplehood, and that Jews have entered a period in which they are unable to find a cause or idea around which to rally. The result is growing disaffection by some, growing frustration among others.

But an anniversary that celebrates the stunning success of mass action and mutual support shouldn't obscure the fact that Jewish peoplehood remains as important as ever. Israel's perilous security situation demands that Jews make common cause. So does a rising tide of anti-Israel rhetoric, not always but often indistinguishable from anti-Semitism. And even in the areas of our greatest successes, our collective efforts are needed: In the former Soviet Union, the 1.5 million Jews who remain face challenges to their identity and well-being amidst a rising tide of anti-Semitism.

"Peoplehood" remains paramount, and at this time of year it has an address: Super Sunday, the annual fund-raising phonathon of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey. On Dec. 2 volunteers from around the community will express their peoplehood by volunteering on behalf of the annual campaign. They will telephone thousands of supporters in the community to ask them to do their part for their brothers and sisters, at home and abroad.

The motto of the Soviet Jewry movement was "Let my people go." As always in Jewish life, the emphasis was on "my people." On Super Sunday, answer the call.