It'll soon be shabbos so I must be quick.
We may have found an apartment. It's ugly as a yeshiva bathroom but with some renovations we may get somewhere.
Gut shabbos everyone.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Yesterday was a big day
We finally got some things done yesterday.
For all new shluchim, IMMEDIATELY GET A SECRETARY! Things would have been so much easier had we had a secretary to begin with.
Anyway, we had someone from the community post ads in a local paper for an apartment, a secretary and a driver. We had her post the ad for a week and are still receiving phone calls every 10 minutes. Apparently the unemployment rate is very high here.
Anyway, yesterday three wonderful things happened and therefore I will write all three in capital letters.
1) WE GOT MEAT! - Yes, we received our milk last week from moscow, but Moscow finally sent us some meat. Chickens only. We'd made the order about two weeks ago, and they sent it on a bus. Most packages arrive via a Fed-Ex'ish company. On those boxes they write that it contains books, since according to Russian regulations, only books are permitted.
But for meat, they must send it by bus or train. If it's by train then you gotta bribe the police officer there. But it came by bus, so we went with a fellow form the community (nicest guy ever), and picked up the chicken. It came with a certificate from Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, and it came in 32 Kilos, which for those of you who went to Oholei Torah, is in scientific terms: a heckuvalot. We have no freezer big enough for the three humongous bags, but we left them outside on the porch, and the freezing weather kept them fresh. THEY WHEIGH A TON! Anyway, today we need to buy a deep-freezer. We will keep them locked in the Jewish Centre (or, as it's called here, the Obshchin).
2 - WE GOT A SECRETARY! - Finally, and we should've done this first. We interviewed two women, one a college girl who spoke perfect English, the other came with awesome credentials, spoke fluent English and is a Mom with two kids. We hired the second one for the standard price here, about 350 dollars. Of course we will try to give her bonuses and presents, we will try to be good bosses (also it doesnt feel right paying someone that little, but what other choice do we have? Or Avner doesnt give us endless money).
Her first jobs are to help us find an apartment, and to try and arrange a second phone line in the Obshchin.
3 - WE GOT A DRIVER! - Yes, the ad in the paper produced like a million phone calls, yet only 10 guys showed up to be interviewed (though they still call). We narrowed it down to three guys. Mohammed - a Turk with an awesome car, Roman - nice guy, forgot to look at his car, and Vasili - Sweet guy with an ok car. In the end we hired Vasili because Mohammed wasn't so easy with the money, and we never saw Roman's car.
More updates to follow. I hope next time we have an apartment.
For all new shluchim, IMMEDIATELY GET A SECRETARY! Things would have been so much easier had we had a secretary to begin with.
Anyway, we had someone from the community post ads in a local paper for an apartment, a secretary and a driver. We had her post the ad for a week and are still receiving phone calls every 10 minutes. Apparently the unemployment rate is very high here.
Anyway, yesterday three wonderful things happened and therefore I will write all three in capital letters.
1) WE GOT MEAT! - Yes, we received our milk last week from moscow, but Moscow finally sent us some meat. Chickens only. We'd made the order about two weeks ago, and they sent it on a bus. Most packages arrive via a Fed-Ex'ish company. On those boxes they write that it contains books, since according to Russian regulations, only books are permitted.
But for meat, they must send it by bus or train. If it's by train then you gotta bribe the police officer there. But it came by bus, so we went with a fellow form the community (nicest guy ever), and picked up the chicken. It came with a certificate from Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, and it came in 32 Kilos, which for those of you who went to Oholei Torah, is in scientific terms: a heckuvalot. We have no freezer big enough for the three humongous bags, but we left them outside on the porch, and the freezing weather kept them fresh. THEY WHEIGH A TON! Anyway, today we need to buy a deep-freezer. We will keep them locked in the Jewish Centre (or, as it's called here, the Obshchin).
2 - WE GOT A SECRETARY! - Finally, and we should've done this first. We interviewed two women, one a college girl who spoke perfect English, the other came with awesome credentials, spoke fluent English and is a Mom with two kids. We hired the second one for the standard price here, about 350 dollars. Of course we will try to give her bonuses and presents, we will try to be good bosses (also it doesnt feel right paying someone that little, but what other choice do we have? Or Avner doesnt give us endless money).
Her first jobs are to help us find an apartment, and to try and arrange a second phone line in the Obshchin.
3 - WE GOT A DRIVER! - Yes, the ad in the paper produced like a million phone calls, yet only 10 guys showed up to be interviewed (though they still call). We narrowed it down to three guys. Mohammed - a Turk with an awesome car, Roman - nice guy, forgot to look at his car, and Vasili - Sweet guy with an ok car. In the end we hired Vasili because Mohammed wasn't so easy with the money, and we never saw Roman's car.
More updates to follow. I hope next time we have an apartment.
A little history
Well, before continuing our saga, perhaps I should write about the city's Jewish history.
The community was founded in the 1870's by some Jewish soldiers stationed here (Stavropol is a military city built in the 1770's) during the Russians conquest of the Caucasus mountains.
Years passed and the community grew. Two separate Shuls were built, but after several years the community came together in one large beautiful Shul. The shul, located at the top of a gorgeous viewpoint on a hill overlooking much of the city, had a Mikva, and served the Ashkenazi and Mountain Jews in the city. At it's height, the community also owned land next to the shul, where there was a Rabbi's house and a large school building which also housed a Beis Midrash.
The community of course was destroyed during WW2 and the Sovietism afterward, but we are trying to get back the Synagogue. It will take time, but hopefully it is do-able.
I have got to go somewhere with quicker internet so I can get pictures on here.
Anyway, the good news is that there might be a Mikva (as I wrote) inside the shul. The Soviets may have just poured some cement over it (similar to what they did to the Mikva in Rostov), so perhaps we won't have to build a Mikva from scratch.
The shul is currently being used as the city's wedding hall. However, the city is building a new, larger hall, so it will be available soon. Im Yirtzeh Hashem it will return to the Jewish community.
The community was founded in the 1870's by some Jewish soldiers stationed here (Stavropol is a military city built in the 1770's) during the Russians conquest of the Caucasus mountains.
Years passed and the community grew. Two separate Shuls were built, but after several years the community came together in one large beautiful Shul. The shul, located at the top of a gorgeous viewpoint on a hill overlooking much of the city, had a Mikva, and served the Ashkenazi and Mountain Jews in the city. At it's height, the community also owned land next to the shul, where there was a Rabbi's house and a large school building which also housed a Beis Midrash.
The community of course was destroyed during WW2 and the Sovietism afterward, but we are trying to get back the Synagogue. It will take time, but hopefully it is do-able.
I have got to go somewhere with quicker internet so I can get pictures on here.
Anyway, the good news is that there might be a Mikva (as I wrote) inside the shul. The Soviets may have just poured some cement over it (similar to what they did to the Mikva in Rostov), so perhaps we won't have to build a Mikva from scratch.
The shul is currently being used as the city's wedding hall. However, the city is building a new, larger hall, so it will be available soon. Im Yirtzeh Hashem it will return to the Jewish community.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Another post
Well, images don't work here, so we are slowly making a photo group on facebook.
First report:
We arrived in Moscow and were whisked off to a small apartment owned by Or Avner. It had high speed internet (gasp) and cupboards of kosher food. Actually it was well stocked, with everything except toilet paper. We met with R' Lazar and stayed in the apartment overnight.
Next day our driver dropped us off early in the morning at Vnukovo airport, an airport which is yuck, compared to the other Moscow airports. Their bathrooms are like steam rooms because of all the Russians smoking inside the stuffy rooms.
In the afternoon we left for Stavropol and arrived 2 hours later just as it got dark. It was Thursday night, and we waited for someone to pick us up, but no one showed.
So we packed our stuff into two tiny taxis which had jumped the median to get to us (they were taken by the cops to pay a fine) and driven to our hotel with our 9 humongous bags.
We were ripped off big time by the taxi drivers who had a field day with us and are currently sipping rum in the Bahamas somewhere. At the intourist hotel we were told that every room was booked except for the 'wedding room' which costed about 250 bucks (in Rubles). We didn't have enough Rubles on us and they wouldn't accept dollars so we were forced to take those taxis to find an ATM machine. The driver took us around to several ATM machines which for some reason didn't work (he probably took us there on purpose. They are like the only 2 machines in the city that don't work). Then he told us he'd change money with us at a decent exchange rate (surprisingly).
Back in the hotel, we checked in and gave in our passports to get registered. Here is Russia, the government wants to know where you are at all times without being forced to use their millions of secret video cameras, so you must always register to let them know 'we are here'. They took our passports and showed us our room - or rather, our suite. It was beautiful. Luckily another room was available for the next few nights, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would (supposedly) be a better day.
First report:
We arrived in Moscow and were whisked off to a small apartment owned by Or Avner. It had high speed internet (gasp) and cupboards of kosher food. Actually it was well stocked, with everything except toilet paper. We met with R' Lazar and stayed in the apartment overnight.
Next day our driver dropped us off early in the morning at Vnukovo airport, an airport which is yuck, compared to the other Moscow airports. Their bathrooms are like steam rooms because of all the Russians smoking inside the stuffy rooms.
In the afternoon we left for Stavropol and arrived 2 hours later just as it got dark. It was Thursday night, and we waited for someone to pick us up, but no one showed.
So we packed our stuff into two tiny taxis which had jumped the median to get to us (they were taken by the cops to pay a fine) and driven to our hotel with our 9 humongous bags.
We were ripped off big time by the taxi drivers who had a field day with us and are currently sipping rum in the Bahamas somewhere. At the intourist hotel we were told that every room was booked except for the 'wedding room' which costed about 250 bucks (in Rubles). We didn't have enough Rubles on us and they wouldn't accept dollars so we were forced to take those taxis to find an ATM machine. The driver took us around to several ATM machines which for some reason didn't work (he probably took us there on purpose. They are like the only 2 machines in the city that don't work). Then he told us he'd change money with us at a decent exchange rate (surprisingly).
Back in the hotel, we checked in and gave in our passports to get registered. Here is Russia, the government wants to know where you are at all times without being forced to use their millions of secret video cameras, so you must always register to let them know 'we are here'. They took our passports and showed us our room - or rather, our suite. It was beautiful. Luckily another room was available for the next few nights, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would (supposedly) be a better day.
We arrived - news from Stavropol
Hello everyone. Here I sit in an internet cafe a month into our arrival to Stavropol with so much to write but so little time.
The hardships and the wonder of new shlichus - the way you see the Rebbe clearly helping you out.
We will start posting hopefully this coming week, but for now I will add a few pictures (if I can).
Well, I can't, so I will find a way to next time.
The hardships and the wonder of new shlichus - the way you see the Rebbe clearly helping you out.
We will start posting hopefully this coming week, but for now I will add a few pictures (if I can).
Well, I can't, so I will find a way to next time.
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