Anti-Semitism in Stavropol

People have asked me, people have warned me... Heck, the only thing people in Stavropol, and around the world are interested in knowing is "how can you stand the anti-Semitism?"

To demontrate my answer I have added the picture, above (of Miriam playing with her handcuffed doll in a btahtub, which gives you an idea of how Russian people raise their kids, and of their mentality).

To tell you the truth, on an Anti-Semitic scale of 1 to 10, I would give Stavropol a 6. Not high enough to get worried, but it still is Russia.

I can't understand the shluchim that walk the streets at night without a bodyguard in cities in Siberia where it is so cold that anti-Semites seek warmth by trying to attach their fists or legs to body-parts of Jews.

However I do feel somewhat safe here, mainly due to the fact that this is such a multi-cultural city, very diverse. You can talk to 5 people in a row, and one will be Armenian, the next a Turk, the next Kazakhstani (and I HAVE seen several Borats), followed by a Georgian and a Ukrainian.

In most Russian cities, there are Russians and there is you. You stand out like soap in a Mikva. Everyone stares, and the stares are generally not very welcoming. Nobody dares speak to you, so you just walk either with your head held up high, or with your eyes to the ground (depending on if you have a stiff neck or not).

But here, there are so many 'oddities', dark people, bright people, people wearing tichels (I kid you not), and hippies that if someone were to say "I hate Jews", it just wouldn't work as much as elsewhere.

That is not to say that occassionally I do get an anti-Semitic remark. But the good thing is I don't understand what they are saying. For all I know they could be yelling at me "Your fly is open!" and then spitting on the ground because they almost swallowed a bug.

There are two anti-Semitic writings (one of which I photographed and filmed) and anti-black writing (also filmed and photographed), but they may have been up there for ages.

So I don't have a problem walking the streets in my hat and jackets, as a matter of fact, I always make sure to, because I have had many interesting encounters, such as students stopping me to take pictures, people wishing me peace, and of course, Jews shaking my hand with tears in their eyes, and thanking me for coming to their city.

Some Jews are still afraid. Many times I have heard a "Shalom", and asked the speaker if he was Jewish, and they put a finger on their lips, nod their head 'yes' and whisper Shhhh.

Yesterday I had a meeting with the police public relations department, and met some big head of the department, who offered his assistance in anything, and as well with the head of the department for religious affairs (in Russia they have departments for everything).

It went really nice. I gave them a Hamsa, telling them that we value their protection, and this is protection from G-d.

I was warned beforehand that generally when people meet the police it is to complain, so I made sure to heap the praise. I told them how competent their police are, and how I love that there is a cop on almost every corner. I got the name of a Jewish policeman, and told them that if I can be of any use to them, they are welcome to ask.

The station being next door to the city's largest newspaper, they called a reporter who came and took pictures, and asked all sorts of questions about Yiddishkeit.

All in all it was a great hour-long bullshove, after which I went home to eat supper.

Let's hope they actually report what I said, and don't add horns on me in the photographs ;)