Our version of the events

The story everyone has been waiting for is here:

What really happened at the Torah celebration.

This is like a behind-the-scenes piece in the DVD bonus features (of the living Torah).

Motzei Shabbos was slichos, so we stayed up til 1 AM, after which Rabbi Greenberg and myself (Zvi writing in Chayale's name, by the way) Davened for the half hour and then went Shluff.

Four hours later my alarm on my phone went off to start the day. Rabbi Greenberg somehow was already awake. Our taxi arrived 10 minutes later, and barely dressed, we drove the 20 minutes to Cafe Kovcheg, the Solomonov's restaurant, to start the kashering process.

Well, apparently the Solomonov's thought I'd walk in there, say and blessing, make sure the products were all kosher, and go on with my day, but that was not the plan. They had forgotten to put aside dishes, and we had no blowtorch, so we had to kasher the place the old fashioned way. All fires on, we started kashering the shashlik holders. Meanwhile we filled a huge bucket with water, and when it bubbled 4 hours later, we started toiveling stuff in the boiling mess. We also poured boiling water over all the counters, or covered it with a garbage bag. And every salad bowl was covered with a plastic bag.

We had bought knives, cutting boards, and 120 plates which we will use for every kosher event, and also some platters, and later I had to run out and buy some more salad bowls, and bring some dishes from home, since most of their dishes had been used within 24 hours and thus were un-kasherable.

Meanwhile, time was passing, and at 8:45 I called Yonatan Feldman, who was in the airport in Moscow with the Sofer, the Torah, and two of the sponsors, Eli Ginsburg and Peter Order.

"Everything's looking great!" He told me.

Reassured, I went back to work.

At 9:10 Yonatan called. "Min Vody had bad weather so our plane is indefinitely not going to take off."

This was bad news. Since people would be arriving at 3:00, and the plan was that they would be picked up from Min Vody at 11:30 for the 3 hour drive here. I took a break and davened Shachris.

Just when I finished, I got a call. "We're on the plane. All is good."

I spread the 'miracle' to everyone in the cafe, and continued working. Rabbi Greenberg blew the shofar for everyone, and we put Tefillin on Sasha and Kostya Solomonov as well.

At 12:00 I got a call from R' Feldman.

"Bad news. The plane was rerouted to Krasnodar. We are still inside it and don't know what to do."

Krasnodar is 4 hours away by car if you speed a little, so I told them to get out, into a cab, and hope that Kfitzas Haderech happens.

Meanwhile, Rabbi Shneur Segal, along with about 6 people and 2 kids, were driving in from Krasnodar. They were maybe 3 hours away. And they also called.

"Hi Zvi, we will be there late. Our car has a flat, and it'll take an hour to fix."

They had the Chupah.

Suddenly our entire organized and planned schedule was down the drain. Also, I couldn't reach Chayale to tell her the news, so I made an executive decision and decided we will do whatever it takes to kill time.

I thought that was a very creative idea, but that's just me.

Worse news hit a minute later, when my phone died, and there went my entire connection to the uotside world, since I had not brought with me my phone book, and now couldn't reach any of them. I frantically ran around trying to find out if anyone has a plug I can use, but everyone had all these cool, high-tech phones that can launch missiles and stuff while mine has a left arrow which doesn't work.

So I knew I had to run home, and called a cab. It arrived 20 minutes after about a miles worth of pacing.

We tried to race home, but with traffic, it took an hour. We were home by 1:30. Chayale had arrived 2 minutes earlier, so while the phone charged, I filled her in and we tried to adjust plans. We changed the kids and got them ready to go.

Meanwhile I looked at my phone and read a Private message from Yonatan Feldman sent at 1:45.

"We are on our way now to Min Vody. The plane took off again. Will keep you posted."

I calculated quickly. They would arrive there at 2:45, and would have a 2 hour drive minimum. This was going to be close.

Nothing we can do.

We called a cab, and taking all the kids with us, and a change of clothes with me (the ones I wqas wearing stunk from the kashering and being in the hot kitchen the entire morning and sweating etc.) we hopped into the car.

We arrived at 2:45, expecting no one to be there. Instead, miraculously the buses had arrived like 15 minutes early, and the whole community was there.

The immenseness was... immense. Over 200 people had showed up, according to someone who counted. This was probably the largest turnout EVER for the community. And more importantly, only maybe a quarter of the people there were old! It was amazing!

But for now there were more important things to do: like get changed.

I charged through the crowd and cameras, and into a back room where I changed into my nice suit. Then I came out all smiles to meet and greet people.

I tasted the food. Delicious.

Time passed. At 3:00 Yonatan called to tell me they arrived. Where is their car?

"It's cancelled. Take a taxi. I'll pay. Just get here."

People were getting antsy, so I took the mike and guided them to their seats. Then I gave my speech, taking my sweet time.

Afterward, I let soft Niggunim play for a few minutes, before I decided to honor some people and let them speak.

Rav Shertil Shalumov from Pyatigorsk was first, followed by president of the Stavropol community Yefim Fainer, and then director of Sakhnut/Chesed of Stavropol Natasha Kuligina.

Still, time was passing and there was nothing we could do.

More visitors arrived, from Nevinnomysk, Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk.

I blew shofar for everyone, but then people started to mill around, bored.

I called, and was told they were 'half hour away.'

This was going bad. We waited outside for 10 minutes, and then a taxi rolled up.

All excited, Chayale ran inside, took the mike and yeleld 'Yay! The Torah is here!' The deejay started some fast music from Avraham Fried, and people got up and started clapping, but it was a false alarm. Just some dude from Kislovodsk.

Now people really wanted to leave.

But then Olga Solomonova assessed the situation and saved the day, but singing some Israeli karaoke. We waited outside, thinking how this was flopping.

Minutes later, the Torah arrived. At the exact same moment, Shneur Segal and the Chupah arrived too.

The crowd had been waiting for this and this time it wqas real. I guess the wait did good because the spirit soared, there was a community feeling never before felt, and several people openly cried.

The Torah was brought in and we started the writing immediately.

The rest of the program went so smoothely it was incredible. Everyone gathered close to watch, Yonatan Feldman gave a beautiful speech, most people wrote letters, Hagba, Gelila, and then dancing in the streets.

Then as the guests left we got into buses and went to the center of the city where the parade continued all the way to the shul, where we did hakafos.

I was sure we would have 4 people by hakafos... that everyone would leave.

Instead, over 50 stayed to the end!

At the end of the evening, we were exhausted, but happy. It had been a success.

Side note: this past Shabbos we had our first davening. 6 people showed up, which is an amazing start for Russia.

Two more days to prepare for Rosh Hashana.

Does anyone reading this (preferably a couple) wanna come run Sukkos services for the city? our visas expire and we'll be out of the country.