The other party

Cute pun, huh?

Yesterday we went to Yefim's party... Rather, the one he organized for the seniors. Overall, there were about 50 people who attended, and we arrived a couple of minutes late. The kids were at home being baby-sat by Luba Ozerova, the kind woman who helped Chayale make the Sufganiyot.

It was kind of a grand entrance, and everyone turned to look. Chayale thinks that they never actually expected us to come, rather to just find an excuse like they did for our event. But we were there, and what can they do?

They sat us next to two people. One was a mountain Jew couple from Georgia. I had never met him before, but I had said Tehillim for him the previous week while he went for heart surgery (I'm close with his son-in-law... he's on my Mivtzoim route), and he was delighted when I told him his Hebrew name and his mothers Hebrew name!

The other was Anatoly Tartychev, who is the assistant to the governor and a smart man. We relaxed in our seats, and ate some oranges.

For the party they had hired Vladimir Shiff, a local musician who is very good, and brought in from S. Peterburg (through the Federation which pays that 2 entertainers can fly to each city every year) a Chazzan named Boruch Finkelstein.

We assumed that I was going to light the Menorah (which is what I had requested), or say a few words at least, but instead someone else lit the Menorah, and about 10 other people spoke.

It got to the point where people started demanding that they let the Rabbi speak (Anatoly Tartychev was one of them), but... nothing.

Meanwhile the Chazzan sang beautifully, I even knew some of the songs, like 'By mir bistu shein' and 'Shalom aleichem'. There was a poignant moment which was a highlight for me.

There is an 80-year-old named Dovid Fishman who is on Yefim's board. In my opinion, he is the most decent person on the board. I also highly respect him, and honestly think that he is the smartest person in Stavropol. I love him, even though he is someone who probably wants me out of the city.

Last night was his 50th anniversary. He is a short little guy, and he has a short, cute little wife. In honor of their anniversary a song was played for them, and they danced around the room, obviously very much in love. Everyone watched. For some reason it reminded me of my Bubby and Zaidy, who passed away a year ago, and I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes. After the dance I went over to Dovid, drew him into a corner, and made a private Lechaim with him.

Lechaims? I forgot to mention. It was almost an issue. The vodka on the table was a brand I had never seen before. When someone wanted me to say Lechaim, I had to excuse myself and call Rabbi Kahn, our 'kosher Rabbi' in Moscow.

He told me it was 'bechezkas kashrus', in other words, the high percentage is that it's kosher, so unless we know otherwise, we can drink it.

We also saw Yefim's 'Sunday school', which consisted of 5 children, in action. They sang a cute Chanukah song. Then one girl dressed up in a costume and sang 'tumbalalaika', which was really cute.

We left early, and it was a nice event.

On the way out Chayale asked them to give us 6 Menorahs, which they did. That's another annoying thing. All the packages for us go to him. It isn't ritten that they are for us and that we pay for them, therefore he just steals them and uses them. So we had to ask for 6 of our Menorahs. What a situation, eh?

On the way home we walked, for the first time at night, through the center of the city, and met two community members. It was nice.

Many people were upset that they weren't invited. Again, he was selective. Very selective in who can come to his parties.

Things will get better.