The worst thing about shlichus in Russia

Here's a picture I found from last years Chanuka event for the kids.

Being a Rabbi in a Russian city is difficult nowadays, and for many reasons.

- Barely any kosher food
- Anti-Semitism is occassinally tangible (and swastikas are all over)
- The closest Rabbi/friend is a 5 hour drive
- Your entire family and most of your friends are in a different time zone
- With the current economic crisis, we are barely funded
- We must leave every 3 months for at least a month (it's impossible to get residency)
- Any peulos you do are taken for granted
- In order to survive you must learn the art of bribery

But the worst by far, the hardest thing about Russian shlichus occured this past shabbos, when we had an entire family over for the meal.

I had met the teenaged son over the internet, and he had assured me that his mother was Jewish from 'her mother' (meaning that the family were Halachic Jews).

When I called them to invite them, I found out that they also had a daughter of preschool age. Now I was really excited. A teenager and a little girl!

Friday we both prepared for the meal. Chayale made one of the most delicious dinners ever (including a dessert that was out of this world), and I prepared a bunch of Dvar Torahs.

They came, and we had a wonderful time. Singing, chatting, telling over some words of Torah. The family was totally normal. They were obviously well-off, and enjoyed the meal.

We were really excited that we had found another Jewish family to introduce to the community (they didn't know there was an established community here in Stavropol).

But then as they left, the mother gave Chayale a hug, and in middle of thanking her, told her that only her father was Jewish!

This has been eating us up since.

All that effort...