Page 4 of the Moscow contract, signed. How I wish we would have kept it. Things would have been so mch more simple.
Page 3 of the Moscow contract, signed. They didn't trust him.
Page 2 of the Moscow contract, signed.
The first page of our contract in Moscow with Rabbi Lazar. We signed on all 4 pages of the document, however ridiculous that may seem.
4. This is when the contracts began. One night in April, I received a phone call from Yefim. Coincidentally, several hours earlier several women from the community had called me to complain that they had been threatened by Yana that if they don’t send their children to the new Sunday School she would open in the Center, they wouldn’t receive any food packages. Thank G-d I had by then found out that he wouldn’t be running that program anymore, and I told the parents so.
Yefim told me that there was a meeting in an hour in which they would give me their contract. I told him to email it to me, since there was no purpose of me being at the meeting as it would only make both of us more upset with each other. I also explained that he had to tell me about meetings a day in advance or I wouldn’t show, and that I felt that I wasn’t allowed to speak or defend myself at the meetings.
He emailed me the contract, and when I received the translation (the next day), I was again shocked.
If anyone wants I can email them copies of all the contracts we have gone through. This one was the most ridiculous of them all. The basics are:
Rabbis duties:
- Teach Jewish laws and organize classes in the Center
- Do Rabbinical work in the Center
- Has final authority on Kosher status of food
Rabbi must pay 10000 rubles monthly (about 400 dollars):
- 3000 rubles monthly for bills
- 2000 rubles for the secretary of the president
- 2500 rubles for foods for Shabbos
- Both internets and the Rabbis phone line
- Extra money to fix up the place and get new furniture
Rabbi must be at Shabbos club
Rabbi and president must meet monthly to make a schedule together
Rabbi must tell the board where all money from Or Avner or the Federation goes
Rabbi cannot fundraise in Stavropol. If he does, he must first ask the board
Anything that has to do with officials, including getting back the Synagogue must first be asked to the board
The Center cannot be used as a Synagogue, since people live above it
Sunday school is in the Center, and Rabbi must ask the board before he can teach in it
Rabbi cannot visit the Sachnut without first notifying the board
Rabbi must organize and pay for all Jewish monthly and weekly literature from Moscow
In return, the board (and presidents) duties:
- Give the Rabbi room for an office, and allow him to install a phone line and internet
- Give the Rabbi a computer and office furniture to use
- Organize monthly meeting to share the schedules
- Answer any questions the Rabbi may have
Then the contract finishes with the statement that if it isn’t signed within 3 days of them sending it to me, then the board will ask Rabbi Lazar and the Federation to send me out of Russia and give them a different Rabbi.
This was so unfair! Aside from the fact that I waited for over a month to receive their contracvt and they expected my answer in 3 days, where were their duties? I wrote to Rabbi Lazar asking advice, and he helped me write a new contract to give the board, which is based on how a normal community works. My contract reads in brief:
Rabbis duties:
- Be a spiritual leader and organize classes on Judaism
- To be available for every Jew in Stavropol
- To ensure Jewish growth
- To visit community members at home
- To organize Shabbos prayer and meals
- To have kosher products and religious articles available for the community
- To meet with officials together with the president
Rabbi must give monthly:
- 2500 rubles for Shabbos
- 1000 rubles for the cleaning crew
- Internet for both of us, and the Rabbi’s phone line
Rabbi must organize money and buy things for:
- Kosher food at holidays
- Kosher food for all classes
- Synagogue repairs and items including Mezuzas for the entire Center
- A kosher kitchen
- The start of a Jewish library
- Jewish teaching materials
- Programs to take place in the Center for the poor and needy
- Jewish magazines and periodicals from Moscow
Rabbi must organize in the Center:
- Kabbalas Shabbos club
- Torah classes for the elderly, the youth, men and women
- A Minyan and Kiddush for Shabbos and holidays
- Sunday school – at least the Jewish parts of it
- Programs for the poor
Rabbi must meet monthly with the president to make a schedule of all activities.
Board duties:
- To represent every Jew in Stavropol
- To notify everyone of board meetings at least one day in advance
- To speak and listen to every other member of the board
- After every meeting a concrete decision must be reached, to be filled out before the next meeting
- Add some younger people to the board
President duties:
- The Center must be open for all Jews who should be made to feel welcome (at one point in my first month he had called the police on a fellow Jew who had threatened him and had him thrown our of the Center)
- Organize programs for Jews
President duties to the Rabbi:
- Call him ‘Rabbi’
- Give Rabbi an office with furniture, a computer, internet and a phone line (the last two the Rabbi will pay for)
- Give Rabbi use of the Zal (main room) for a Synagogue and Jewish classes
- Give Rabbi keys to all the rooms
- Give Rabbi kitchen to make kosher, and allow Rabbi to lock it so that only Rabbi and person in charge of Kosher will have the key
- Introduce Rabbi to the community and give him community list
- Give Rabbi a list of some sponsors
- Help invite people to programs coordinated by the Rabbi and his wife
- Help the rabbi get the documents for his visas and his permanent residency
- Coordinate with the Rabbi all activities of the Sunday School
President and board must pay for:
- President phone line
- Anything that doesn’t have to do with religion
- All the money they receive from the Federation for its purpose
The agreement would begin from the moment of signing.
I had requested from Moscow a list of the money he receives from Moscow. I still have a copy of it. I was mildly surprised to find what I had suspected the entire time… he was stealing money for himself. For example, in my previous emails to Moscow he has always asked to demand money for everything since ‘Moscow doesn’t pay for our rent’. He showed me some documents that the government gives them the offices rent-free (which they did after pressure started about returning the Synagogue). However, what does he do with the 6748 rubles he receives monthly for rent?
All food he buys must be kosher as per the contract between him and Moscow, and yet every Shabbos (even though he already received 2640 rubles for Shabbos food, and now another 2500 from us) there was non-kosher wine on the table!
He receives over 3500 rubles monthly for a ‘family club’ which I never heard of nor have seen! And Sunday school was a whole other story.
This explained all his previous actions. However, I still have not told him that I know of this thievery, even though he is accusing me now baselessly of stealing money for myself. I can send anyone who wants a copy of this, and all the contracts as well.
Anyway, we had to leave to Canada to have another baby (Chaim Shimshon), and so before I left I told him I’d drop by and give him my contract with my changes.
He said that the board will be there and wants to meet, but I had no time and I told him so. I eventually came by and dropped it off, then left to Canada.
I didn’t hear anything for two weeks, and then everything came fast.
My secretary was kicked out of her office, and the locks on the building were changed. I received an email I still have saying that I shouldn’t return to Stavropol since the ‘community’ has fired me. Funny enough, the community knew almost nothing about this at that point. I had by then discovered that he had upset and alienated himself from about 90% of the community, and we were well-backed. I passed his email along to Rabbi Lazar, and spent my time in America fundraising and meeting new Jews on Russian facebook-type websites like odnoklassniki.ru and vkontakte.ru where I started groups ‘Stavropol Jews.’ Odnoklassniki’s group has 52 members, while vkontakte has about 20.
While I was away I received another report from Stavropol about how he organized a meeting with all the older people in the community (who rely on him for food packages he gives out from the Federation), and convinced them to sign a document asking Rabbi Lazar to throw me out of Stavropol. I heard he gathered 25 signatures, but it had caused a massive argument to break out when some people stood up for me.
I notified Rabbi Lazar, who told us that when I return we would meet again. My return would only be for a month, since my original year-long visa would expire, but I’d have enough time to organize my Sefer Torah welcoming event, and meet with Rabbi Lazar to hopefully come to some sort of agreement.
We made a party to welcome Chaim to Stavropol on our first Sunday back, and 50 of our friends came (which was very heartening). Then we worked on the Torah event day and night (we had one week to have it all ready). We got a police escort for the tiny parade down the streets (the mayor of a suburb of Stavropol even offered us land to build a Synagogue), and organized flights for arriving Rabbis and sponsors.
On the big day I honoured Yefim to write one of the first letters in the new Torah. He was also one of only 4 people (if you include myself) to speak to the community – actually he spoke after me. I hoped he would understand that I really, truly want peace. I gave him the Torah to dance with before we even started the parade, and honoured him with some of the early prayers for the Torah. All of this is on video, since the entire event is on video, and photographed in proper sequence.
We met with Rabbi Lazar a few days before I left for another month. I traveled a day early, since I wanted to speak to Rabbi Lazar first. I managed to organize a half hour meeting with the chief Rabbi, who told me he thinks that peace could be worked out. Then the next day was the big meetings. Yefim, myself, Alexander Boroda (head of the federation), and a woman named Milla sat in Rabbi Lazar’s office where the Rabbi listened patiently to Yefim’s complaints.
“We are a small community of 150 people,” was one of the complaints. “And this Rabbi wants to fight for a Synagogue back. He wants to do big things, but we are so few!” When Rabbi Lazar pointed out that he was receiving money for a community of 1500, Yefim got caught in his words, and managed to stammer, “Oh yes, actually there are at least 2000 Jews.” It was almost comical, yet I was surprised to see him lie to the Chief Rabbi of Russia.
He laid out his complaints, and tried to pull out his paperwork (including the petition by 25 people to throw me out), but Rabbi Lazar stopped him and told him that this was pointless. He said that he was receiving money from an organization that promotes ‘religion’. The Federation is a ‘religious’ Jewish organization, and therefore the Center must be used as a Synagogue. Yefim agreed. It also must have a kosher kitchen. Yefim finally agreed to that as well. Then, said Rabbi Lazar, go in the next room and make a contract. When it is done you will sign it and everything will be good. I’ll look at it tomorrow.
So we moved into another office. Milla went and brought a man named Igor Arkadyevich, an old friend of Yefim who works in the Federation. I was nervous, but soon realized that there was nothing to worry about. Igor told me that Yefim was the third toughest president of any community in Russia to deal with.
It took 7 (yes, that’s SEVEN) long hours of him tweedling and fussing over every minute detail. He stormed off several times and Igor Arkadyevich would chase him to the elevator and then try and reason with him, but finally we reached a new agreement. They made him sign on every single page, since ‘we know your tricks already’, and I also signed so it could be fair. I slept that night in a dark side room next to the Synagogue in Moscow from 2:00 in the morning (when the meeting was done) until 6:00 (when someone walked into the room).
Here is the crux of the contract we signed (a copy with his signature on each page can be emailed to anyone who wants).
The Rabbi and President will work in the Center. The Rabbi and his secretary will move to a new office to be used for Or Avner (which we had just opened), where the Rabbi will be starting a kindergarten. The Center will be used for Sunday School, Synagogue, clubs, library, and food programs.
Only one Sunday school will exist in the city of Stavropol and it will be in the Center.
Rabbi’s duties:
- Lead the community spiritually
- Teach Judaism classes
- Ensure growth of the community
- Organize Shabbos meals in the Center
- Visit Jews in their homes
- Have kosher products and Jewish items available for Jews to buy
- Appoint someone together with president who will be in charge of kosher
- Represent the community to officials together with the president
- Organize food programs for the needy
- Together with president to decide who will teach in Sunday school
Rabbi must give monthly:
- 2500 rubles for Shabbos
- Salary of the person in charge of kosher food
Rabbi must provide money (is responsible) for:
- Kosher food for all holidays and events
- Entertainment programs for all Jewish holidays
- All items in the Synagogue including furniture and books (which will be located in the hall of the Center)
- Mezuzas on all doors of the Center
- Arrangement of kosher kitchen
- Jewish projects for teaching Hebrew
- “Lechaim” magazines
Rabbi must organize in the Center:
- Regular praying
- Torah classes for children, students, adults and the elderly
- Programs for older people
Board and its president duties:
- Center is open to all Jews
- To organize programs which benefit Stavropol’s entire community
- Any activity to do under accordance of Halacha as decided by the Rabbi
- To provide a working place for the Rabbi’s activities
- To make the hall/main room and the kitchen available for the religious use
- To give the Rabbi keys to the building, excluding the president’s office and his secretary
- To provide a room where kosher storage can be kept
- To make sure only kosher food is found in the Center
- To give a community list to the Rabbi
- To help the Rabbi fundraise (before Pesach I had asked him to go with me. He refused to even go to people he didn’t know)
- To invite people to the Rabbi and his wife’s programs
- To help the Rabbi with everything necessary for him to get visas and permanent residency
Board and president must pay:
- All utilities and expenses for running the Center
- Repairs and equipment of the Center, excluding the Synagogue and kitchen
- Salaries for the president’s secretary, the book-keeper and other people that the Federation gives money for
- Salary for the cleaner
As you can see, the idea is: the Rabbi is in charge of anything that has to do with Judaism. He pays for it, and makes decisions on it. President has the same responsibilities for everything else.
This is a great contract in my opinion, and pretty much means that he pays for the bare essentials and bare minimum, while I have to work like a horse to pay for virtually everything. But at least there would be peace, and can you believe he was still upset about the contract?
I left to America several days later and made a new visa back for 3 months. The lies, though, were only beginning.
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