MADA

Above photo: from a news report you can find here: http://www.feor.ru/news/index.php?newsid=7733 about a class and preparation for Shabbos done by members of our community. Apparently according to the report I received they asked Hashem to let the 'gezeira' to be overturned so that we can return.

I like the think this exists only in the Jewish community, though it probably is something done on a smaller scale for their population percentages by other religions.

I'm talking about Gemachs, or in our case, a furniture Gemach.

We arrived in montreal pretty much impoverished. All our stuff was far away in Russia. As a matter of fact, we had come with virtually empty suitcases, assuming that the judge was saying the truth when she announced that we were allowed to return.

Empty suitcases that could be filled with Kosher food when we returned.

I even left my juggling equipment at home on the excuse that we'll have more space for food and clothes for the poor. Instead, I had to borrow someone elses stuff to entertain my sister-in-law and her husband at their wedding.

Luckily we had my parents help, and while I searched for a job, MADA gave us some food packages, which really helped.

Recently we moved into a nice new apartment. We had no furniture and someone advised Chayale to give MADA a call. This she did, and the Israeli Chabadniks out there reserved the following for us:

- A dining room table
- A queen size mattress and spring board
- A washing machine
- A dryer

Unfortunately they had no fridge. I went with my father to pick them up yesterday.

When I got to MADA, aside from just giving us what they had put aside, and all were in amazing condition, they also took us to the back where they had BRAND NEW beautiful furniture that the company donated because they were somewhat chipped.

So we basically took a bedroom set, an office desk, and some other furniture, and all for free! Amazing! I kept trying to tell them to stop adding stuff to our pile, but they said, "you were a shliach! You NEED all this!"

It took a lot of hard work to get it all in the apartment, but it now feels like a home. They even added a mattress for our guest room!

If it took 6 months for our stuff to get to Russia, how long will it take to get all our furniture back home? particularly after what I heard about the Russian border patrol being extremely careful about what they 'let out' of the country!

Well, we are waiting for Rabbi Lazar to pay for Chayale's flight out to Stavropol, and she needs to go as soon as she can since our landlord in Stavropol wants to put all our stuff into storage.

What a mess.