Chanukah gift

We gave Miriam a Chanukah gift: a dreidel full of candies!!

If only you'd be able to see her reaction from my point of view. Her mouth was WIIIIDE open!

Mommy Tatty baby sister oh ya!!

A very random video.

Take 2 - Chanuka wishes

Day 3 of Chanukah, and what a bummer.

Today we were excited. A family here, our neighbors and our only big time sponsors ever (they gave me 2000 dollars cash for Rosh Hashana) was supposed to have a Chanukah party with us. We had brought them a Menorah from America, and Chayale spent a couple of hours making fresh Latkahs and Sufganiyot for them. They cancelled on us in the last minute, and it was really disappointing, as we were really looking forward to it.

Also, forgetting that tonight is Nittel nacht, the one night a year that we aren't allowed to learn, I sat with some members of the community and learnt some Gemara with them, actually we learnt "Mai Chanukah", the portion that discusses the story of Chanukah.

Only after finishing the Sugya did I look at the calendar and see that we weren't allowed to learn. Oh well. Looks like I'll the first Chabad Shliach in Gehinnom ;).

Quick anti-Chabad joke (but a good frum one): a Breslover and Lubavitcher passed away and went to Gehinnom. The Breslover yelled, "Rebbe, save me!" And Rabbi Nachman of Breslov's hand came out of the air and pulled him up to Gan Eden.

Then the Lubavitcher looked up and yelled, "Rebbe, save me!" And a hand came out of the air, gave the Chabadnik a dollar, and said, "start a Chabad House."

Chanukah miracle of the day: While there is always only enough cold water in our shower to last for one drop (per billion boiling water drops), today that one drop suddenly poured out and we had NORMAL warm showers!!! (but not for 8 days. Only for about an hour).

Strange.

The event set up

There were more tables with crafts and Dreidels, but we don't have a good picture of it.

Dreams are weird

About a week ago, a teenager from the community called to tell me that her grandmother, who had passed away a week earlier in Israel, had come to her in a dream wearing white clothes.

Odd, huh?

Chanukah day 2 - a private party

Pictured above is Tigran Avshalumov, son of the woman whose house we visited to say Kaddish, see below for story.

Yesterday was a bit of a lazy day. It started with a panicky morning, as we tried to collect money to pay our final month's rent for our office. In the end, we managed to raise half of the rent ($1250), which we gave the owners. They were so excited that they told us that after we leave, should we ever want to make a Jewish event there, they will give us a large room for free.

Of course, we still have to somehow come up with the rest quickly.

After that, we came home, and Chayale spent a couple of hours with the kids doing 'circle time'. Miriam was in heaven.

We held a 'finance meeting' with our secretary to discuss our finances, and how we can improve on our event next time.

Then again we rested until the evening, when we lit the Menorah and gave Miriam a little piano toy we bought for 10 bucks in Walmart in Monsey and had saved for this occassion. She loves it.

At 9:00 PM we had a visitor. Mel Salamon is a Jew from South Africa who teaches in 'English First' of Stavropol. I have already written about him several times, including the miracle story of how I met him (see previous posts from a couple of months ago). We made him a private 'party.'

The original plan was to actually party and sing a little, but he looked so exhausted. Instead we just sat and chatted. I gave him a Dreidel and a Menorah, and Chayale printed the Brachos (blessings) in English for him.

Then we ate some donuts and Latkas and spoke some more, after which he looked zonked and left home.

We'll see him again on Friday night, as he is our only regular (so far).

Chanukah event hits the news

http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=1319

http://yamlive.blogspot.com/2008/12/chanuka-on-ice-in-stavropol.html

http://www.crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=14834

Who the heck is Michael?

A Chanukah message from Miriam.

Chanukah Pics

Making 250 donuts and 150 latkes with Tante Luba

Some rare mother- daughter quality time

Chaim has a Yarmulka!

Lighting the Menorah

Minyan for Kaddish

Last night, after the Chazzanus concert, I had to finish organizing a Minyan.

The entire day yesterday had been spent making calls to try and gather 10 men in order to say Kaddish in memory of Rachamamim ben Mordechai Avshalumov.

You see, one of our biggest and most consistant supporters and friends is a woman named Angela Avshalumova (pictured above with Chaim Shimshon). Her husband is a loud, warm Armenian, and she has three children who, of course, are Halachic Jews. There's Viktoria and Aram, who was 22 year old twins, and there's Tigran, who is (I think) 8.

Every month, she drops by the house unannounced, brings lots of fruits with her, and 3000 rubles (about 120 dollars), and then chats with Chayale. Actually, the first name we knew before we came to the city was Avshalumov, since her sister-in-law is Rina Avshalumov, a friend of Chayale's from Detroit.

Anyway, a week ago, she dropped by and told us how her brother's yahrzeit (day that he passed away) was coming up. She asked what to do. I told her that I'll try to get a Minyan together to say Kaddish. When she suggested that we do it in her house, since her entire extended family will be there too in order to remember Rachamim (or Roma, in Russian), I told her that I'll bring a Menorah which Aram will light.

(Actually the original idea was to get the Chazzan to say Kaddish at Yefim's event, where there will defnitely be a Minyan, but Yefim vetoed that idea).

After making calls the entire day, I finally had 10 men commit to be there. One of the men didn't know he was going to be there, and that was Refoel Khaimov. He's a taxi driver and a mountain Jew. I hired him to bring me there, and then bring me back.

On the way, I told him that he was making our Minyan (10 men needed to say the 'Kaddish' prayer). He was shocked, but happy to join.

We arrived at the Avshalumov residence, which was a little difficult to find, and it is a palace. Beautiful house, even for American standards. May everyone in our community live in such a house.

When I got there, waiting for me was already 9 men. One was a surprise. I had invited his son Roma, but Sasha Solomonov came to complete the Minyan. Then I called Misha Gorovenko, the last man, and he told me he was a few minutes away.

So while we waited, I gathered everyone into the massive living room, and set up the Menorah I had brought. I told over the story of Chanukah in brief. And then, Aram lit the Menorah. It was really beautiful.

Finally Misha arrived, with his little son Dovid in tow, and I instructed them what to do, then said Kaddish. Afterward I explained what Kaddish is about and why we say it.

Then I thanked everyone for coming, and prepared to leave. But Misha Gorovenko grabbed my arm.

"Kavod HaRav," he said (he says those words before he speaks to me. Every time) "we just got here. Please stay longer. I want my son to see some Yiddishkeit and hear you say a few more words."

Viktor, Angela's husband, asked me also to stay, and invited us to sit with him and his family for a small meal. I tried calling Chayale but couldn't get through, so I told them I'll stay a couple of minutes. Then I noticed a bottle of Grey Goose, and told them I can drink that. And water. And fruits.

AFter which a massive discussion on Kosher erupted. Viktor, who owns a restaurant, said that when Rabbi Shayevich (the other chief Rabbi of Russia) came to Stavropol a couple of years ago, he ate in Viktor's restaurant.

This put me in a quandry. I explained that I'm Chabad, etc. etc. Although for the life of me, I cannot understand why Rabbi Shayevich would do that.

Anyway, then I told a Dvar Torah about what is so special about the miracle... it seems like the most boring miracle ever! That followed with a huge discussion on Talmud, and if I can argue with the Talmud. Then people spoke about Rachamim and we all made some Lechaims that his Neshama should have an Aliya.

It was really, really nice. They had put out tons of juicy-looking food. While I didn't touch anything, I could see that the Minyan were impressed and happy. The final discussion was about building a Shul and finsing space for one. While they argued and spoke, I chatted with Aram, the son. He has started working, so I asked him if he would mind being on my Mivtzoim route.

"No problem," he said. So my list has now grown a bit.

Then we all said our thanks, I thanked the entire Minyan for coming and the Avshalumovs for having us, and I got into Refoel's taxi on the way home.

As we are driving past the city center, Refoel turns to me and says, "thank you so much."

He then explained that the person we had just said Kaddish for, Rachamim Avshalumov, was a close friend of his.

Hashgocho Protis is what I call that.



Shayevich

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.

First pictures of our new home-to-be

They don't do it justice.

A store near the event

I call it the 'Carlebach store'

The brachos

Chanukah on Linoleum

B"H our party, Chanukah on Ice, was very successful. Over 100 people (and I really counted) attended! There was latkes and donuts made by myself and a lady from the community, chocolate coins, nuts, fruit and lots of soda and beer. Most of the people skated (Including, Kanyeshna, the Rabbi!) and danced to the awesome Jewish music that Zvi prepared. Zvi played dreidel with the adults early on and then again with the kids later on. About half way through, we brought eveeryone to the party room and an old guy told the story of Chanukah. Half way through that, one of the ladies in the community and informed me that actually, he is not saying the story of Chanukah at all! So we hurried him along and then Zvi said a few words and lit the Menorah, a very impressive 5 ft structure . We all sang Haneiros Hallalu and the kids sang Sevivon. Then there was more skating and playing and dancing and a raffle, raffling off a Menorah. We gave out guides with songs and instructions on how to light the Menorah.
The only hitch was when these Christians showed up out of support and proceeded to distribute goody bags full of treif food to all the heilike Neshomas who we were trying so hard to shower with Mitzvos and kosher food. Zvi yelled at the woman who invited them so I don't think that'll happen again soon.
I was a little despondent at the amount of Non-Jews that came. It's one of the downs of Shlichus here, that families are all intermarried. Even the kid who won the Menorah isn't Jewish but Zvi reminded me that his father is and he will Iy"H light the Menorah. That's the hope, that through the non-Jews, we reach the Jews. And the non-Jews are so very nice and really add to the party! Anyway, all in all, it was a beautiful event. We're very proud of our first holiday event!
Happy Chanukah to all! May we meet together in Yerushalayim with Moshiach and light the Menorah in the Beis Hamikdash with Moshiach even before you read this!

Ready for the party

There is an old woman in the community named Luba Ozerova. She claims to be a descendant of Ezra, which would mean that technically, she is Stavropol's only Cohen (that I know of).

She is one of the sweetest ladies in the community. We call her 'Tante Luba'. Whenever she comes over, she takes Miriam and Chaim and entertains them for hours.

Naturally, as she is a good cook and trustworthy woman, we hired her to make all the Sufganiyot for the party (around 250 of them).

She came on Wednesday to learn Chayale's recipe, and they made a delicious batch of donuts, some with jelly, some without. I had like 12 of them, and snuck the rest to Miriam when Chayale wasn't looking. We partied like it was 1999, and they were yum.

To the point: last night (motzei Shabbos), Luba came over and made 93 MORE!! And these are the real ones. The ones before looked deformed, which may be why Luba left them here, and may explain my stool problems (rim shot). I wonder how long I can hold myself in.

From eating, you sicko!

Today she is going to bake like 200 more!!

A chance to move forward

As I wrote (or so I think), last week someone from Moscow came to assess the situation between the president of the community and myself. If you have been reading this blog persistantly, you will know that the president has been abusing his power, and is hated by about 90% of the Stavropol Jewish community. We tried over and over to work with him, but nothing worked out, even signed agreements, which he broke.

Two thursdays ago, we met and he essentially said he didn't want a shul or kosher kitchen in his place. We informed Rabbi Lazar, who sent someone down for the assessment.

First the man, Igor, interviewed us. We spoke for 3 hours. Igor is one of the people who was with me in Moscow when we wrote the agreement the president signed (which he had now broken repeatedly). I told Igor I refuse to work with him because:

1 - He doesn't want Yiddishkeit, and I am here for just that purpose.
2 - He is inconsistent and lies.

We also wanted to take away his funding for the Sunday school.

To make a long story short, the current situation, after all the talking, etc. is:

1 - Sunday school is ours (funding at least). This means we can start to teach Yiddishkeit to the kids again.
2 - The shul and kosher kitchen moves out of the center. We will rent our own office, where the shul, kitchen, and Sunday school will be.
3 - We will inform each other of what we will do each month.

Let's see how this works out. It's definitely a better situation than it was before.

Sketches

In the last post, some random people asked for sketches and assured our many viewers that this site rocks.

Hopefully this blog will help them decide that they want to experience this too, and go on shlichus to Russia. I may not write it much, but the fact is, shlichus here is amazing! We have an unbelievable community. I wouldn't go anywhere else in the world if you payed me (and believe me, if you payed me I'd be in a better off spot than I am now).

Another quick point: if you are reading this, we can use your help, and you get to see where your funds go. COntact me if you can or want to. My email: rabbizvi44 at yahoo.com

Anyway, to the diagrams. The first is a toe poking out of the bathtub.

___/\__________________________


Now, a question mark floating above the water.


?

_________________________________________________


And finally, the last (and best) diagram. Our pathetic shower head:


======п
H
H
/-\
!
!
!
!
!
!
!


?


Notice the question makr under the shower.

The water doesn't reach his head.

Bathing Russian style

Above is an old picture from before we had a washing machine.

Life was good then.

But life in Russia is no simple matter. A year ago we moved into a new apartment, which has its faults (Boruch Hashem we are moving again soon). The biggest problem is the water issue, which we tried to address immediately. But the plumbers explained us that the way it was built makes it unfixable without tearing apart the entire apartment (same goes for many plugs and light fixtures).

This meant that when we have water, only a dribble of cold water comes out, while hot water will blast out of it like Mount Vesuvius. Therefore, for the past year we were forced to resort to taking showers under limp spools of water like the old showers in CGI Montreal, in order that the hot and cold water should be evenly dished out.

About a month ago, the cold water stopped altogether. Since then, we have had to fill buckets with cold water from the kitchen, then even it out by pouring boiling bath water into it.

This is followed by getting a 'kvart', and then systematically pouring the warm water over our heads several times.

The rumors are true. I actually did come up with a better alternative method, which is currently under review for a Nobel prize.

What I have started doing is filling the bath with hot water, then adding a ton of cold water (this takes about 45 minutes to set up), then I shower in the bath if you get my drift. Lots of fun, the only downside is that I get to sit in my own guck for a half hour.

Easily solvable though. That's why towels were created.

Oddly, on Friday and Shabbos this past week, there was only cold water and it was blasting.

I hate Murphy.

One Day with our Misnaged is worse than 365 days with no hot water

Der Chossid, Reb Yid, Zvi Peretz Chershkovich Shlita

The Misnaged

Last night Zvi welcomed a guy at the airport from Moscow, Igor, who came to assess the situation as it stands in Stavropol. We hoped it meant that he would assess that Efim is not a good idea for the Jews of Stavropol and a new and better person should replaced him.


After speaking with the misnaged this morning, Igor came to our home where he was served a delicious lunch (if I may say so myself) and met with the Der Chossid, Reb Yid, Zvi Peretz Chershkovich Shlita. Harav Zvi made his Rebbetzin very proud when he said firmly and politely that we are no longer going to work with Efim ; he doesn't want Yiddishkeit, we do. He isn't trustworthy.


An hour later, people started to show up at our door just to get a word in on all the Tzuros and problems and personal harrasement they had with F-him (oops did i really just write that!?) . They were all young and cute and pretty. Well, not all but they really were a lively bunch. They wouldn't stop talking. Efim called a number of times in the middle but Igor, the dude, was conveniently never available.


Finally after a number of hours, Igot had to go back to Efim and speak to his guys about how the Rabbi gives no him no mula or respect and doesn't tell him about events ahead of time.


The dude, Igor, it seems, is not so clearly on our side as were sure of in the morning. He has been very neutral but to quote him as he left our house "the problem is a lot bigger than I thought..."


So, in conclusion, Chayale is a good cook, Zvi is a smart man, we have a stunning new apartment, and Efim is a misnaged. And the A"R said "The time spent with a Misnaged is so much worse than jail (Rashi: Soviet crumbling homes with no water)


So now we're hoping not that we kick out Efim - that'll take too much time and energy and could land us on our tuchesses big time- but that we reach an agreement that we will go our separate ways. May it be His will.