It'll soon be shabbos so I must be quick.
We may have found an apartment. It's ugly as a yeshiva bathroom but with some renovations we may get somewhere.
Gut shabbos everyone.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Yesterday was a big day
We finally got some things done yesterday.
For all new shluchim, IMMEDIATELY GET A SECRETARY! Things would have been so much easier had we had a secretary to begin with.
Anyway, we had someone from the community post ads in a local paper for an apartment, a secretary and a driver. We had her post the ad for a week and are still receiving phone calls every 10 minutes. Apparently the unemployment rate is very high here.
Anyway, yesterday three wonderful things happened and therefore I will write all three in capital letters.
1) WE GOT MEAT! - Yes, we received our milk last week from moscow, but Moscow finally sent us some meat. Chickens only. We'd made the order about two weeks ago, and they sent it on a bus. Most packages arrive via a Fed-Ex'ish company. On those boxes they write that it contains books, since according to Russian regulations, only books are permitted.
But for meat, they must send it by bus or train. If it's by train then you gotta bribe the police officer there. But it came by bus, so we went with a fellow form the community (nicest guy ever), and picked up the chicken. It came with a certificate from Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, and it came in 32 Kilos, which for those of you who went to Oholei Torah, is in scientific terms: a heckuvalot. We have no freezer big enough for the three humongous bags, but we left them outside on the porch, and the freezing weather kept them fresh. THEY WHEIGH A TON! Anyway, today we need to buy a deep-freezer. We will keep them locked in the Jewish Centre (or, as it's called here, the Obshchin).
2 - WE GOT A SECRETARY! - Finally, and we should've done this first. We interviewed two women, one a college girl who spoke perfect English, the other came with awesome credentials, spoke fluent English and is a Mom with two kids. We hired the second one for the standard price here, about 350 dollars. Of course we will try to give her bonuses and presents, we will try to be good bosses (also it doesnt feel right paying someone that little, but what other choice do we have? Or Avner doesnt give us endless money).
Her first jobs are to help us find an apartment, and to try and arrange a second phone line in the Obshchin.
3 - WE GOT A DRIVER! - Yes, the ad in the paper produced like a million phone calls, yet only 10 guys showed up to be interviewed (though they still call). We narrowed it down to three guys. Mohammed - a Turk with an awesome car, Roman - nice guy, forgot to look at his car, and Vasili - Sweet guy with an ok car. In the end we hired Vasili because Mohammed wasn't so easy with the money, and we never saw Roman's car.
More updates to follow. I hope next time we have an apartment.
For all new shluchim, IMMEDIATELY GET A SECRETARY! Things would have been so much easier had we had a secretary to begin with.
Anyway, we had someone from the community post ads in a local paper for an apartment, a secretary and a driver. We had her post the ad for a week and are still receiving phone calls every 10 minutes. Apparently the unemployment rate is very high here.
Anyway, yesterday three wonderful things happened and therefore I will write all three in capital letters.
1) WE GOT MEAT! - Yes, we received our milk last week from moscow, but Moscow finally sent us some meat. Chickens only. We'd made the order about two weeks ago, and they sent it on a bus. Most packages arrive via a Fed-Ex'ish company. On those boxes they write that it contains books, since according to Russian regulations, only books are permitted.
But for meat, they must send it by bus or train. If it's by train then you gotta bribe the police officer there. But it came by bus, so we went with a fellow form the community (nicest guy ever), and picked up the chicken. It came with a certificate from Rabbi Yitzchak Kogan, and it came in 32 Kilos, which for those of you who went to Oholei Torah, is in scientific terms: a heckuvalot. We have no freezer big enough for the three humongous bags, but we left them outside on the porch, and the freezing weather kept them fresh. THEY WHEIGH A TON! Anyway, today we need to buy a deep-freezer. We will keep them locked in the Jewish Centre (or, as it's called here, the Obshchin).
2 - WE GOT A SECRETARY! - Finally, and we should've done this first. We interviewed two women, one a college girl who spoke perfect English, the other came with awesome credentials, spoke fluent English and is a Mom with two kids. We hired the second one for the standard price here, about 350 dollars. Of course we will try to give her bonuses and presents, we will try to be good bosses (also it doesnt feel right paying someone that little, but what other choice do we have? Or Avner doesnt give us endless money).
Her first jobs are to help us find an apartment, and to try and arrange a second phone line in the Obshchin.
3 - WE GOT A DRIVER! - Yes, the ad in the paper produced like a million phone calls, yet only 10 guys showed up to be interviewed (though they still call). We narrowed it down to three guys. Mohammed - a Turk with an awesome car, Roman - nice guy, forgot to look at his car, and Vasili - Sweet guy with an ok car. In the end we hired Vasili because Mohammed wasn't so easy with the money, and we never saw Roman's car.
More updates to follow. I hope next time we have an apartment.
A little history
Well, before continuing our saga, perhaps I should write about the city's Jewish history.
The community was founded in the 1870's by some Jewish soldiers stationed here (Stavropol is a military city built in the 1770's) during the Russians conquest of the Caucasus mountains.
Years passed and the community grew. Two separate Shuls were built, but after several years the community came together in one large beautiful Shul. The shul, located at the top of a gorgeous viewpoint on a hill overlooking much of the city, had a Mikva, and served the Ashkenazi and Mountain Jews in the city. At it's height, the community also owned land next to the shul, where there was a Rabbi's house and a large school building which also housed a Beis Midrash.
The community of course was destroyed during WW2 and the Sovietism afterward, but we are trying to get back the Synagogue. It will take time, but hopefully it is do-able.
I have got to go somewhere with quicker internet so I can get pictures on here.
Anyway, the good news is that there might be a Mikva (as I wrote) inside the shul. The Soviets may have just poured some cement over it (similar to what they did to the Mikva in Rostov), so perhaps we won't have to build a Mikva from scratch.
The shul is currently being used as the city's wedding hall. However, the city is building a new, larger hall, so it will be available soon. Im Yirtzeh Hashem it will return to the Jewish community.
The community was founded in the 1870's by some Jewish soldiers stationed here (Stavropol is a military city built in the 1770's) during the Russians conquest of the Caucasus mountains.
Years passed and the community grew. Two separate Shuls were built, but after several years the community came together in one large beautiful Shul. The shul, located at the top of a gorgeous viewpoint on a hill overlooking much of the city, had a Mikva, and served the Ashkenazi and Mountain Jews in the city. At it's height, the community also owned land next to the shul, where there was a Rabbi's house and a large school building which also housed a Beis Midrash.
The community of course was destroyed during WW2 and the Sovietism afterward, but we are trying to get back the Synagogue. It will take time, but hopefully it is do-able.
I have got to go somewhere with quicker internet so I can get pictures on here.
Anyway, the good news is that there might be a Mikva (as I wrote) inside the shul. The Soviets may have just poured some cement over it (similar to what they did to the Mikva in Rostov), so perhaps we won't have to build a Mikva from scratch.
The shul is currently being used as the city's wedding hall. However, the city is building a new, larger hall, so it will be available soon. Im Yirtzeh Hashem it will return to the Jewish community.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Another post
Well, images don't work here, so we are slowly making a photo group on facebook.
First report:
We arrived in Moscow and were whisked off to a small apartment owned by Or Avner. It had high speed internet (gasp) and cupboards of kosher food. Actually it was well stocked, with everything except toilet paper. We met with R' Lazar and stayed in the apartment overnight.
Next day our driver dropped us off early in the morning at Vnukovo airport, an airport which is yuck, compared to the other Moscow airports. Their bathrooms are like steam rooms because of all the Russians smoking inside the stuffy rooms.
In the afternoon we left for Stavropol and arrived 2 hours later just as it got dark. It was Thursday night, and we waited for someone to pick us up, but no one showed.
So we packed our stuff into two tiny taxis which had jumped the median to get to us (they were taken by the cops to pay a fine) and driven to our hotel with our 9 humongous bags.
We were ripped off big time by the taxi drivers who had a field day with us and are currently sipping rum in the Bahamas somewhere. At the intourist hotel we were told that every room was booked except for the 'wedding room' which costed about 250 bucks (in Rubles). We didn't have enough Rubles on us and they wouldn't accept dollars so we were forced to take those taxis to find an ATM machine. The driver took us around to several ATM machines which for some reason didn't work (he probably took us there on purpose. They are like the only 2 machines in the city that don't work). Then he told us he'd change money with us at a decent exchange rate (surprisingly).
Back in the hotel, we checked in and gave in our passports to get registered. Here is Russia, the government wants to know where you are at all times without being forced to use their millions of secret video cameras, so you must always register to let them know 'we are here'. They took our passports and showed us our room - or rather, our suite. It was beautiful. Luckily another room was available for the next few nights, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would (supposedly) be a better day.
First report:
We arrived in Moscow and were whisked off to a small apartment owned by Or Avner. It had high speed internet (gasp) and cupboards of kosher food. Actually it was well stocked, with everything except toilet paper. We met with R' Lazar and stayed in the apartment overnight.
Next day our driver dropped us off early in the morning at Vnukovo airport, an airport which is yuck, compared to the other Moscow airports. Their bathrooms are like steam rooms because of all the Russians smoking inside the stuffy rooms.
In the afternoon we left for Stavropol and arrived 2 hours later just as it got dark. It was Thursday night, and we waited for someone to pick us up, but no one showed.
So we packed our stuff into two tiny taxis which had jumped the median to get to us (they were taken by the cops to pay a fine) and driven to our hotel with our 9 humongous bags.
We were ripped off big time by the taxi drivers who had a field day with us and are currently sipping rum in the Bahamas somewhere. At the intourist hotel we were told that every room was booked except for the 'wedding room' which costed about 250 bucks (in Rubles). We didn't have enough Rubles on us and they wouldn't accept dollars so we were forced to take those taxis to find an ATM machine. The driver took us around to several ATM machines which for some reason didn't work (he probably took us there on purpose. They are like the only 2 machines in the city that don't work). Then he told us he'd change money with us at a decent exchange rate (surprisingly).
Back in the hotel, we checked in and gave in our passports to get registered. Here is Russia, the government wants to know where you are at all times without being forced to use their millions of secret video cameras, so you must always register to let them know 'we are here'. They took our passports and showed us our room - or rather, our suite. It was beautiful. Luckily another room was available for the next few nights, so we went to sleep knowing that tomorrow would (supposedly) be a better day.
We arrived - news from Stavropol
Hello everyone. Here I sit in an internet cafe a month into our arrival to Stavropol with so much to write but so little time.
The hardships and the wonder of new shlichus - the way you see the Rebbe clearly helping you out.
We will start posting hopefully this coming week, but for now I will add a few pictures (if I can).
Well, I can't, so I will find a way to next time.
The hardships and the wonder of new shlichus - the way you see the Rebbe clearly helping you out.
We will start posting hopefully this coming week, but for now I will add a few pictures (if I can).
Well, I can't, so I will find a way to next time.
Friday, December 29, 2006
In An Email From Mendy Pellin
| Host of mendy.tv, he let me know that in his first week video (the only one I didn't see), we were mentioned... And he was correct - at 4:15 of this video there is a small review of Maccabees... | |
The video of Maccabees from NY1 TV station
| December 15, 2006 Jews all over the world begin the celebration of Hanukkah Friday night at sundown. At the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights, the story of the holiday is being told in a new interactive musical show. NY1’s Stephane Simon filed the following report. The Macabee Show tells the story of Judah Macabee and the small Jewish army that defeated the mighty Syrian Greek forces 2,000 years ago in a fight for religious freedom. Visitors travel back in time, and even hide in the caves, before finding their way to the destroyed temple. “The little miracle of Hanukkah was that there was a cruise of oil that was found, that was only enough for one day but lasted all the eight days of Hanukkah,” explained Devorah Halberstam of the Jewish Children’s Museum. “And there you have story of Hanukkah.” “God made a miracle for eight day, and that's why we celebrate Hanukkah,” added a child who participated in the show. The show is interactive, so the kids feel like they're part of the story. But for the museum's matriarch, Devorah Halberstam, the story of Hanukkah is her story. On the fifth night of Hanukkah on December 1, 1994, the man who shot and killed her son, Ari, on the Brooklyn Bridge in March of that year, was found guilty. “And it was on that night that we saw where good rose over bad, and darkness turned into light for us, on a certain level,” said Halberstam. The museum opened in 2004, and is dedicated to Ari's memory, and to teaching tolerance in a fun playful setting. The museum was founded by a Lubavitch sect of Hasidic Jews. But since it opened in 2004, approximately 300,000 people of all backgrounds have come through the doors. Exhibits include a kosher supermarket, kitchen and, and the World of Good, which encourages good deeds. Now there are so many interactive activities here; kids can even climb through challah, which smells like fresh baked bread. Speaking of fresh baked goods, after the Hanukkah show kids are given the chance to decorate donuts. Fried foods are traditional on Hanukkah food because of the oil, but of course they also help make for a sweet holiday. Visitors to the museum can see the Macabee Show now through January 7. - Stephanie Simon www.jcm.museum www.Chanukah.org | |
Monday, December 18, 2006
Maccabees hits the news
Well, after entertaining around ten thousand children already, Maccabees has finally been hitting the news. Hard to imagine that something I wrote for fun over the summer would turn out this big. If anyone wants to check out some news articles, here they are.
http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=3779 - Crownheights.info article
http://www.col.org.il/show_news.asp?25236 - Chabad OnLine article, with 2 pages of pictures
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=65129&search_result=1&stid=9 - TV station NY1
http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=4106 - Crownheights.info another article
http://www.wnbc.com/video/10544126/index.html# - TV station NBC
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-b4987239nov24,0,5321116.story?coll=ny-theater-mezz - Newsday mentions us as a stage perfomance in NY.
http://www.tzivos-hashem.org/Article.asp?dept=20&Article=265 - Some pictures from a friendship circle group along with their report.
http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=3779 - Crownheights.info article
http://www.col.org.il/show_news.asp?25236 - Chabad OnLine article, with 2 pages of pictures
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?&aid=65129&search_result=1&stid=9 - TV station NY1
http://crownheights.info/index.php?itemid=4106 - Crownheights.info another article
http://www.wnbc.com/video/10544126/index.html# - TV station NBC
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/stage/ny-b4987239nov24,0,5321116.story?coll=ny-theater-mezz - Newsday mentions us as a stage perfomance in NY.
http://www.tzivos-hashem.org/Article.asp?dept=20&Article=265 - Some pictures from a friendship circle group along with their report.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
A picture from Benny
Thanks to my brother, and with the wondrous laws that govern our countries and allow us to enter other blogs and steal pictures, I will put up this great picture of Yummy and myself after one of the shows (not the one she starred in).
Also pictured is Chayale, whom my relatives want to see, and a special picture for Levi A.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
More pictures of Miryami
The update is that she officially smiles. Although we havnen't really caught a picture of it yet.
Antiochus Davens Shacharis
Zvi, in full costume, in his throne room, dons Tefillin and DISOBEYS his own decrees!
Our Little Montreal Canadiens Fan
Tzipora Miriam is definitely her Tata's girl! Check out her full Canadiens fan outfit! We can't wait to take her to a Devils/ Canadiens game next Monday where she will be cheering for Montreal!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Written by Zvi Hershcovich
We would like to invite all our family and friends to see...
"The Hershcovich Production"
otherwise known as "Maccabees"
Both Zvi and Benny will be producing and acting in this show and everyone should come and see it. It's going to be fantastic! Zvi was there yesterday and said it looks better than he ever imagined. Today they are recording sound to go along with it. First show is Sunday.
"The Hershcovich Production"
otherwise known as "Maccabees"
Both Zvi and Benny will be producing and acting in this show and everyone should come and see it. It's going to be fantastic! Zvi was there yesterday and said it looks better than he ever imagined. Today they are recording sound to go along with it. First show is Sunday.
We're back!
After not updating our blog for months on end, we are once again in internet range.
We are now in Morristown by my parents and everyone is enjoying the baby (and enjoying poking out her eyes, carrying her by her feet e.t.c. :) Zvi drives every day to the Jewish Children's Museum to practice for Macabbees! which he wrote and produced and will iy"H act in starting next week. All of our New York friends should call us at 973 998 4041 because being in town is exciting and we want to see you all. I will post pictures of Macabees! next week iy"H.
Here is our Miryami at six weeks.
We are now in Morristown by my parents and everyone is enjoying the baby (and enjoying poking out her eyes, carrying her by her feet e.t.c. :) Zvi drives every day to the Jewish Children's Museum to practice for Macabbees! which he wrote and produced and will iy"H act in starting next week. All of our New York friends should call us at 973 998 4041 because being in town is exciting and we want to see you all. I will post pictures of Macabees! next week iy"H.
Here is our Miryami at six weeks.
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