Excercise? nu feh!!

My brother Benny just left Montreal for Mexico where he is on shlichus.

I realize that I should've taken a picture with him, since he doesn't come in often. Oh well, at least we had a nice family dinner at our apartment that Chayale prepared.

He was only in for a few days, but we also got a good roller hockey game in on Sunday afternoon.

So you know how after a huge workout a person might vomit?

Benny is so out of shape that after 5 minutes of playing hockey he leaned on the side boards and out came his morning coffee (and croissant, judging by the look of it).

But after a drink of water and a powerade, he was back.

We both were out an hour later. We couldn't move.

Perhaps there should an excercise schedule for shluchim. Or Krav Maga classes. Maybe there should be something at the next Kinus about it.

They'll need some negel vasser shissels in the room.

Hashgacha protis story from Los Cabos, Mexico

I am simply copying a pasting this story which recently happened to my brother Benny who is on shlichus in Los Cabos, Mexico. Ironically, before he went on the vacation, I told him he'd meet a Jew out there. I was almost correct. Read on (reposted from his running84.blogspot.com blog).




Just a story I'd like to mention about our vacation.

As several people commented on the blog, they predicted that I would meet a bunch of Yidden in the city and I would make them Frum overnight and it would be an incredible Hashgocho Protis story for next week's Kfar Chabad or Beis Moshiach magazine and it would be Sholom Al Yisroel.

Well, it wasn't so. We spent most of the time secluded and to ourselves. It was a vacation after all. I know! I know! You're thinking "Feh! Shluchim NEVER have vacations!!".

Perhaps.

But that's not part of the story now, is it?

So anyways, we finish our trip, pack up the car on Tuesday morning and begin heading back to Cabo.

In order to get back to the highway with the normal 'paved' roads, I would have to take a road all around the entire city to the highway. It would take double as long and serve as a huge detour.

So I geniusly decided to take a shortcut. I would turn onto some unpaved road on the way and it should Lecheoireh take me straight to the highway, which would save time on our trip.

I took some turn and drove. We were on some rocky, bumpy, unpaved road in the middle of Mexicoville. There were clothelines all over the place. Stray dogs running about. Basically, it was as Mexican as it gets.

While we were driving, we see some sort of Cemetary coming up. It had a huge Tzeilem on the gate and a bunch of gentile graves. I didn't pay much attention to it while I was skimming over rocks and what not. But Sonia noticed that one of the graves at the end of the cemetary had a Magel David on it.

She convinced me to stop and have a look. After all, "This may be the reason why Hashem made us take this road!"

I stopped and snuck through the barb wire fence and slowly guided my way to the end of the graveyard, where I took a picture of the grave.

It's the top picture of this post.

The name was Allan Gordon, most definitely an American Jew, who apparently lived in Los Barriles (There are lots of American retirees who live there).

But he died almost three years ago and is buried among all these Goyim.

Needless to say, it was a very inspiring Hashgocho Protis moment.

I have the picture and have already begun working on researching who this guy is, if his family in Los Barriles is Jewish, if there are any other Jews in the city and other stuff that might help bring some Yidden back to Yiddishkeit. Who knows where this will lead.

I looked it up. His Yahrtzeit is 5 Teves, 5767. IY"H, I plan on travelling to the graveyard on Hei Teves this year and saying a chapter of Tehilim for his Neshama. Who knows??

All this, because I decided to take a shortcut through some random Los Barriles town road. Crazy!

Going back into the field

Pictured are our good friends the Davydovs, whom we greatly miss. They are really on the path to Yiddishkeit, and need a Rabbi to further guide them. They are standing in front of the World War Veterans Memorial in Stavropol. (Hillel and Anya, top. Nachum and Yossi bottom)



I've been getting alot of flack recently for some of my opinions and statements.

For example, Friday night I went to Yeshiva to Davven Mincha Maariv. My brother Benny had flown in from his shlichus in Los Cabos, Mexico and we spent half of Maariv catching up, which meant that as everyone left the building I was still finishing Shmoneh Esrei.

When I was done, I turned to leave and bumped into two truly Chassidish and good people in the Montreal community. Both are a couple of years older than me, both do lots of shlichus work in Montreal (though they aren't official shluchim). I should add that I think highly of both of them.

We got into a conversation, and they asked me what I plan on doing. I told them that I am currently writing personal projects and working for someone who sells stamps online.

And what do I plan on doing?

"School" I said.

Their mouths dropped open and they immediately started farbrenging with me.

"You were doing one of the most fulfilling things in the world, and one of the holiest things in a special place (i.e. shlichus in Russia), and you are now going to do THIS? That's like walking slowly upstairs to get to your box seats in the Bell Center only to jump down near the top and run back out into the streets!" (My words..)

What do I tell them? How do I explain to them how badly I want to return to Stavropol and continue what I've started? How do I tell them that I CANNOT go somewhere else until I know that someone is caring for the Jews of Stavropol? Because the fact is, no one else will, at least not on a spiritual level.

Do I still consider myself a Shliach? no. But I am not ready to start a new place, not until they have another Rabbi.

I also don't want to give up. I want to leave the option of return forever open (or until there's a new Rabbi). After all, it's Russia we're talking about. They can change their rules tomorrow. I still pray for there to be a 'hishapcha' (complete turnaround) in which we can go back to our shlichus. And I want to be ready to return. But things could get complicated should I be somewhere else.

It feels like a stab in the back for me to go somewhere else, particularly so quickly. In a sense, it would mean that I was there for them, but now that I'm gone they are forgotten. This is why when Chayale goes back to collect our stuff, I want her to mail out to everyone in the community a letter from me, in which I will speak about what we had and what they could have. I will finish off giving them all my contact information, and telling them that I'll be there for them at all times until the city gets a new Rabbi.

One final thought, and a complaint against the Yeshiva system: if it weren't for the 'system', I wouldn't be thinking about going to school. But there are no other options. You gotta be a Rabbi when you finish Yeshiva, since you learn no other skills there. They really need to work on this, in my opinion.

I've seen several people jump from shlichus to shlichus, and get older and older until they have 12 kids and when their final shlichus doesn't work out they are left scrambling with no other alternatives. I don't want to live like that. It's not fair to my family. I want to learn something I can always fall back on, should shlichus not work out. And with only 2 kids, now is my last opportunity.

And that my friends, is why I am not rushing into another shlichus just yet.

In and out

I just got back from the Ohel.

It was a last minute decision. My father rented a car and we drove into New York for Gimmel Tammuz. We stopped at the Ohel, then went to a restaurant for supper, and finally returned home.

We left yesterday at 10:30 and returned at 9:00 this morning. I drove through the night.

I am wondering if it was worth it. Originally I had no plans to go, since I kind of feel like I have lost the connection I once had, and there was nothing much to 'report' to the Rebbe.

Then Chayale told me that I had to go to ask for Brachos for the Jews of Stavropol, who need more blessings than we do. I agreed, and went.

It's odd, though. I kinda felt like I had lost that 'connection' I had with the Rebbe. As if when you're a shliach, you are coming in and reporting everything you've done. You are asking for Brachos for the community growth and success, as opposed to more minor issues.

In a sense, I feel it was kind of pointless to spend a full day traveling (missing 2 days of work), in order to spend 5 minutes (that's all we were allowed) at the grave of the Rebbe.

Maybe I should have stayed home and just faxed in a 'Pa"n.'

I don't know.

The Torah in Russia

That's me with the Torah back when we had the Hachnosas Sefer Torah in Stavropol last summer.

The time has come that we must make a decision about the Sefer Torah.

As Chayale gets ready to fly back (probably with one of my siblings) to pack up and pick up some of our stuff, and ship the rest to Canada, I have to get ahold of Eli Ginsburg, who donated the Torah, so he can advise me on what to do.

I've been having emails back and forth with Rabbi Lazar, and here are the options I see.

1 - Keep the Torah with a family in Stavropol who will hold onto it until the next Rabbi shows up.

This is what Rabbi Lazar suggests. I would give it to the Davydovs, since their love for Yiddishkeit is under no question. Obviously the Torah cannot be given to the Center, since the president (Yefim) publicly stated that he is anti-religion and who knows what he would do with it?

The advantage of doing this is that the 'opposition' (Yefim and his cronies) will turn it into a scandal about how the Rabbi leaves and everything goes with him. That while it's in Stavropol, the community can say, 'look what the Rabbi has brought to our city. Here is physical evidence of his work.'

The disadvantage would be that who knows when a new Rabbi would show up? is it fair for a Torah to sit around only due to political reasons?

2 - Give it to a different community.

I personally think this might be the better option, and I have a community in mind. Yossi Marazov is doing a fantastic job in Ulyanovsk, Russia (Lenin's birthplace for those of you who care), and has a Minyan running each Shabbos. The city has no Torah and could use one. Plus it's an opportunity for another Hachnosas Sefer Torah.

3 - Eli can bring it to Moscow and decide what to do with it there (maybe donate it to a local Shul or something).

Ultimately it IS Eli's decision, but I'd be interested to hear what you think.

So post your comments below.

Shabbos morning havoc

Being that we just moved in, we haven't had a chance to put any clocks up (our only clock is in Russia).

So yesterday we awoke to Chaim crying. I rolled out of bed, exhausted, and rubbing my eyes, went into the kitchen to check the time. The stove has a clock on it, and I figured it must be properly configurated, and it read 8:15.

In my innocence (after all, why would a stove lie?) I assumed it was telling the truth, and I passed him to Chayale and went back to bed.

I should probably note that we suspected nothing since Chayale has the kids on a tight schedule. It's amazing! They go sleep every night at 7:30 and wake up every morning at 7:30 (and may all my readers be blessed with such a wife, unless of course you are a female reader).

So Chayale fed him a huge breakfast while I went back to sleep. This lasted an hour, over which I was constantly woken up by Chaim's cries. He was in a very bad mood. Finally, Chayale put him back to bed. He went to sleep immediately, but Miriam awoke.

At this point Chayale had to sleep, and I took over. Miriam was complaining alot, and we had a small discussion, guessing the time. Chayale thought it was 11:30, I was sure it was 10:30.

Anyway, Chayale went to sleep and I dressed Miriam and took her to Shul. It was a long trip, thanks to Miriam who was in a horrible mood, crying almost the entire way. We had to return home to pick up her pacifier, but finally we made it.

I looked up at the clock when I got in, and it was EIGHT FRIEKING THIRTY IN THE MORNING!!!!

Only 3 people were in Shul, which was only open so early because it was Shabbos Mivorchim. I hung around for an hour and a half until Miriam became impossible and my sleep deprivation had me jealously eying the empty hot water urn and thinking of breaking Shabbos to fill it with coffee.

I brought her home and went to sleep.

When I awoke, I davened ate, and then went to a farbrengen which lasted to the end of Shabbos.

The Jewish comedy festival

I was never really a VIP or someone with 'connections', but last week we had a special treat. The second Jewish comedy festival took place in Montreal, and was organized by our best friends in Montreal, Rabbi yisroel and Sara Bernath of Chabad of NDG and Loyola Campus.

I wrote a 30-second tv spot about the comedy fest which was advertised on global-tv for about a month, and I also helped him put together a 5 minute video about Chabad of NDG which was displayed between performances and got a round fo applause at the end of it (yay). Actually I just wrote the outline since it was anyway interview-based.

In return, Yisroel gave us front seat tickets - basically the best seats in the house. Here are some photos from the amazing and hilarious event:


Tali yess and something Segal, who emceed. Tali was fantastic, but the woman didn't know her audience and tried too hard. It still came out ok.


Yisroel Campbell who came on after Joey Elias (sorry, no picture of Joey).

I should mention here how awesome Joey Elias was. He wrote his act specifically for the target audience. If you weren't from Montreal or you weren't Jewish, you'd miss out on half his jokes. He was awesome!

For example:

A bunch of yeshiva bochurim walked in late in the middle of the show. As they were getting into their seats (near the front of the audience), Joey quips:

"Oh look! The 32 bus from Victoria just arrived!"


Yisroel is the man! He gave over a Dvar Torah and dazzled the audience. He's only been in NDG for a little over a year!


I was the first victim of the Mark Salem show. He had me (and then 2 other people) think of a random number between 1 and 10. Naturally I thought of the number 4. The other two thought of 7. Then he pulls out a paper which he wrote on before speaking to us, and it said, "4-7-7".

When he asked me my name, Malky and Esty who were in the back, started whooping and cheering. Mark looked up and asks me, "why are they up there?"

Chayale retorted, "Hey, I'm his wife and I'm right here!"


Mark Salem writing something down and me smiling like a dolt.


That's me behind Mark Salem's shoulder down at the bottom near the stage.

It was a great night out, and we felt like VIPs. I think next year Yisroel will have to find a larger hall.

Should I make the blog public again?

What do you think? will it get me into hot water if I do?

Edit: the blog is open. Please comment on whether you think I should close it again.

I need to scream!!!!

Ilana (formerly Lena) Berkun.


Things can be so unfair!! It eats me up inside!

In a good way.

It appears we were making lots of headway in Stavropol. Today I received this in my message inbox on odnoklassniki (the Russian facebook) from Ilana Berkun:


Шалом Цви !!!!!!!

Очень рада видеть вас !!!!

Как Хая ,Мирьям и Хайим ?Очень по вас скучаем ,помним и любим !!!!!!В нашей общине в пятницу несколько еврейских семей ,в том числе и наша семья ,мы будем встречать Шаббат! я буду печь Халлу и принесу в общину ,как меня учила Хая .Будем вести беседу на тему кашрута.


Free translation:

Shalom Zvi!!!!

I'm very glad to see you!!! (note: you can see if your friends are 'online' on this site)

How are Chaya, Miriam and Chaim? We very much miss you all, we remember you and love you all!!!! In our community (note: talking about our supporters) on Friday a couple of Jewish families including ours are going to start meeting to celebrate Shabbat! I will prepare Challah to bring to the center, in the way that Chaya taught me. We are going to make sure everything is completely kosher.



OYY! It's SO DIFFICULT! If only we were allowed to return, I'd willingly give up everything we have here in America (including -gasp- roller hockey) to go back, even with all the hardships we'd be facing.

These Jews need to be able to move forward and further. They need someone to guide them. Who will take us over? What can we do?

It physically hurts.

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.

An email from Viktoria - more bad news

Hi!

We’ve just come back to Stavropol after a 3-day holiday (Independence Day of Russia), a rare chance for my kids to see their dad. This is the update:

So far I didn’t manage to find a deliverer from Stavropol to Canada . And no one will come to estimate the weight – everything connected with packing is the responsibility of the owner. Another point is the customs – only the owner with Stavropol registration can do it in Moscow , at Sheremetyevo. Or we should find a forwarding agent, do the customs clearance here, and then he would go to Moscow and push the container through Sheremetyevo. I’ve phoned 7 companies – no luck. You know yourself that Stavropol is far from civilization in this respect. I’m afraid here I’m of no help to you, sorry. Maybe Kostya will find the way, please ask him.

Yanna called today, she is ready to take the fridge and the oven, as well as the washing machine (some for money, some as replacement for damages). She is offering her garage (in the basement) for storage. The point is she has found a family of new tenants, and they would like to move in early July.



Good luck, good health and all the best to you both and the kids,

Victoria

This is a frum Jew?

How can something like this be ok??

Pictures we took from Dovid and Chavi's wedding

Video: Chaim Shimshon climbs over me

Taken in our old apartment. And finally, FINALLY we signed for an expensive but very nice apartment. We'll be living on top of Shternie and Zalmy Samama. More pictures tomorrow iy"h (after roller hockey).

Perhaps I should elaborate on the offer

Below, Viktoria and Chayale working in our apartment in Stavropol.


From all the comments of my last 'news post' telling me to take it (said three times by my east bloc friends too), I think that without going into too many details I'll explain what it is and why I think it isn't for me.

The offer:

A teaching (Yiddishkeit) shlichus for a prestigious shliach (who has a record of throwing out several shluchim under him). I'd also be expected to bring more families (through the children) to the Chabad House.

What I think:

I've tried teaching, and aside from the fact that I'm not really good at it (I'm more of a guy who 'hung out with my class'), I also hate preparing classes, since you spend an hour working on something that you (and the children) will have forgotten most of by as soon as you've finished teaching the class.

Also, I'm reluctant to work for someone with a record of chucking people who 'threatened him by being successful' or 'didn't do a good job' or 'didn't fit in'.

There are several other reasons which I cannot write, since they have to do with the location, which I don't particularly like for certain reasons.

Perhaps more offers will come forward, but for now I'm writing in most of my spare time. Actually, I'm looking for a Litvishe guy my age with a good sense of humor to assist me in my writing and brainstorming. Lots of money potentially involved, so if any readers knows anyone, please email me.

Retro pictures - arrival from Russia - a trip to the childrens museum

Smart woman

We've been here two months and I've been aching to post pictures. But our plug attaching our camera to a computer is in Russia!

Chayale just discovered that we can plug our memory card into my parents basement computer, and she uploaded EVERYTHING! So I'll post a few here.


Miriam plays in the grass.


Chayale and Miriam on the slide in the park.


Miriam posing in classy gear.



More to come!

Curveball

I can't go into details, but I just got my first offer for a very good shlichus somewhere else. The Rabbi actually called me!

I probably won't take it, but it serves as an ego boost.

Today we have another dilemma. Chava Malloy (who is basically family and stays at my parents house) is returning frmo California and we have to leave her room and find somewhere else to stay (the basement?).

We may have found an apartment, though there's another couple 'in line' for it before us.

Nisyonos

Caution: emotional post ahead.

Why? Why does Hashem keep doing this to us? Why do we wind up in all these dramatic situations?

If I were an observer watching the events of my life, I would have laughed my brains out already. Murphy's law is the norm when it comes to our life. Just when things seems like they can't get any worse, they do.

We moved into a basement a month ago, since nothing else was available. You see, in Montreal, all leases end on July 1st, which is when everyone moves into their new apartments. I don't understand the system, but it makes it difficult for people coming into town before that time.

We knew that we had to leave by the end of the month, since the owners had sold the entire house, including the basement, to someone else who didn't want tenants. The owner, while a decent guy who helped us, did it for the money and now that our contract is up wants us out.

Chayale spent the entire month, and particularly the last week, franticly searching for apartments. Nothing was available in our price range with enough rooms, except for one basement on Barclay, which is the equivalent of living in Afghanistan except without the warm desert air.

Finally Chayale found an apartment. Expensive but perfect. We called our Mashpia and he told us to go for it. This was a last minute sorta thing. So we called the landlord and took money out of the bank, but he had already prmised it to someone else.

So tonight I will be up late packing and shipping the stuff to my parents house where we will be staying until we find somewhere better.

Why us? can't we lead a normal life? it's so frustrating!

Think good and it will be good

There is another chance. Rabbi Lazar has a meeting set up with the FSB director (and before you ask... I have no idea when it will be). So my prayers are getting more intense once again.

We spent Shavuos in Morristown with Chayale's family and had a really nice time. On the way home we stopped off in upstate New York to have a barbeque dinner with the Silbersteins, our comrades in exile from their shlichus in Vladviostok. The Silbersteins actually are the reason we moved to Russia. We called them while contemplating whether or not to move to Russia, and they convinced us to go.

At dinner, Yisroel farbrenged with me. Coincidentally, Yossi Marazov, Rabbi and fellow American Shliach in Ulyanovsk, Russia called, and we chatted with him for a little while too.

Over some beer, Yisroel told me something interesting. I may not have all the details correctly but the gyst of it is: a couple of weeks ago he learnt a Sicha, choosing one of the Rebbe's talks randomly (Likkutei Sichos Chelek Lamed Vov, Parshas Shmois, di ershtin Sicha, ois hey if I remember correctly).

He was shocked at how relevant the Rebbe's words were, particularly when he didn't choose the Sicha. We sat down in front of a computer, pulled the page from otzer770.com and learnt what the Rebbe says.

The Rebbe explained that the Chassidic saying 'tracht gut vet zein gut' (think good and it will be good) is a literal thing. And it doesn't mean that the result is already there and the 'right thing to do' is to think good, rather it's a cause and effect. In other words, if you think good, then it will be good. You have the power to change the reality, even though the work takes place from a spiritual point of view, and that is the essence of 'bitachon' and 'emunah' (trust in G-d).

The Rebbe continues and writes that even though you might think that according to the natural order of things, it is IMPOSSIBLE for there to be a change for the better, nonetheless the spiritual positive energy you create by thinking good makes G-d reply by thinking good about you and changing the physical for the better.

The Rebbe went on to stress that even if the person doesn't DESERVE to be helped, still just by 'trachting gut' it will be good.

Incidentally, I read over the Sicha, and the entire Sicha makes its point without the necessity of that Ois (those words). Perhaps we were meant to be reading it.

So my new resolution is to think good. I KNOW we will be allowed to return to Stavropol and this will all be behind us.

You hear me, Hashem?