Winter Blues

Have you ever tried to type with gloves on? It's hard - a pretty slow process. Punching it out letter by letter.

It is cold today. I have to admit that it has been colder; today was not cold enough to numb the face. Still, weather.com says that in Vladivostok today, it is 16°F and feels like 2°F with winds gusting to 25 mph. In Celcius, which somehow sound better, that is-9°C and feels like -17°C.

The problem is not outside though. The problem is that we have cut heating in the synagogue, do to the financial crisis. The temperature here is at a steady 2°C, or just above the freezing mark, which means like I can either type like a normal person as my fingers slowly start to freeze, or type with gloves on.

Mendel and I went on a walk today. He was really dressed for the weather. I think I did well today. Only one old lady told me that it was too cold for him. Usually, I get that comment from 5 to 6 people. When we first moved here, I had one old woman tell me that I was not his mother - couldn't be, because I did not cover his ears. And have you ever heard of a mother who doesn't cover her baby's ears? Ludicrous!

I do not like winter. Only 3 more months until it starts to thaw.

Board Stiff

Way back in October we had a community meeting, mostly attended by the over 75 crowd, in which it was decided to elect a new and active board for the community.

So we met again in a very official meeting one freezing Sunday. The synagogue is not really heated, but with the aid of a few electric heaters, if one kept her coat on, she could manage, even if her coat was a thin little Esprit one that could barely handle new York winters, let alone a Vladivostok one.

At this meeting there was an honest and democratic vote. It was so honest that even though I was nominated as a candidate for the board, I was not elected. I didn’t mind though. A really good board was elected, composed of young, active people with lots of energy, some money, and good ideas.

May this board help take things to the next level, until we reach every Jew in Vladivostok!

A Video Interview of Me

Also on www.thejewishwoman.org

Best Ever Potato Kugel

In honor of Chanukah, I am posting my recipe for Potato kugel. I used the same exact recipe for latkes, skipping all the baking steps, and frying in lots of oil instead. Mendel is my biggest kugel fan. I make a 9x13 pan every Friday, and by the time Shabbos comes in, it is over half gone. Yum.

Ingredients:

Proportions are for a 9x13 pan. For a square 8x8, divide by 2.

10- 12 medium potatoes

3 large onions

2 tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

5 eggs

¼ C oil

Oil for pan

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pour oil in pan, enough to cover pan, and place in over.

Peel potatoes. Grate together with onions. The best is to use a food processor or a blender, grating extra fine. It should not look like separate potato pieces, but rather like a batter with some little potato pieces sticking out. Add eggs, oil, salt, pepper. Mix. Take pan out of oven, and pour batter into the pan. The oil should be hot, and the batter should sizzle. This sort of mimics frying. Dot top of kugel with oil. Place in oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, lower heat to 375. Cook for another 35-50 minutes, depending on the thickness of your kugel (and how big your potatoes were.) Kugel should be a dark golden brown.

Enjoy!

Warning: The kugel straight from the oven, although delicious, will be really hot. You should, in Mendels word ‘wait ‘til it cools down’.

Pacific Port Marks Chanukah

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia – In the Russian Far East, in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, Jewish residents widely celebrated Chanukah. The main event was a concert featuring the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, which performed a whole array of music of Jewish composers, with a repertoire spanning the past three centuries.

On the first day of Chanukah, music lovers of all nationalities filled the large concert hall and joined together in marking this age-old Jewish holiday. More than six hundred spectators were only too pleased to participate in and learn about the tradition of lighting the candles of the Chanukah Menorah, in addition to enjoying an eloquent performance of Jewish composers’ greatest works.

In addition to members of the Jewish community of Vladivostok – a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia – and their guests, the concert also involved a good number of high-profile individuals who lead in their respective sphere, whether it be politics, business, education, cultural, social and humanitarian affairs.

Representatives of the Administration of Primorskiy Krai took this opportunity to congratulate Jews on the Holiday of Light, as did officials from the Vladivostok City Council and Municipal Government. Such warm wishes and salutations were also echoed by diplomats representing the Consulates of the USA, Japan, India and South Korea.

The celebration culminated in a joyous concert featured the greatest compositions of Felix Mendelsohn, Gustav Mahler, Jacques Offenbach and contemporary composer Dmitry Krymov (from Russia), a remarkable show by the Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Arkadyev, as well as a virtuoso performance by soloists Olga Benush and Mark Maryasov. The audience was thrilled with this Chanukah celebration, which also received media coverage.

From fjc.ru

Passport woes

I was in Israel for 3 weeks, and one of the main goals of the trip was obtaining new visas for us. This isn’t as easy one might think, because first we needed official invitations, which take a month to process.

It turned out that the visa wasn’t the big problem. The passport was.

Mendel has now been issued his 5^th passport. He is not yet three. I lost passport #1 in Moscow airport, and passport #2, issued in Moscow, as only valid for a year. So we reapplied for a new one in Connecticut, only passport #3 came back with the birth date written wrong. The jury is still out on if it was my mistake or the passport agency’s, out we only discovered the mistake 2 days before our scheduled return to Russia. So we flew with the passport, and all would have been fine if we weren’t applying for permanent residency. The immigration office has a whole bunch of women whose job is to find mistakes in applications. So they of course discovered that there was a discrepancy between Mendel’s birth certificate and his passport. The consulate in Vladivostok was super nice, and the helped us get passport #4 – with the corrected birthday. But then it was, unfortunately, stolen. So while in Israel, before getting a new visa for Mendel needed to correct his passport. I really wasn’t sure how to do that so I contacted the US Embassy.

Now, there are two offices for US services while in Israel. The embassy is located in Tel Aviv, and there is a consulate in East Jerusalem. Notice it is in EAST Jerusalem. The website asks that all US citizens residing in Jerusalem, Gaza, and the West bank use the East Jerusalem consulate. That should give you a good idea about the people that go, and, more importantly, work, there.

I sent both the consulate and the embassy an email asking what to do. After exchanging a few emails, the consulate in Jerusalem sent me this email:

Thank you for the additional information you sent. We have gone into the passport system to investigate further. Here is what we have discovered:

Your son, born in 2006, has already had three passports. He was issued one shortly after the birth. This one was stolen in July of this year in Moscow and a temporary replacement was issued there. When you finished your travel, you applied for a full validity replacement, which was issued in August. So far, so clear. But then the story gets murky. (they make me sound like a criminal out of a spy novel) First of all, the birthdate mistake was yours, not the State Department’s. . . BUT…the record also shows that a correction of data was filed in October. So as far as we can see, this matter has already been resolved, and we don’t understand this email request for an emergency passport.

Can you please clarify what is going on? (a long explanation followed, in which they explained why I was at fault and why most likely they would not be able to help me)

We look forward to hearing from you again with your clarification.

Sincerely,

Jerusalem American Consulate Services

At that point I lost patience. I got it touch with Tel Aviv, and just 2 trips to Tel Aviv later, plus an afternoon spent on the beach, I had Mendel’s new, revised passport in my hand.

Thank G-d.

Valid for 1 full year. That sounds like a lot to me at this point.

The staff of life

For some reason, lately, we have been going through lots of bread. Maybe it has something to do with Mendel's desire to eat only bread all day long. Also, he likes to eat only the inside, discarding a generous crust. Regardless, I have been finding lately that I am constantly running out of bread. The remaking of bread is a pain in the neck - either you spend just a short while, making enough for one day - and then repeat the process of the next day. Or, you make a huge batch, only it takes all day. And it runs out quicker than you planned for it, because everyone feels like there is a surplus of bread.

I own a cookbook, gifted to me by my mother-in-law, call 'The Complete Book of Breads'. True confessions - this is the first time I have used it.

Unfortunately, I misplaced the mixing blade to our bread machine about 4 months ago.

So last night I tried my hand at 'cool rise bread'. this is a really neat recipe. You make the dough, need it, let it sit for few minutes while you go off to do other things like clean your kitchen or read a kid a story. Then you put the dough in pans, cover, and put it in the fridge, where it stays for the next 2 to 24 hours. After that point, you take the dough out of the fridge and slip it in the oven and bake.

The good news is that the recipe worked. We had bread today. The bad news is that it tasted like bread machine bread. That is, edible and decent, but not that yummy.

It was easier to make than regular bread, because I didn't need to wait for it to rise. But not as easy as store bought bread. Meaning, it didn't make itself.

So the search continues for self-making bread - that also tastes good.

Week in Review

And what a week it's been! A marathon, and I have a feeling that the coming one is only getting busier.

Well, honestly, I don't have time to review the whole week, but the end of it was busy enough as it is.

We had youth over for dinner Friday night. I really wasn't sure how many people were coming, but we had 4 really nice guests, and we had a great time. I invited a whole bunch of people for Shabbos day, but it didn't really work for anyone, so I took rain checks, most of which will be cashed in next week.

This morning we had an official community meeting, open to the entire community as a whole. Most of the attendees were over 70. Enough young people did show up though. We planned another meeting for December, in which we will vote for the community president and 5 board members. (The nominees were decided today)

Rabbi Snetkov, from Khabarovsk, came in for the day (12 hour train ride each day) to give lectures. The first one is in session now. My favorite one (well, the only one I understand well enough to translate anyway) is entitled "I - a person vs. I - G-d" or something like that. We have a nice crowd, about 40 people.

That's all for now, running home to the kids. But stay tuned!

Our Women's Clubs for 5769

Last week, or maybe it was the week before - the days tend to get blended together - I had a meeting with some women about our women's club. We planned out the rest of the year.

Next Sunday we are holding our first club of the year. It will be in the synagogue, and I hope we won't freeze as it has started to get really cold here, and we do not have heating in the synagogue. After that - I hope to find somewhere else to hold our clubs.

Women’s club for year 5769:
SAVE THE DATE!

Nov. 9 – Challah
Learn to make this intricate braid and discuss the secrets hidden inside them

December 2 - Chanukah
The miracle of Chanukah was a miracle of oil. Today this miracle continues. . . What can oil do for us today?

Jan 11 – Mezuza
Make a beautiful Mezuza cover as we learn about the scroll it covers

Feb 8 – Tu Bshvat
The new year for trees is a chance to practice and experiment with all sorts of trees and fruits

March 1 Purim
Beauty, inside and outside. Queen Esther, and the queen within us all.

March 29 – Pesach
Pesach, the holiday of freedom. Discover the freedom within yourself.

April 29 – Sefiras Haomer
Explore the inner depths of your character

May 24 – Shavuos – End of year
Celebrate the holiday of Shavuos as we gather for a final time this year

Yes, we're here

Just a quick post here to let you all know that we are, thank G-d, alive and well. We have not forgotton about you and this blog.

Just been ridiculously busy, and without a babysitter, and no internet access in the house.

So keep checking, hope to update soon.

A Happy, Sweet, New Year to You!

Things are crazy here as we prepare for Rosh Hashana. I got a babysitter for 3 hours today, which expires in 28 minutes. It's a 20 minute ride back home, so this will be quick.

We are having a Rosh Hashana meal here in the synagogue on Tuesday evening. We hired a chef. Then we had to buy more glasses, plates. Still not sure about tableclothes and cutlery. At the last minute we decided to buy real ones, but time is running out. . .

So someone bought a whole buch of plates, and then toiveled them, but unfortunately the stickers were all left on - 2 on each plate, so those need to be redone.

On the home front, my honey cake is made. Full stop. And I made my challah dough. So we have a long night ahead of us.

Mendel has been walking around singing "Dip the apple in the honey. . ." We've been practicing all week. And on Friday he tasted real honey from my 3 kilogram container, which he declared to be 'yummy'. So much for the Mommy preschool.

So, to quote our favorite song
"leshana tova u'mesuka
have a happy sweet new year!"
(hurraaaaay! [clap hands])

Of Dogs and Cats

When I walk somewhere with Yisroel, I am amazed at the random people who come to ask the rabbi for advice. Like the guy in the gas station who wanted permission to divorce him wife. And the (non-Jewish) woman who came to the synagogue the other day to ask if the rabbi could come to bless her house. Yisroel gives very deep answers. Be nice to your wife, do good deeds, be kind to others, etc.

Last night, at 10:30 the phone rang. The voice on the other line sounded very distraught. After a short introduction, he blurted out his question. He had been walking and had seen a dog and a cat fighting. The cat was almost killed, but not quite. This fellow put an end to the cat's misery, and now wanted to know what prayer he should say to repent from having killed a cat.

For my part, overhearing Yisroel's end of the conversation, ("A dog?" "The cat died?") just cracked me up. I laughed quietly so the poor cat-killer would not hear.

A bureaucracy update

I went with our secretary to apply for our temporary residency permits.

To backtrack, we had gotten permission for Yisroel to hand in my application. I filled everything out before I went to New York, and spent a morning and part of an afternoon signing a power-of-attorney. But when Yisroel went to apply, they refused to accept my, or the kids, applications.

Then we got back here, and I was supposed to go last week to finally give them in. I arranged a babysitter and everything. But then we discovered that one of our friends in the immigration hierarchy was no longer working there, and another was on vacation. so it took a week, and Yisroel met with a new director. We received permission to hand in our documents today.

So today I shlepped with our secretary and Baila (smile ammunition) for a 2:00 appointment. We climbed 3 flights of stairs (no elevator, I was holding Baila, and our secretary uses a cane), and pounded on the door. It was finally opened after our secretary banged her cane tip on the door. But, we were told, the woman we needed to see was out to lunch. Lunch should be over at 2 (It was 2 at the time) so we should go walk around for half an hour to an hour. Anyway, we sat down an a windowsill to wait, because G-d forbid we should be offered a chair, and a few minutes later a woman passed by. We told her who we were waiting for, and she grunted and walked on past us. So our secreatry called up after her "Any idea if she'll be here soon?" To which we receivedd, for reply, the information that this woman was the one we were supposed to meet. Thanks for telling us. There's nothing like Russia's customer service.

Anyway, to make a long story short, we waited for a long time, while they searched through the documents, trying to find some mistake. They discovered, to their delight, that 2 forms that I filled out 2 months ago have since been changed. I need to get the new forms, fill them out, and then we can hand in the documents.

I just overheard our secretary on the phone, explaining a little frustratedly that no, there are 2 kids. One is Menachem, and one is Menucha.

We are hopeful.

Tefillin Club - Do-Over

A complaint was registered that I made this Sunday morning minyan sound awfully boring. So let me rephrase that post, or at least add to it.

This minyan on Sunday was especially exciting, because itwas motivated by the attendees. They assked to come on sunday so they could hear shofar, and wanted to bring their tefillin with them so they could all do it together.

It's really special when people themselves ask for more, and it's not only us starting the programs and coming up with the ideas.

Future Jewish Community Center of Vladivostok

So here's the unofficial plan.

The front part of the building is the original synagogue, and as a historic building, has to stay the way it was originally built. Notice the luchos, (tablets), in the front, which we recently uncovered.At the top, on the sides, you can see metal Stars of David. These stars were there originally, and were knocked out when the synagogue was seized. The little shack-looking thing on the right does not belong to us. We believe that it was once the rabbi's house, and was then given to the director of the factory, whose grandson now lives in it. It's pretty tiny, and while we'd love to own it, he wants a ridiculous amount of money for it, which he is not getting from us. There used to be more windows at the bottom of the synagogue, and then the street was built up and they were covered. Today, if you look, you can see evidence of at least 5 windows. On the side of the building, where the main entrance is, there was another window below the top left one, but the stairs cover it.

The front of the building will be the synagogue, and the back, which was added by the factory, and is not historic, will be the rest of the center. The entire space is something like 900 meters. This plan is for 4 stories in the back, in addition to a basement and roof. The area is pretty small though, and then there are annoying things like stairs and bathrooms that get in the way.

The star of David on the top of the building will light up at night. Around the rim of the roof, there will be a metal fence, matching the coverings on the windows. The architect had an idea for the windows in the top to number 8, and the star would be the 9th, like a menorah, but it didn't fit.

This is still a work in progress, so many changes will be made before the final version.

Tefillin Club

Yisroel gathered a bunch of guys this morning for a Sunday morning davening. Well, it started at 12 PM, because no one was willing to come earlier than that on a Sunday, but in everyone's mind, it was morning.

The report is: They came, prayed an abbreviated verion of the prayers, listened to the shofar, and heard a Torah thought. (In the form of the Hayom Yom) A few of the guys own their own tefillin, and have been putting on daily for a while, so they showed the others what to do. Then they ate some refreshments, talked, and left. The rumor is that they loved it, and are looking forward to next week at 12.

I wanted to come, but the event conflicted with Mendel's nap. I provided the cake.

Have a great Shabbos!

So I came to the synagogue today for the Shabbos program. To my shock, I saw someone here under the age of 80. She was a nice woman, in her 20s, and was even holding a baby! However, to no one's big surprise, she is not Jewish. Her husband is, she says.

In other news, Shabbos is all cooked, except for my eggplant dishes, which will either be made, or not, depending on if it is too late to buy eggplant. It'll be less work for me, but also less food, which i guess is no big deal, since a whole bunch of our guests chickened out.

I had a cleaning lady today, and paid her an absolute fortune - 1000 rubles, or 40 dollars for 2 1/2 hours of work. And she didn't even do that thorough of a job.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos!

Future building plans

Yisroel and I met with our architect yesterday. It's pretty exciting to see real life plans for our synagogue and center. It still needs lots of work, and fine-tuning, but it is neat nonetheless to see our vision coming to being, on paper, or computer, at least.

The exterior has been redesigned, and is really nice now. I'd like to post a picture, but I'd have to scan it into the scanner and I have 17 more minutes until I have to leave the synagogue, so we'll save that for another time. We have all sorts of quirks, like the old building that can only be preserved, not changed at all. And a really small amount of space into which we'd like to fit a huge amount of stuff.

They have an awesome architect-computer program, where you can add wall, move them down, and construct all sorts of neat things. So that was neat to see.

And I begged a favor from a friend, who babysat for 2 and 1/2 hours while I GOT OUT OF THE HOUSE! Now that was exciting.

An update

So our luggage has arrived. In 4 complete pieces. The cheese did not leak much, I am happy to report. They are as of yet unpacked, filling our bedroom and hallway.

In case you were wondering, my attempt on making corned beef was not an unqualified success. Mostly because I using the wrong cut of meat, it's pretty tough. And salty, but I think that's because I did something wrong. All said, though, it's decent, but not really worth the effort.

I am on the search once more for a babysitter, which would explain why I have no time to write on here. If you happen to know of someone living in Vladivostok and looking for a job, send her my way.

New blog name

We are on the search for a new blog name. Something a little more catchy than life-in-distant-and-cold-vladivostok-which-is-located-in-russia's-far-east-where-we-are working-with-Jews.com

Any ideas?

My Summer Vacation (a report)

It's been just about six weeks without a blog post, and, I am glad to say, I am now back in the land of spotty internet access and pay-for-megabyte plans, so what better time for an update.

America was amazing. The kids had an absolutely amazing time with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and friends. The food was, well, for the most part, cooked by someone other than me, and GOOD. We saw, visited, relaxed, socialized, tried to get work in, shopped, and now we are back.

We made it, and, I am happy to report, the trip back, with Yisroel, was about 10 times easier than the trip TO New York. Delta still had nasty customer service, but the cheap Russian airline we took from Moscow to Vladivostok had the sweetest stewardesses. We didn't get a bassinet on either flight, but after asking and being refused on Delta, our seatmate had enough and begged for us to be moved, so we got that bassinet after all. Domadedavo Airport, in Moscow, has an amazing childcare room. Typically Russian, in order to enter, one must present a doctor's certificate of good health. Of course, the doctor is located at the other end of the airport, a floor down and a ten minute walk away. But if should ever find yourself in Domadedavo Airport with little kids, let me assure you that it is well worth the effort. There are tables, chairs, and highchairs. Toys, games and cribs. And best of all BATHTUBS! The kids were so relaxed after their baths that they slept the first 5 or so hours of the flight.

So we are here, thank G-d. Unfortunately, our luggage is not, at least not yet. We packed five suitcases, 3 of clothes, 1 of important food item that I just can't live without, and a 5th of clothes that the kids outgrew, clothes that will fit them next year, and some food items that weren't all that crucial. From New York we were allowed 7 pieces of luggage; from Moscow, only 4, so the we planned to send our 5th box by train, and pick it up in Vladivostok in a few weeks. Guess which box made it to Moscow?

Heaven forbid we should travel without the allowed amount of luggage, so we stopped on the way and bought all sorts of Kosher goodies obtainable in the great city of Moscow. Soy milk, peanut butter, granola bars, wine, and most importantly, mayonnaise.

We arrived on Tuesday, and our luggage was supposed to arrive on Wednesday. JFK airport says they sent it, Moscow says it left there, but the Vladivostok airport says that it has not arrived here. As all my shoes are in the suitcases, I am walking around wearing crocs, probably the only person in this entire city of high-healed wearers to be wearing slippers outside. The saddest part about the saga of the lost luggage is my cheese. I bought a bag of cheeses that were supposed to be my breakfast for the next few months. We wisely sent it under the plane rather than carry it in our hand luggage, because, after all, it is much cooler under the plane.

I am convinced that airport officials somewhere in Siberia are feasting on my cheese. Yisroel says that maybe that's why they made it here yet - no one wants to get close enough to the smelly suitcases to send them here.

Stay tuned for an update.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos!

I'd better be careful. . .

US blogger to be tried for insulting Singapore judges

A US national said Tuesday he will be tried in Singapore next month for allegedly insulting two judges who had presided over cases involving an opposition leader.

Gopalan Nair, a former Singaporean lawyer who is now a US citizen, told AFP he has not yet hired a lawyer to represent him in the trial from September 8-19.

"At this moment, I am representing myself," he said.

Nair faces two charges of insulting judges on his blog. Each charge carries a jail term of up to one year, a 5,000 Singapore dollar fine (3,676 US) or both. . .

(http://www.breitbart.com)

The Discovery Channel, or My Trip to New York

I discovered lots of things on this trip of mine from Vladivostok to New York.

I discovered that whoever coined the phrase 'getting there is half the fun' never traveled in Russia. I can also guarantee that he never traveled with two little kids. And he definitely never traveled with two kids in Russia.

I discovered why G-d, in His infinite wisdom, endowed human beings with two arms and two legs. The amazing anatomy of the human body allows tow kids to sit on one lap for nine-and-a-half hour flights, plus extra time for takeoff problems like people smoking in the lavatory, when the airlines NEGLECT TO GIVE YOU A BASSINET, and an exhausted toddler insists on being held.

I discovered that airlines like to give your stroller as the LAST PIECE OF LUGGAGE, maybe because they like watching you struggle with your toddler, baby, and two handbags.

I discovered that, believe it or not, Russians are much nicer to people traveling with babies. They offer to help and hold the baby and push you to the front of the line, unlike Americans who PUSH IN FRONT OF YOU IN LINE while you are holding a baby, a toddlers hand, and wearing a briefcase and handbag.

I discovered that it is not a good idea to lose your passport. And if you do lose it, please don't lose it in Russia. Because you have to have really good connections for the Russians to grant you permission to LEAVE THE COUNTRY on a new passport.

It was that kind of trip. 9.5 hours of flying, then waiting for luggage, going into Moscow for the night, back to the airport in the morning, losing our passports, getting new passports at the embassy, going back to the airport, waiting for the late plane because the stewardesses showed up late, another 9.5 hours of flying. . .

It was the kind of trip that made me think: Remind me why I'm flying to New York. And remind me why I'm flying alone. And finally, remind me why we chose to live in Vladivostok, which sometimes feels like the absolute farthest place on the map.

It's a good thing we will be here for long enough for me to forget exactly how tough the trip was.

I have a mezuzah

At the finish of STARS, Natasha* decided that it was time to get to putting that mezuzah up on her door already; we have been talking about his for weeks, but somehow it never materialized.

On Tuesday, Natasha picked me up and together we drove across town to her apartment. We were greeted by her pet turtles, which really freaked me out because I didn't know that she owned pet turtles. Not that I have anything against turtles. On the contrary, I discovered that turtles are harmless creatures, with ugly heads. They live in a little bucket in her bathroom. I can now dispel the myth of the slow-moving turtle. Boy, did that thing run when it heard me come in.

Natasha lives in a 1 bedroom apartment. Renovated. Beautiful view. Her buffet boasts her recently purchased Jewish library - a chumash, a tehillim, a siddur. In her freezer, she proudly told me, is kosher chicken, which, she has noticed, tastes much better than the non-kosher varieties.

We watched the turtles for a while, talked a bit, and then got down to business.

I pulled out the mezuzah, and she said the blessing. Me measured the door, and placed the mezuzah on the bottom of the top third of the door post, tilting inwards. Our mezuzahs, unfortunately, come with pre-stuck on tape, so there are no banging of nails to make the mezuzah placing ceremony more ceremonious. We pulled off the tape and stuck the mezuzah on.

And that was it.

And that was everything.

When we left the apartment a little while later, Natasha gingerly reached up and gave the mezuzah a kiss.

*not her real name. Names, in this post and most others, have been changed to protect the innocent.

Some odd news. . .

Man steals 40 rubles ($1.7), gets 7 years in prison

A court in the town of Amursk, Khabarovsky region, has sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment a man who broke into an apartment of a pensioner and took from her 40 rubles ($1.7) threatening her with a toy gun, the region’s Prosecutor’s Office said.

The investigation revealed that Alexander Volgin, 31, was heading to a residential house apartment where home-brew alcohol was sold. Wearing a black cap with eye holes and holding a knife and a toy gun, Volgin knocked on the door. An elderly woman opened the door and Volgin rushed into the entrance hall. Soon realizing that he got into the wrong flat, Volgin demanded money from his victim. The woman gave her purse with 40 rubles - everything she had at the moment.

When Volgin was leaving the house he was suddenly caught by his jacket’s collar by another woman who left her apartment on hearing the woman’s cries for help. The woman disarmed the robber taking away his knife and toy gun, and firmly held him by his jacket’s collar until the police arrived.

Volgin had a previous criminal record and was unemployed, the police statement said. The court sentenced him to seven years in a strict regime colony for an armed robbery.

from vladnews.ru

A break for STARS

STARS has officially ended for the year. We had a barbecue party, with lots of good, kosher chicken. In honor of the third of Tammuz, we talked about the Rebbe, watched a video of the Rebbe, wrote letters to the Rebbe. And we took on resolutions for future. Hopefully tomorrow I am going to Natasha's house to put up a mezuza. Everyone bought Chumashim, and some people brought siddurim. Igor wants to know where he can get a 'shulchan aruch?'. They resolved to say Shema nightly before going to sleep. Vladimir admitted that in the beginning he was skeptical about learning an extra 5 hours a week, and came only for the stipend. Now, however, his whole week is focused on STARS, and he will sorely miss it over the summer. He is planning to go to a yeshiva seminar for 2 weeks in August.


To be continued in September. Bigger and better, as always.

A (further) tale of visas

So the latest on our visa situation:

I gave Mendel an ink pen and some blank paper. He scribbled on the paper, and then found a stack of interesting papers to color on. Thank G-d, they were not hard to replace documents, but our passport photos. He didn't color too much, but if you were to be really nit-picky - and the Russians always are - Baila is down to 2 pictures, and I am down to four. We need 5 each.

In other news, Yisroel and Ivan Ivanov (have you noticed that I get a kick out of writing his name?) met today with some fellow high in the previous communist party. They cannot accept our application, as the quota is full, as of July 1. However, if someone's application should be rejected, we are first on the waiting list. We were also given permission to appoint someone with power-of-attorney to hand in our documents in case this happens while we are away. Ivan Ivanov has friends who work on the decisions committee for permanent residency applications. He promised to make sure that a a whole bunch of people are rejected, as soon as possible.

It's always something.

We were all set to leave on Monday.

We have been working on getting our permanent residency, the main benefit being that we would not have to leave the country every THREE MONTHS, for heaven's sake.

We found a fellow who is somewhat involved in the Jewish community, although not Jewish himself. He works in getting permanent residency for people. So this Ivan Ivanov advised us to open a fund. As president and members of this fund, we should be entitled to non-quota visas.

To that end, for the past couple of months, Yisroel, our secretary, and Ivan Ivanov have been working tirelessly organizing documents. We needed 12 separate documents from America. Each one had to be the original, notarized, signed by the country clerk, apostilled, translated, and then the translation had to be notarized. We need a ridiculous amount of information about us and the other people in our fund. And we need all sorts of medical records.

So we spent the past while gathering this information and putting it together. On Wednesday morning, we went to the doctor for all sorts of exams. On Wednesday afternoon, our secretary called the office to find out when to bring in the application, only to find out that their quota is filled, and they are not accepting applications until the end of the year.

We should be entitled to a non-quota status, so Ivan Ivanov is petitioning his friend to accept the application.

But we each need to submit our applications personally. And I am supposed to leave with the kids on Monday.

So today Yisroel went to request an extension for me to remain in the country for another 10 days. He spent hours flopping from office to office, and. . . we're not sure yet. They MAY grant the extension.

And then on Monday we will find out if they will accept our applications.

Will keep you posted.

And a good Shabbos to you too!

Historical background

Yisroel has been researching the history of the Vladivostok Jewish community, and discovered some very interesting things.

The first rabbi in Vladivostok was a Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Meir Ashkenazi. He was originally from some other part of Russia, and was drafted into the army. He served for 5 years, until he was granted an exemption by a doctor. He was released from the army, but couldn't go back, so he came to Vladivostok. He sent for his bride who was patiently waiting for him in his hometown, and he became the rabbi here.

By all accounts, he was a very special man. Russia became embroiled in a war of the Czars vs. the Communists. One day, two Jewish communists came to his home seeking refuge from the government. He insisted on helping them, because, after all, they were Jewish. Later, it became too dangerous for him to stay in Vladivostok, but it was impossible to leave at that point. His wife enlisted the aid of these two Jews, who now held positions of power in the new Communist regime, and they helped him escape.

In it's heyday, the Jewish community consisted of about 3,000 Jews. (It's interesting that today, it is estimated that double that number live here.)

Vladivostok was one of the last places to fall to the Communists, and therefore, had the last functioning Jewish community in all of Russia.

For a while, various countries had armies stationed here, as they were helping the Czarist White Army. In 1923 or 1924, a pogrom was planned against the Jews of Vladivostok. There was a large Jewish community in Harbin, about 300 miles from Vladivostok. The Jews there got in touch with an embassy of a country stationed in Vladivostok, who threatened to take over control of the city if the pogrom was not canceled. The plans for the pogrom were canceled.

When I get to New York and we have proper internet service, I will post some pictures, please G-d.

And a good Shabbos to you

I am basically all cooked.

All our chicken is in a commercial freezer, not accessible right now.

I have between 4 and 8 guests tonight. I am never sure until they actually show up.

And my women's program for Sunday is semi-prepared, but only about 10 people know about it.

Wishing you a great Shabbos!

A text message

I was looking through old text messages on my cell phone lately, and I found this one, which we received a few months ago:

I am transcribing exactly, so excuse the typos.

Shalom, reb Israel. Ani Leonid Rogozin (ahshav Ar'e ben Vevl), brit mila sheli haeta hsilhsom le Ierushalajm. Ani sameach ahshav. Ar'e

Free translation:
Hi, Rabbi Yisroel. This is Leonid Rogozin (now named Arye, the son of Velvel). My bris milah was three days ago in Jerusalem. I am happy now. Arye.

Zipping out

We tend work in 2 modes here. Relaxed and fast-forward. On the average day, we move along, taking care of errands, visiting people, having guests over, doing shopping and any other things that come up. Every so often, we suddenly start zipping around trying to cram days worth of work into just a few hours.

It turns out that I going with the kids to new York in another week and a half. Of course we knew this was coming up, but we were hoping to push it off and go a later. Unfortunately, Baila has to leave the country, since she has been here for 90 days. On Monday, I went with our secretary to the head of immigration to beg for an extension. Our secretary prepared the documents, letters from our organization, and pleaded the case. My job was to smile. I thought I did my job well, but unfortunately, we were not granted any extension.

If Baila was a threat to the national security at 2 months, you can imagine, that by now, at 5 months, she is really dangerous. Not only does she has to leave, but she has to stay out for 90 days. We hope to circumvent that by getting new visas for all us, but they won’t be ready until the end of August. So we are leaving on July 7, and returning at the way end of August.

In the next week and a half, I have to, among other things: prepare and run a women’s program on Sunday; teach the youth classes; organize a director, curriculum, and location for our Hebrew School next year; decide and plan what type of preschool program we will be having next year; fill the freezer with bread and some other basics for Yisroel to eat while we are away; pack and prepare for the way.

So I don’t mean to neglect this blog until I go, but if you find that postings are not all that regular, consider yourself warned.

Another sad post

In the past few days, I have sat down at the computer numerous times to write a post. Every time, I look at my previous post, and become to upset to write.

We really miss Meiron, the fellow who passed away. We was 80 years old, but so full of life.

He loved Judaism. He’s the one who asked us about the 19 year calender, and he taught in our STARS. He owned many Jewish books, and loved to learn. He was the gabbai of the synagogue, and ran the services whenever we were away. Unfortunately, his wife does not share his love of Judaism. She is Jewish, but was always resentful of the time he spent at the synagogue. So she doesn’t want anything Jewish at the funeral – not anyone who looks Jewish, not any Jewish prayers.

It’s a shame that Meiron, who was so involved in Judaism during his life, was deprived of a Jewish funeral.

We will however, be having a minyan in the synagogue, and saying kaddish for him there.

May his memory be blessed

An older member of the community just passed away. He was really involved in the synagogue, the community, and Judaism. He taught classes, learned a lot, came to pray.

Unfortunately, we do not have a Jewish cemetery here. There once was one, but the Communists paved a road over it.

We will miss him.

A good Shabbos to you

Wishing you a great Shabbos!

This is going to be a short one - I shouldn't really be on the computer right now. I am in the synagogue at the moment. Every Friday we have a 'kabbalat Shabbat' program for seniors. They learn about the Torah portion for an hour, make kiddush - okay, it's a bit early in the afternoon, but they enjoy it - and eat a 'Shabbat meal'. It's mostly elderly people, but there are always a few young people who enjoy the scene.

Attendance ranges from 15 people to 50 on an average week. Mendel is here with me today, and, obviously, he is the highlight of the event. As I type this, Yisroel is singing Lecho Dodi. I think Sholom Aleichem is next, and I should join, as I haven't made it for this event in a long time. I am usually at home preparing for Shabbos.

So have a great Shabbos, and check in after for a new post, hopefully.

Of meat and other eats

Keeping Kosher in Vladivostok is not quite the same thing as keeping kosher in, say, Brooklyn.

Most things can be made from scratch, and the from-scratch products – flour, sugar, oil, eggs – are, for the most part kosher. But meat has always been an issue. It has to be brought in from a big city. Moscow would be the most logical choice, but the cost is exorbitant to ship it by plane. The train takes a few weeks to get here, so even though we could theoretically send frozen meat in the winter, we are a bit nervous to do that. We could send it by refrigerated train, but they are also not cheap.

When we first moved to Vladivostok, we brought along 70 pounds of meat. The chicken for Shabbos, the meat was saved for holidays, and, just as we ran out, they did a slaughtering of kosher chicken in Siberia. We ordered something like 600 kg, which my computer tells me is 1,322.77 lbs. 600 kg is a lot of meat, and, even though we used a lot of chicken for our overnight camp last summer, it lasted, and lasted, and lasted.

Eventually, though, our Siberian chicken ran low. But then we were in New York, and again we shlepped 50 pounds of meat with us. But G-d takes care us, and before we ran out, we met a fellow here who sends a refrigerated container to Moscow every week or so. He is Jewish, and whenever his container is empty, he will send along some meat for us.

So now we have a freezer full of meat, ready for the eating whenever we choose. I have a beef in the fridge, pickling, as I write this. It should turn into corned beef in another two weeks. I will let you know.

The best part of having this meat is that we can now sell it to community members who are interested in eating kosher. In America, it is relatively easy to keep kosher. So many products have a kosher sign, and dairy and meat products are sold in supermarkets also. It is so much harder here, and there are some people who are really interested in kosher, but they have to be REALLY committed to keep kosher in Vladivostok.

Daniel is on his way over now, to pick up a load of kosher meat. Since we received our meat shipment, he has begun to eat only kosher meat, which he tells us, tastes even better than the non-kosher stuff.

Next we need to begin importing mayonnaise and chocolate chips.

Happy to kvetch

One Shabbos, a few weeks back, we had some Americans over for lunch. We spent a really nice meal. Some of my food worked out, some new recipes I tried didn’t quite, but no one starved. Yisroel told a story, spoke about that week’s Torah portion, and sang a song. And we talked. Well, we kvetched, mostly.

We kvetched about the ridiculous visa laws, and about the absurd prices of tickets to get just about anywhere. We kvetched about the broken up roads, and the huge potholes in middle of the street. We kvetched about the city’s 2 traffic lights, and the law enforcement officials enforcing stupid laws.

The truth is that we enjoyed all the kvetching. We are all American living in a Russian city, and we commiserated with each other.

At one point, Yisroel turned to one fellow, the chief kvetcher of us all. Why does he live here, Yisroel asked, if he hates it so much? It’s not that he hates it, our friend answered. He’s Jewish, and Jews kvetch. He would kvetch anywhere. In fact, he loves Vladivostok, and chose to live here just because he likes it so much.

Mendel likes to run around the house yelling ‘Happy!’ He often specifies just who is happy – himself, his mother, his father, the cleaning lady, his aunt with whom he just spoke, and most often, his baby sister.

And we are. We are happy. We love it here in Vladivostok. It is home, it’s pleasant, and we are doing what we love best – guiding Jews to reclaim their lost heritage

So if I kvetch a lot, bear in mind that, I am, after all, Jewish. My kvetches are not indicative of anything. I love it here.

Unexpected

Living out in Vladivostok, we expect people to know nothing about Judaism. And usually they don't. We are most people’s first introduction to Judaism ever. It’s exciting, really, meeting a Jew, and introducing them, for the first time ever, to Torah, to tefillin, to G-d, to Shabbos.

Sometimes, though, we meet people who already have some background knowledge – and every time it just throws me off and cracks me up.

About a month after we moved here, an older man came to the synagogue on Shabbos. He had a question. Which year would this be, within the 19 year Jewish calendar cycle? The question was just so far out, that it was really funny.

Anyway, on Shavuos a boy came to Synagogue. He speaks fluent English, and has been reading all about Judaism on chabad.org. He walked in, really dressed for the part. He wore a button-down shirt, suit, and. . . a black fedora.

The regular minyan-goers were shocked to see him. Someone asked if we brought him from America to help with the holiday.

We will never cease to be entertained.

Good Shabbos!

Shabbos starts this week at 9:35 PM, and ends at 10:46, so we have a long Friday to do things, and a long, long Shabbos afternoon. I, for the most part, am stuck in the apartment with the kids.

We have some guests, hopefully, and lots of food.

Wishing you a great Shabbos!

Ice Cream in a Bag

We made this ice cream in the synagogue with the kids. Actually, we made it last year too, and it is already a Shavuos tradition. The kids were thrilled to taste real, kosher ice cream.

It is perfect for a summer activity.

Ingredients:
1/2 C milk
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
food coloring, if desired
4 C crushed ice, or ice cubes
4 Tbsp kosher salt
2 quart-size ziplock bags
1 large, gallon size, ziplock bag
gloves, or towel

Directions:
Mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in one of the quart size bags. Put a drop of food coloring in for colored ice cream. Seal tightly, allowing as little air to remain in the bag as possible. Place this bag inside the other quart size bag, again leaving as little air inside as possible and sealing well. Put the two bags inside the gallon size bag and fill the bag with ice, then sprinkle salt on top. Again let all the air escape and seal the bag. Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake and massage the bag, making sure the ice surrounds the cream mixture. Shake vigorously for 5 to 8 minutes, or until your hands fall off. If you do not shake enough, your ice cream will not freeze. Mendel called his ice cream 'juice' for obvious reasons.

Eat straight from the bag with a spoon.

Enjoy!

Water update

Our hot water has been turned back on.

It should stay on until August, when it will turned off again for repairs.

I thought you'd want to know.

Game time!

Yisroel is in France, on a fundraising trip. I'm plenty busy, with 2 kids, and lots of community responsibilities.

Here's a game to keep you busy, though:
Yisroel has a (basically) empty suitcase that he can fill with 20 kilos of stuff to bring back with him. What should I ask for?

Here are the rules:
a. The lighter the better (for example, cans of pie filling, while very yummy, are not worth the weight)
b. Things that can be stretched are higher on the priority list. (For example, potato chips are great, but a whole bag is finished in one sitting. Balsamic vinegar, on the other hand, goes on, and on, and on)
c. Some things aren't bound by the above rules. If they are REALLY yummy, like candy for me, or REALLY important, like some milchigs for shavuos, or REALLY useful, like chocolate chips so I can make cake, the above rules are overridden.
d. Items other than food can be on the list too.

I'll start!

1. maple syrup
2. mustard
3. sesame oil
4. chocolate chips
5. havdallah candle
6. neironim candles for shabbos candlestick
7. yartzeit licht

Your turn!

We don't; have much time, because Yisroel leaves France Wednesday morning.

Winner gets, um, some chocolate chip cake shipped to them? A thank you note sent in the real mail on our community stationary? Their name engrave for posterity on the wall of our synagogue?

We'll think of something. Thanks for your help!

Highlights

Gosh! I haven't written a post in so long, that I have tons to write about, but no time, so we'll make do with highlights.

Highlight #1: I taught my first class without a translator. My translator didn't show up to my class on Sunday, and it went fine, but I'm glad I had lots of hand's on things prepared to keep the class moving when we got stuck on incomprehensible items.

Highlight #2: We had a Lag B'omer BBQ on Sunday. (I know, Lag B'omer was Friday, but it gets dark way too late for us too do it Thurday night, and Friday people work until too close to Shabbos. So we did it on Sunday.) I was great, and the cool thing about doing BBQs with these Russians - they really are prepared for everything. Last time we had a BBQ with some friends of ours, we needed some wood to get the fire going, so one fellow took out his trusty axe from his trunk, and chopped up branches. (Russian's survival kit: Items to keep in your trunk: 1. Axe) Anyway, it started raining in the middle, so one participant, who came with a camping trailer, pulled out a heavy piece of plastic and tied it to some trees, so we all stayed dry.

Highlight #3: I went to the paper goods store again. This time, I had to make my order 3 times, because each time, just as it was done, they realized that they made a mistake. Efficient.

Highlight #4: We held a women's club gathering. I prepared a really neat program. We were supposed to learn about refining your personality, as we work on throughout sefira. I prepared a crash course in kabbalah, a game, and brought a graphologist to speak. We made phone calls early, and lots of women were interested.

6 women showed up, all over 60. The graphologist went over his 40 minutes and ended up speaking for an hour and a half. by that point, no one had more interest to learn about kabbalah. So we ate our refreshments, and called it a day. On the good side, I now have a class on kabbalah, all prepared and translated.

Highlight #5: We found kosher ice cream in the supermarket. Unfortunately, it is OU - D, so we can't eat it, but neat nonetheless. We also found kosher grapeseed oil. Useful, huh?

These cold summer days

I knew I should have taken a shower Sunday night. That was my last chance for a hot shower for the next long while.

The water in Vladivostok – and probably the same goes for the entire Russia – is heated by the city. As an aside, many homeless people therefore sleep underground, near the pipe system, where the hot water running through the pipes keeps them warm all winter.

The city has deemed it proper – and cheap – to turn off the hot water for the summer months.

But that’s not why our water was turned off on Monday. On Monday the hot water was turned off for a week or two, while repairs are made on the decrepit pipes. At the beginning of June, the hot water will be turned off for the duration of the summer. You do the math.

When we first moved to Vladivostok, we arrived on a Thursday afternoon, exhausted after 24 hours of traveling and 6 hours of desperate searching for a place to live. When we finally got settled, I tried to take a shower. The water wasn’t just not hot. It was frigid. Like ice. We thought that maybe the hot water was turned off at night. So I waited until morning, but the water wasn’t any warmer then. We spent a few weeks of ice-cold showers, boiling water for Mendel’s bath, - a few hour procedure, until enough water is boiled to fill the bath - until the owner of the apartment finally installed a small water tank.

Our new apartment does not have a water heater. The only piece of equipment that came with the apartment was the kitchen sink. No counters, no refrigerator, no oven, no light fixtures. We are trying to have the owner of the apartment install a water heater. I am not too hopeful.

the quickest, most delicious dessert

I make these bars just about every week, and sometimes more than once. They are like delicious chewy chocolate chip cookies, but way easier. They take me exactly 10 minutes to mix and place in the pan, and 22 minutes to bake. I’ve been making them for a lot of weeks – I have this down to a science. We don’t always have all the ingredients here, so I’ve tried all sorts of omissions, additions, and variations. Basically, the recipe always works out. I never bother with a mixer – I just mix with a fork and my hand. They

I will shamelessly admit that I lifted the recipe from the chocolate chip bag. This one is the Bloom’s version, with just a few minor changes.

1 C oil (or margarine, if you prefer the hydrogenated fat)

1 C sugar (you need 1 ½ C sugar all together – you can change the proportions of white and brown)

½ C brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla (can be skipped)

2 eggs

1 1/3 C flour (you can double the flour and skip the oats, if you prefer)

1 tsp baking powder (or baking soda – just mix well if you use baking soda)

1 tsp salt

2 C oats (quick or otherwise)

Chocolate chips (the package calls for 10 oz.; I use about 3)

Preheat oven to 350⁰. I have no idea how to make a degrees sign. That little thing is my substitute. Hey, just like my recipe, the substitute even better than the real thing. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.

Mix eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and oats. Place dough in pan, patting down and filling the corners. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges just start to brown. Bake longer if you prefer crispy cookies.

Cut into bars (sometimes I do 24, sometimes 48, and sometimes triangles), preferably while still warm, but can do while cool or even hot.

Enjoy!

Last June, I attended a conference in Moscow. This was a special conference for all the Russian shluchos. (Shliach is a Hebrew word, meaning emissary. Shliach is the masculine, shlucha the feminine. Shluchos is feminine plural. We are so called because we are emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, sent all over the world to bring Judasim to anywhere Jews are found) The conference was a blast. I roomed with 2 other English speaking shluchos, and we talked late into the night. The program was packed with workshops, classes, and great food that I didn’t have to make. In between, we hung out together, traded from-scratch recipes, traded ideas of how to run our center, and traded contact info.

On the last night of the convention, there was a banquet, at which I spoke. I love public speaking, so that was really fun. The only down side to it was that while putting the finishing touches to my speech, I missed the group picture. I almost missed the soup, too, but they were kind enough to bring me a new portion.

I was scheduled to, officially, give ‘greetings from the non-close East’. Okay, that sounds better in Hebrew, but that was my topic. I also wanted to thank Mr. George Rohr.

A word about the Rohrs. George Rohr, and his father Sami Rohr, are philanthropists that give a huge amount of money to charitable causes. They have helped to fund many Chabad houses, brought out rabbis to college campuses, and most significantly for us, they help support rabbis in Russia. So this speech was really addressed to George Rohr, who flew in from New York for the event.

Most of the conference was in Hebrew, as most shluchos in Russia are Israeli. I stood up on stage and delivered my speech in English nonetheless, not sure if anyone could understand. That was fun too.

Close to 10 months ago, my husband, baby son, and I, moved on Shlichus to Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East.

One day, some time after we arrived, a man walked into our shul to meet with my husband, explaining that he was interested in learning more about his Jewish heritage. He then related the amazing story of how he became involved.

Dima, our new friend, was visiting Petersburg, and while there, spontaneously entered a book shop. He asked the proprietor for a Jewish book. After searching for a while, the shopkeeper found a dusty book with Hebrew letters in some forgotten corner. Dima happily bought the book, and went home to study it. His new book was a Russian translation of Tanya, and it would change his life.

To me, this story is so representative of our shlichus, and the hard reaching effects of our work, so much of which we may never hear about.

A Tanya is printed, and it somehow reaches an out-of-the-way book shop. A random person walks in, buys it, and starts learning. And who would ever have imagined that this Tanya would reach this Jew who so desperately needed it!

Note: I wanted there to be a space between these 2 paragraphs. Somehow I got this thick ugly line, and I can't get rid of it. So feel free to ignore the thickness and the ugliness of the life, and pretend it is some cute squigglies.~~ Thanks!

I grew up in Morristown, a pleasant New Jersey suburb just an hour and a half from New York City. We’d go into New York every week or so, where all the kosher food and supplies you could ever imagine was available. I lived around the corner from the yeshiva, and would often lay awake in bed listening to the sounds of niggunim during a spirited farbrengen.

Living in Vladivostok, life is a little bit different. It is far from being a suburb, and is definitely not New Jersey! It takes 18 hours to fly to New York, and 9 hours just to get to Moscow. As Vladivostok is located directly east of here, the time difference to New York is 15 hours, to Moscow, 7. A friend recently asked me if I ‘still’ prepare all my food from scratch. “Well”, I answered her, “We have not yet opened our Kosher store”

However, the Rebbe insisted on calling the area of the world in which I live ‘the East which is not close’ rather than the ‘Far East’. For how can you say that another Jew is far?

And truly, I may not live nearby, but I also don’t live very far.

When I see Dima, who now puts on Tefillin every day, and won’t drive on Shabbos, coming to my house each week for a Tanya shiur, I know I don’t live far. Dima has since undergone a bris milah – at 37 years old! – and now goes by Dovid.

When I watch our Hebrew school students proudly saying Brochos, I know I don’t live far.

Far from what? We are I”YH, with lots of brochos translation: blessings and kochos translation: strength from the Rebbe, becoming a center of Yiddishkeit.

When I have a dilemma, and I call a fellow shlucha, who patiently guides and advises me, I know I don’t live far.

When I send our semi-annual report to someone in New York who read every word, and thinks about what I wrote, I know I don’t live far.

When I write a letter to the Rebbe, and get the clearest answer one could possible imagine, I know I don’t live far.

Far from what? I have the strongest support system in the world.

Ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu. Translation: how lucky we are, how good is our lot. How lucky we are to be shluchim, helping to bring every Jew that much closer to Yiddishkeit.

Thank you, Mr Rohr, for making all of this possible. The amazing places your efforts reach to, you may never even know. One more Jew was miraculously touched by your Tanya, The Rohrs sponsored the printing of a Russian translation of the Tanya, among other books. and countless, countless others continue to be touched by the shluchim you so generously support. Thank you!

Politics, politics, politics

Yesterday Yisroel met with the governor. They’ve been planning this meeting for a while, but it took over a year to actualize. Once our (former) secretary scheduled the meeting for yom tov, so that wasn’t doable, then the governor was out of town for a few weeks, and so it went.

So they had their meeting.

On the agenda: the synagogue, a school building, and a cemetery, all of which we need (well, we have the synagogue, but it needs restoration).

The governor promised to help with the synagogue, whatever that means.

He promised to help us a school building – guess we better be ready for a school real fast.

And he promised us help with the cemetery. Vladivostok used to have a Jewish cemetery, but at one point it was torn up and was built over. Now, really the cemetery is under the jurisdiction of the city, not the state. Unfortunately, the mayor of Vladivostok is in prison, so hopefully, the state will help us out with that.

Our cleaning lady was frustrated at having to iron shirts before the meeting – she was worried that she wasn’t doing a perfect enough job. Today she was very excited to tell me that she saw the Rabbi on TV. She worked extra well today too ;-). That may have been the best thing that came out of the meeting.

A fun shopping experience

Before Mendel's party, I went shopping for paper goods.

I always forget what the paper goods store is like here. It is a phenomenon that must be unique to Russia, and must be seen to be believed.

In sharp contradistinction with shopping for paper goods in America – Party city, or Wal Mart, or Amazing Savings - paper goods is a high-ticket item here. This is because paper goods are to be used only once. My cleaning lady always asks me if she should wash out the disposable cups and plates. When I’m not around to ask, she washes them regardless, and I find them in the drainer drying. A women who works in the kitchen in the synagogue, once came to show me her new purchase excitedly – aluminum pans, the kind that you buy 5 for a dollar. And look, she told me excitedly – they are reusable, over, and over.

So the paper goods store has a sample of each item locked in glass case, reminiscent of a jewelery store. Each display case is carefully locked, and you can wander around the store, looked intently as you try to decide which toilet paper you want – but you may not touch. If you’re lucky, one of the employees in the store will come to help you. She walks around with you and writes down everything you want. #52465. Toilet paper, 6 rolls. Green. #43441. Plastic forks, 20 pcs. White.
Now comes the real Soviet part. I’m not sure why the paper goods stores are still run in the soviet method, but they are. You have to go to a desk, where they can type up your list of what you would like to buy. Two copies are printed out, one for you, and one to give to the next desk. Then you go to the kassa, the cashier, and pay for your items. Now you have to get your purchases. So you go to a third desk, give them the list, and they fill up a bag of your items.

And if the store is busy, you get to wait on each line for each desk separately. Now you know why people went crazy shopping in the Soviet Union.

Of course, this system is not the most economical of ideas. In addition to the supplies – the fancy glass cases and the high quality floors, lighting and furnishings – all to make you feel that you are part of a high class experience. Add to that the cost of all the extra employees. Today, I was the only customer in the store – yet there were at least 6 employees on the floor, 3 to man the desks, one to help me, and the usual 2 to stand and look busy. So the cost of paper goods is indeed prohibitive.

However, the up side of all this as that it is a (usually) pleasant experience, as opposed to shopping in the market, where that is not always the case.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

It's been a while since I wrote, but that's only because we have no internet at home and it's been a while since I made it out of the house. We are babysitterless at the moment, so I tried to come to the synagogue last week with the kids. Well. Let's just say that between getting on and off the bus with a heavy stroller, and hanging out with to kvetchy kids in the cold synagogue, it's no wonder I wasn't able to focus enough to write a blog post.

So life here is great, and full of exciting things as usual. We met another Jewish American here. He's been living here for about a year, and is living here just because he likes Vladivostok. We had him, and a Jewish man who works in the U.S. consulate over for lunch of Shabbos. There is something very exciting about speaking English to someone with an American accent.

Mendel turned two, much to our excitement, and his (mostly) indifferance. We are having a party for him on Monday, the point being to try to get to know other preschool age children. Russians consider a birthday a big holiday, so we have a nice group coming. Mendel may be the youngest one there, but we are happy to have kids coming out of the woodwork.

I have a women's program coming up soon. We are wrapping up this year for women's programs, and then we will form an official club. Russians love official stuff.

We are slowly, slowly getting our house in order. We moved to a new apartment recently, and between Purim, Pesach, and our trip to Japan, organzing and settign up the apartment was pushed to the last burner.

And last, but definietly not least, I made the most delicious birthday cake for Mendel on Friday. I wish I took a picture of it, because it was pretty too. I did, however, learn my lesson about converting ingredients in a recipe. The recipe called for 24 ounces of chocolate. I know that you can susitute cocoa and oil for chocolate - but forgot about the sugar. I also forgot that if you are mixing oil, cocoa, and sugar, it should equal up to 24 ounces all together, and 24 ounces of cocoa is a bit much. It did work out eventually- 2 tries and 18 eggs later.

Of Pesach and other things

So it's been a week of no blogging, but a mad whirl of busyness.

The seders were great. 75 people came to the first one, and about 20 to the second one, which was held in a restaurant. Unfortunately, some people got food poisoning after the first seder, so we had a bunch of complaints, and lots of people who were expected at the second seder didn't make it. The seders were very much enjoyed, however, and people just didn't want to leave at the end.

Which of course meant that we arrived home late - midnight the first night, and 2 the second one, and only then began our sedarim. We plowed through, though, and finished our sedarim. Matza at 5:15 AM is not all that appetizing.

In other news, we bought a washing machine. It arrived 3 days before Yom Tov, which gave me plenty of time to do the bags and bags of laundry that had accumulated over the past weeks. However, after using the machine once or twice, we obviously had a problem. It made noises that sounded like plane takeoffs, and shook an enormous amount. It shook so much that the water hose became detached from the pipe, and water began leaking all over our floor and into our neighbor's downstairs. That wasn't so great. So we had a plumber over, and tried using the machine again. The problem only became worse though, and now the machine began to jump all over the room while doing a load. So we had a washing machine expert over, who told us that the machine came with the wrong feet. Then the manager of the store showed up, and told us that we had not installed the machine properly. So the machine is now properly installed, we hope. It still makes noise, and it vibrates to the point of shaking. Does anyone know if that is normal? And now it is Chol Hamoad, and we shouldn't be doing laundry - but let me tell you, we are pretty desperate.

The weather is warming up here, and all in all, it has been a wonderful beginning to both Pesach and spring.

Pesach madness

So how far along are you in your Pesach cleaning?

No competition here. I have yet to begin.

I also have 2 public seders to help prepare, cooking to do, 2 boys to host - they are coming to help us out, countless meals to prepare, a wmen's club to run today. . . and the list goes on.

I have posts all typed up, with no time to post them. So please forgive me if the blog is a bit slow over the next week.

Wishing everyone a wonderful, happy, and kosher Pesach!

The view from Japan

On our arrival in Japan, we committed a major faux pas.

Last night we arrived in Osaka, the airport right next to Kobe. We were exhausted, having flown to Seoul, hung out in the Seoul airport, and then flown to Osaka. By this time, the kids, and especially Baila, had had enough. She was screaming, on and off.

After passing the 'bird flu' inspections, we made our way to customs. Like we do in every airport we've ever been in with kids, we asked if we could skip the like since we had a small baby. In America, in Israel, especially in Korea, and even in Russia, the airport staff is always rushes us through with the baby.

The linekeeper told us to go to the customs counter. But then the guard there went ballistic. He was furious that we had skipped the line. They called the manager, and then his manager, and they eventually closed the gate we were standing at so we would not be standing in line at all. They made us wait until the end of the entire line - and this was a huge, double decker plane - until finally letting us through.

Apparently you are to never to skip a line in Japan.

We are slowly learning about this culture.

Other than this episode, everyone has been very nice to us. When they see the baby they start smiling and cooing. We hailed a taxi last night, and for some reason still unknown to us due to the language barrier, he could not take us. So he waited with us and helped hail down another cab, only getting into his own car when he was sure the taxi would be taking us.

They are also very honest. The rabbi told us that we would not have to worry about people ripping us off. Today, we saw shoes for sale lined up outside a store. The price tag was attached, and everybody left them alone. In Russia, everything is kept under lock and key.

A taste of Japan

We have decided that Japanese are the polar opposites of the Russians.

We went to the photo shop today to take a picture for Baila's visa. Here's how the photo shoot went:

Photographer got Baila sent up comfortably in the stroller, lined with a white cloth. She took a few pictures and could not get Baila to smile. Still smiling, she called down another employee. Prepared with a stuffed animal, he waved it in front of Baila repeatedly and made ridiculous noises, still trying to get her to smile. We finally had it and told them to keep it as it is.
Yisroel asked how long it would take for the picture to get ready.
"10 minutes." The lady answered.
We asked if it could be done any faster. We were, of course, on a super tight deadline. Yisroel was on the way to the consulate, which closed in 1 1/2 hours, at least an hour train ride away.
"O.K." answered the lady in her best English "8 minutes".

In Russia, we would get one shot. There's no trying for better photos. And in Russia, anything can be done, anytime, anywhere, breaking all the rules, if you ask the right way, or know the right people, or pay the right amount of money.

Visa, Part III

Kobe, Japan, is a nice city.

Well, before I get into trouble from people who have been there, and think that Kobe is, in fact, not a nice city, let me clarify that we haven't actually seen the city. We arrived here last night, and by the time we actually got to the city, it was past midnight.

We are here, of course, to take care of Baila's visa. Invitation in hand, we decided not to risk waiting for Wednesday to go to the Russian offices to plead our case, and then possibly be stuck having to leave the country the day before Pesach. Instead, we flew to Kobe, via Seoul.

I have never before bought a ticket in the airport. We tried to by a ticket at the airline's office in Vladivostok, but by the time we had decided to make the flight- just a very few short hours before the flight - that was impossible, and we had to buy it in the airport. By then, the price of each ticket had gone up $300. So on the advice of the ticket seller (or whatever they're called - it was the kassa in Russian) we bought a ticket to Seoul only. In Seoul, we again scrambled for a ticket, and landed with comfortable seats to Kobe, at a much lower rate. Cheap, it still wasn't.

Time to take care of visa-getting. To be continued.

STARS

Sunday is STARS class day.

STARS - Student Torah Alliance for Russian Speakers.

It is a program organized throughout Russia, where, basically, kids get paid to learn.

When we first started, we looked at the requirements. Among other things, the teachers must be people who keep Shabbos and are fluent Russian speakers. There is exacly one person in the city who fits that description - and that's Yisroel. So he teaches some classes, I teach some through a translator, we show some speakers over video, and an older man in the community fills in the rest. He is a fascinating perosn - but more about him some other time.

It's very exciting to have young people coming together to learn. We started earlier this year, and it's amazing to see how much the students have learned since then.

We will be having a trip to Israel in the summer, but, of course, they need to come to classes before then. The deadline for signing up for the trip is this week, so we have extra students this week.

Lunch time. More later, hopefully.

Visa, Part II

It is not what you know, but who you know. If this is true anywhere, it is doubly true in Russia.

Our secretary called the governor’s wife, a friend of ours, to see if she could do anything for us.

Her advice: Go to the office and cry. If they don’t help us, she will get the governor involved.

So we are waiting for next week, when the right people will be in the office. At the very least, we hope to get an extension, which will take us to the middle of Pesach.

Not that I would do any better in Russian. . .

From the box of Baila's new doll:

Visa, Part I

Russia has laws that could make any lawyer’s head spin. Especially when it comes to foreigners. And every day, it seems, new laws are created. They are specially designed, perfectly suited for making our lives absolutely nuts.

I’m not a hundred percent sure that I have this right, so bear with me as I go step by step.
We need visas to come to Russia. Since we are here for an extended period of time, we get 12 month visas. Now, that used to mean that after 12 months, we were required to leave the country, obtain a new visa, and then return. But they passed a new law: we now must leave the country every 3 months. For 3 months. Since - and I’m a bit confused about this part - our visas were issued before this law, or maybe it is because we have a religious visa, we need only to leave for a minimal amount of time, and can then immediately return.

We obtained a visa for Baila in New York. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get an invitation and get a long term visa for her, so we just got a tourist visa – which expires after one month. So, it is expiring. More precisely, it is expiring 3 days before Pesach. Since she, being all of 2 months old, is such a threat to the security of the country, she must leave Russia, get a new visa, and only then can she come back.

Here comes the complicated part. The easiest thing would be to go to China, and take care of matters there, as the Chinese and Russian borders meet a mere 4 hour drive away. But, Russia just issued a new law. A foreigner may not make a visa for China while in Russia. So that option is out.

We can go to Tokyo, and get a new visa at the consulate there. But there are no flights from Vladivostok to Tokya. So we can take a boat to some city in Japan whose name escapes me now, and then a train to Tokyo. The boat ride is, our secretary explained to me today, only 36 hours each way. And it costs $1000.

So we can fly to Riga, where many American go to renew visas. The flight to Moscow is 9 hours, then another 3 or 4 to Riga. But there are no flights available from Moscow to Riga until the week before Pesach. And if there were, tickets would cost us $1400. So we can take a train from Moscow to Riga. It is only a 12 hour ride.

We can fly to Seoul, where the consulate can issue an expedited visa for us. But the flights do not go every day. And although Seoul is a 2 hour flight from Vladivostok, tickets cost about $800. And the visa itself will cost $600-$800.

My head is getting dizzy with all the options. There are loads more. After all, we have a whole globe open before us. We can fly to any city in Japan, maybe to Mongolia, or to Kazakhstan. The whole world is ours to explore, only each option is more complicated, longer, and more expensive than the rest.

And Pesach is coming ever closer. And the baby is 2 months old.

But it will work out. Somehow.