A quick shout out

Hi, still here. Been really busy, with, oh, all sorts of things. Like my two adorable and very time consuming kids. And a new English club that we started, taking place every Sunday, and taught by the most qualified teacher in town (yup, you got it, that's me). And working on our ever growing and more successful (Thank G-d!) women's club. And making bread. And cutting up chicken, because, hooray, our chicken arrived from Moscow! 300 kilos of it! And writing articles, in the hope of making lots of money and winning a trip to New York for the International Shluchos Convention.

So that's what's going on with me.

In the synagogue now came to prepare for English class. I'll be getting home 1/2 hour before Shabbos, and I am about half-cooked there. Meaning, I still need to take a shower and cook about 4 hours worth of things.

So wishing you a very wonderful, happy, successful Shabbos!

The White Stuff

It snowed here for the first time yesterday.

I am trying to figure out why it never snows in Vladivostok. I don't understand it, because in the spring there is so much precipitation here, that it rains almost every day. I have asked everyone, from my babysitter to my friends to our secretary to the ladies at my women's club. The only answer I received was that it has something to do with the climate here and the geographical location. Then again, this answer was in Russian, so I may have not got it all.

So when it snowed, my babysitter and I agreed that it was especially for me.

They don't bother to plow the streets here. 2 inches of snow get driven over by thousands of cars, or walked on by hundred of feet, depending on the location. That flattens them down to just a thin layer of really slippery snow.

Since it doesn't snow that often here, the event gets blown out of proportion when it does. We began our STARS group again on Sunday, which was well recieved and decently attended despite the weather.

Mendel and I had blast with the snow today I showed him how to make snow angels, and I'm lucky saw, because the Russians are terrified of anything resembling cold. The snow wasn't wet enough to make snowballs, though.

A success!

Thursday was my Women's Club. That is not a grammatical mistake. My entire Thursday centered and revolved around my club, which was, thank G-d an unqualified success.

Plenty of people showed up - in fact, given that the event took place in my living room, I don't think we could have handled more. The atmosphere was just amazing, really warm and bonding. We learned about (drum roll here) mezuzah (never would have guessed, huh?) which was, apparently inspiring enough for 3 women to take out their wallets and purchase mezuzahs for their home. We gave charity and prayed for the Jewish people in Israel, and the soldiers fighting for them. And then we sculpted. That was really awesome. This sculptor is a big professional (despite her lack of professionalism as evidenced by taking on a lecture that was supposed to happen the same time as my club, forcing us to push off the club for an hour, and then nevertheless arriving VERY late) whose pieces are found in museums. More importantly, she knows how to teach, so he showed us how to sculpt mezuzah cases, gave lots of tips and advice, and then sat back and let the ladies have fun. I was the bad student. I was really busy talking to everyone, that I missed all the instructions. Then I had to get up, and say goodbye as the first people left, then take care of my kids . . . My mezuzah case came out ok considering all the mediating factors.

But the program was REALLY successful, and everyone is talking about how they can't wait for the next one (which is, thank G-d, a month away).

My only regret is that our camera went missing in action, and I have no pictures to prove to you just how amazing it really was. You'll have to take my word for it on this one.

Women's Club Hopes and Plans

Mezuza is the theme for Teves/January.

Unfortunately, at the last minute, we decided to change the date, because it turns out that on January the 11th, the original date,will be a 'working Sunday'.

Working Sundays are a Russian phenomenon. If there were many vacation days in a said week, Sunday, or worse, Saturday, are turned into working days, and EVERYONE goes to work or school.

So we changed the date to Thursday, which is, gulp, tomorrow.

But this is the thing. We have an awesome activity. We are sculpting mezuza covers at a sculpting place with a famous and professional sculpter.

The only thing is that no one knows about it yet. And we are charging for it. So we will see.

Hope to report on here in a few day with really awesome news about how successful the program was.

The neat looking flyer above was designed by Der Bahelfer.

Chicken Soup and Kabbalah

Every once in a while, we get Jewish visitors here.

On Friday night, we had an interesting guest. Sergei is 19 years old and he is spending the year touring the world. He spent a little while in Moscow, and his main goal is to get to Japan. So he took the TranSiberian railroad from Moscow to Vladivostok. It was six long days, he told us. He did not get off the train. He found Vladivostok, to his surprise, to be really interesting - one of his favorite cities in the world.

Anyway, he ate over Friday night. Yisroel found the poor boy to be really receptive of Judaism, and grabbed his chance to teach him the basics. So while I served my chicken soup, Yisroel explained to Sergei, a vegetarian, why, according to the kabbalah, man should eat meat and properly fulfill the hierarchy of the world. During the main course, they had a long discussion about circumcision. Sergei didn't know how lucky he was that it was Shabbos. For his part, Yisroel would have been glad to take care of matters then and there. As the meal drew to a close, Yisroel talked all about finding your true self, and getting to know your Jewish soul. Sergei insisted that he wasn't searching for anything at all on his journey around the world, but Yisroel told him that sometimes people are not even aware that they are looking.

As for Sergei, he went back to his hosts talking about what a wonderful meal he had. The only thing he specified, though, was that the rabbi has a nice wife. Glad I made an impression.

Judaism Revealed

As we worked on plans for the future Jewish Community Center of Vladivostok, I was reminded of this article which I wrote last September.

The year 1860. Vladivostok, a far eastern city on the Russian port, was founded.

1902. Jews made the long journey across Russia and settled in this cold port city. A mikva was built. A Jewish school opened, where community members could now educate their children. A synagogue was erected.

Years passed. Jewish life all over Russia began to precariously flicker.

1932. The hold of Communism spread over Russia, reaching even this far eastern city. The mikva was shut down; the rabbi fled for his life; the school was boarded up. Finally, in this war against religion, the synagogue was claimed. The building was converted to a candy factory, and any identifying Jewish symbols were destroyed. All outward traces of the Jewish life in Vladivostok were stamped out.

Vladivsotok experienced its own Jewish revival last Tishrei.

The synagogue, 70 years after it was confiscated, was returned to the Jewish community. It is easy enough, however, to designate a building for a said purpose. To actually turn a building into something more, in this case, into a vibrant synagogue filled with Jews once again proudly celebrating their identity, is far more difficult.

The community began joining together, once again observing their Judaism openly. At first, it was just the elderly. And even among the elderly – most call themselves atheists. They barely remember Jewish life as it is meant to be lived. Intermarriage is sky-high, hovering at just above 99%. Slowly, slowly, youth began coming, as if being pulled in by the magnetism of the synagogue and all it represents. Individuals started to become closer to G-d and follow His commandments.

Externally too, the Jewish soul began to be revealed.

The synagogue has the remnants of the Tablets, the sign of our covenant with G-d, etched in the exterior. Although the government had been able to erase the actual letters, the shape of our eternal covenant remained.

Recently, while doing repair work, drilling was accidentally done into the tablets. Underneath, covered by a heavy layer of cement, were hiding Hebrew letters.

The rest of the cement was scraped away. All the dust and dirt scraped away, the first two words of each of the commandment now proudly proclaim their message.

On Simchas Torah, the Jews in Vladivostok, those young in body and those young at heart, danced the night away in our precious synagogue. They loudly announced their Jewish pride, and rejoiced with G-d’s gift to us, our Torah.

Outside, illuminated in the darkness, the tablets and its message once again stood out, proudly proclaiming our covenant with G-d.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

This recipe is delicious. I kept saying that it was almost as good as the store-bought ones, until I was back in America and tasted them. This is way better.

Ingredients:
2 lt Tomato juice (I suppose sauce would work equally well, or better. Never tried it though.)
3 onions
1 head garlic
2 tomatoes
10 mushrooms (optional)
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 shake red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp parsley
chopped meat (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil.
Oil for frying

Dice onions. Saute in oil. Add Garlic. If adding meat, brown it and add. Add tomato juice, tomatoes, mushrooms, and any other vegetables you’d like. Add 1 teaspoon salt. Add olive oil. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, covered. Sauce should be reduced by at least ¼ and much darker. Taste. Add seasoning to taste.

If you’d like pizza sauce simmer an additional ½ hours. The sauce will be even darker and thicker.

YOU can make a difference

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Or you can send all donations to:
American Friends of the Jewish Community of Vladivostok
388 Crown St.
Brooklyn New York 11225

100% of your tax deductible donation will go directly to the Jewish Community of Vladivostok.

Boris, the Soldier Forever

Boris has passed on to a better world.

He was a really amazing person. Born in 1915 in Novosibirsk, Siberia, he was circumcised as a baby. The winds of modernism were sweeping through Russia, and at the circumcision, his parents named him in true modern fashion – Boris. His Jewish name forevermore.

He recalled how as a young child, he once accompanied his grandfather to the large synagogue in Novosibirsk. As the cantor and the participants chanted the unfamiliar words, his eyes wandered about him at the huge, majestic synagogue, until his gaze caught sight of the ceiling. It was domed, and just beautiful, and he stared, and stared, until suddenly WHACK! Little Boris felt his grandfather’s hand on his shoulder, reminding him that one attends synagogue to pray, not to daydream. Boris ran out of the synagogue, away from his shame, swearing to never return.

But return he did. He recounted this story some 85 years later at services in the Vladivostok synagogue. In between, were years and years of service to the Soviet Union. First, as a high ranking officer in the Army. Later, he served as chief of Intelligence for the KGB, a large area under his command. (although by all rights, his qualifications and talents, he should have been promoted to general, this rank was denied to Jews).

Even at age of 93, he walked like a proud soldier, shoulders back, head held high. But now he focuses his determination to being a soldier in G-d’s army. He felt that, at 92 years old, he now entered into a new era, a new life. He was once a communist, he would proudly say. But that was then. And now, - and of this he was especially proud – he was a returning Jew. He attended synagogue each week, listening intently, always absorbing, as the rabbi spoke. Jewish holiday and traditions once again became a part of his life.

So it was a very sad day for us when we attended his funeral. In his merit, he received a sort of Jewish funeral, a rare event in Vladivostok. There is no Jewish cemetery here, and most people don’t care enough about Judaism for a Jewish funeral. But for Boris, chapters from Psalms were read. The rabbi entreated the mourners to take on another good deed in his memory.

As we left the funeral, getting in from the literally feet numbing cold, I thought about how much this incredible man achieved in his last few years. It is truly never too late.

And I thought too, about the thousands of others out here like him, or, rather, farther removed than him. The Jews who think being Jewish means eating stuffed fish and chopped herring. Those who wish they weren’t Jewish. Those who know they are Jewish and don’t care. Those who don’t even know they are Jewish.

I uttered a small prayer for the Borises of Vladivostok, indeed, of the world, to return to their Jewish identity, to return to themselves