Babushka

HAPPY HANNUKAH!!!

2007-12-07T03:04:00.000-08:00

This Hannukah, the entire city of Minsk is alight with Hannukah festivals. The holiday was kicked off on the first night with Chabad’s Hannukah play performed by the Or Avner school, followed by a concert featuring Minsk’s newest Jewish band “Shalom.” The second night brought crowds to the Israel Cultural Center’s concert presenting new-age Israeli artists Aloni Daniel and Mikhael Meirzona. But that wasn’t all for night number two; Minsk’s latest hangout for young Jews, Moishe House, headed by Aliyah Phillips and Natasha Kirikovich and funded by the Forest Foundation in partnership with JDC, hosted a candle-lighting after-party abundant with home-made draniki (Belarusian: latkes), and fresh sufganiot (Hebrew: jelly donuts). Night number three uncovered young talents at the Mazel Tov Hannukah play for pre-schoolers and their parents, and a holiday-themed Hesed concert, also led by Aliyitchka and her co-teacher, Tanya.

But it’s not over yet; Minsk’s Jews of all ages are waiting to see what the second half of the holiday will bring them. Today, JDC Minsk’s employees are getting ready for their office holiday party, to be led by JSC volunteers, Eritchka, Aliyitchka, and Sebastianchik. This weekend, students and university graduated are anxiously anticipating the Hillel Hannukah Shabbaton, where there will educational historical Hannukah content and of course, lots of fun. And of course, the holiday will be topped off this Sunday by a final festive concert organized by the JDC and Minsk Jewish Campus.

Photo 1: The holiday would certainly not be complete without the JCC-Emuna Kokhavim art studio for children's beautiful Hannukah-themed paintings decorating the campus.

Photo 2: Aliyichka hypnotizes Mazl Tov children...

October's Best Babushka

2007-11-30T03:30:00.000-08:00

Malka Zalmanovna, 84

Malka was born in Berezino, a town approximately 70 kilometers from Minsk. When the Second World War started, she was evacuated to the Urals with her mother while her father served in the Soviet army. Her father, Zalman, was never heard from again. She and her mother survived the war years, but due to severe malnourishment, Malka suffered from many illnesses throughout her young life and was diagnosed with osteoporosis when she was in her 40s. Malka and her mother returned to Berezino, but they found that Malka would acquire a better education in nearby Borisov.

Between sicknesses and studies, Malka had little free time, but she always made sure to sing and cook with her mother. “We were very close. Like sisters or best friends. I wanted to remember how she did everything, from her gefilte fish recipe to her bedtime lullabies,” Malka said while showing off her golden smile. (Literally, her when she grins, she shows off a mouthful of aurous gold-capped teeth.) “That’s why when I joined the Hesed club in Borisov, I realized that I knew more Jewish songs than anyone, because I had paid such close attention to my mother.”

Malka is now a star soloist in the Borisov Hesed choir. When she sings the songs she remembers from long ago, her small shaky frame suddenly stands tall to accommodate her powerful voice.

Malka has 2 children and 4 grandchildren. None of them live in Belarus.

Jewish Museum Turns 5!

2007-11-30T03:01:00.000-08:00

5 years seems like a short amount of time for Minsk, a city which just celebrated its 940th birthday since its establishment. But in a post-Soviet city where communism almost completely destroyed 500 years of Jewish history in Belarus, 5 years of the existence of the Jewish Museum in Minsk is the only thing keeping the community from completely forgetting. The only Jewish Museum in Belarus, housed in the Minsk Jewish Campus, is only one room small, but is filled to the brim with Jewish artifacts, photos, and maps depicting Jewish history in Belarus before, during, and after the Holocaust. The Museum holds an archive of Jewish family names which helps Belarusian Jews and Jews from abroad discover their roots.

The 5-year birthday party of this prized project was hosted by director Inna Gerassimova who founded this Museum before she even received a salary for her work. The party celebrated supporters of the Museum, with the most honored being the volunteers who develop the projects of the Museum by acting as museum docents, text translators, and exhibit builders.

Memorial For “Nameless” Partisan

2007-10-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Oct. 26, 1941: Dispassionate SS officers parade a seventeen-year-old girl, a young man, and an older man through the streets of Minsk and hang them side by side at the gates of a yeast factory.

This was the first public execution of partisans in the German-occupied USSR during the Second World War.

The two men were accordingly identified and proclaimed heroes, while the teenage girl remained “unknown.”

Her picture can be seen in the Minsk Museum of the Great Patriotic War and in any Russian book about the partisan movement, but despite eyewitness testimonies, she steadfastly remains “ne ustanovlivena,” unidentified, in official sources, and even on her memorial plaque.

Despite conclusive historical sources which declare her unknown, many know her as Masha Bruskina, a Jewish resident of the Minsk ghetto who, in her tenure as a nurse, helped hospitalized Soviet personnel escape occupied Belarus to join the underground movement.

A dogged Minsk Jewish community refuses to forget their most famous partisan maiden. The yeast factory where the gallows stood still stands, and this year, a group of Jewish and non-Jewish survivors, veterans, and bystanders gathered to honor Masha’s name, and the two others who were hanged with her, Volodya Sherbateyivich and Kril Trus.

A classmate of Masha’s reminisced at the ceremony about how she and Masha studied for exams together and did their hair together. She will never forget Masha’s thick brown mane.

Photo 1: The plaque by the yeast factory where Masha was hanged reads “here on the 26th of October, 1941, the Fascists executed Soviet partisans K.E. Trus, V.E. Sherbateyivich, and a girl- surname unknown”

Photo 2: The Jewish Masha Bruskina is hanged with two other partisans, Kril Trus and Volodya Sherbateyivich. The sign around her neck reads in Russian and German: "We are partisans who shot at German soldiers."

Bubba-loshn: September’s Best Babushka

2007-10-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yiddish language has had its ups and downs in Belarus. As the heart of the Pale of Settlement, Belarus was a hub of Yiddish language, theater, and culture. So commonplace was Yiddish in many Belarusian towns such as Bobruisk and Slutsk that it was even the lingua franca of many non-Jews dwelling in these overwhelmingly Jewish villages.

During the pre-WWII Soviet Period, the Yiddish language enjoyed a period of flowering.
By the 1930's there were more than 1,200 Yiddish schools and several teacher-training institutions, as well as departments of Jewish studies and chairs of Yiddish language and literature at the Universities of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk. Yiddish, in fact, was so prolific that it was among the 4 official languages of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic displayed on the emblem of Belarus, the three others being Russian, Belarusian, and Polish. There were also Yiddish puppet theaters, drama societies, and daily Yiddish papers throughout the Belarusian Soviet Republic and throughout the Soviet Union.

Now, years after World War II and Stalin’s repression, the momoloshn is back in full force in this Mother Land. There are no Yiddish schools or newspapers, but already since the fall of the Soviet Union there has been a true renaissance of Yiddish. Few remain that can speak the language fluently, but hundreds of elderly Jews in Belarus are coming out of the closet as Yiddophiles.

The Minsk Jewish Campus now hosts two Yiddish language courses. One is Shmues, a Yiddish language and culture club organized by Hesed, the Joint Distribution Committee’s main welfare organization in Minsk. Hesed also has a Yiddish puppet theater, Yiddish choir, and even puts on an annual Yiddish-only Purimspiel.

The second is Momoloshn, a weekly lesson headed by one of the only Yiddish teachers in Belarus and this month’s Best Grandma, Valentina Pugachova, who puts her Babushka heart and soul into teaching Yiddish at the Minsk Society of Jewish Culture, also in the Minsk Jewish Campus.

Valentina’s first childhood memories are of her life in the Minsk ghetto. She, like most other Jewish Minsk residents has relatives who were murdered in the Yama pit in the center of Minsk. Despite the dangers, Valentina and her husband spoke to one another in Yiddish during the Soviet Union, determined not to forget their national language. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Valentina has had the pleasure of openly sharing her knowledge with her community every Tuesday night at 6:30pm with other less-knowledgeable Yiddish enthusiasts. Valentina is has two Yiddish-speaking grandchildren, one who lives in Minneapolis and one who lives in Chicago.

Top Photo: Valentina teaches the alef-beis. She keeps her students' attention with her warm smile and bright orange hair! Second Photo: a Yiddish and Russian sign from the "White-Russian Soviet Socialist Republic Government University," which still exists today.

Italy is HERE!

2007-09-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

That’s what a dozen signs in front of proud displays of Kellogs cereal told customers in Preston Supermarket’s Bogdanovich Street branch. A recent shipment of “Italian” cereals such as varieties of Special K, All Bran, Frosted Flakes, Corn Flakes is the first of its kind in the Republic of Belarus and is certainly making waves in certain (very limited) circles. Each box is priced at approximately 13,500 Belarusian Rubles (7 USD) and is worth every Kopek if you’re a resident of Belarus who appreciates good cereal and is sick of buying Russian cereals such as Cosmo-Stars and Snow Flakes, which simultaneously taste kosher-for-Passover and look like cigarette ashes. Thanks to this latest shipment of Italian delicacies, Eritchka’s kitchen was filled with the melodious sounds of Pif Paf Pof (Eng. trans: Snap, Crackle, Pop) for the first time since her arrival to Belarus.

So if you’re an Italian living in Belarus and you’re missing the taste of home, drop by Preston Market and pick up a Kellogs box, because like the sign says, “Italy is HERE!” Before you rush to the check out line with your goods, be sure to check out the fresh home-made Polish-import pastas just across from the cereal section.

Gig at the Fall Festival

2007-09-24T05:56:00.001-07:00

Eritchka has her first clarinet gig with Viktor Maslov, darbuka, and Ilya Bassin, trumpet. Together they play a funked up Hava Nagila at the Minsk Jewish Campus's annual Autumn Holiday Festival which always falls just before Sukkot.

Memorial Unveiled in Slutsk Brings in Somber New Year

2007-09-24T04:31:00.000-07:00

During Rosh Hashana this year, an unlikely community of only 100 Jews celebrated not only the beginning of a new year, but also their heroism of years past. A long-awaited memorial marking the location of the Slutsk Ghetto and its uprising was finally unveiled the first Sunday of year 5768.

The monument, located near the center of town, is just across the street from the original entrance to the Ghetto itself.

“It is very significant that there is such a sizeable memorial near the center, because here people will actually see it,” explained Yaakov Bassin, head of Belarus’s Progressive Jewish communities and a strong voice against anti-semitism in the Former Soviet Union.

And sizeable it is. The memorial ground covers a large segment of a Slutsk city-street. It is surrounded by an unusual gate-like structure made of black wood in an irregular arrangement, giving the observer a feeling of imprisonment in a labyrinth. There are columns of stones shoved in various corners of the gates to symbolize residents of the ghetto being cornered and victimized. These faceless formless stones illustrate how targets of Nazi cruelty were dehumanized by their oppressors.

"The story of the Slutsk ghetto is probably one of the most terrifying in all of Belarus," explained Raisa Tychkina, the Chairman of the local Jewish community. "Ghetto prisoners were burned alive in their own homes and those who tried to run away were shot to death. Only several persons managed to survive these events," she said (www.fjc.ru).

The stones which mark the memorial’s purpose are written in Belarusian, and label the place in honor of the people of the Ghetto. Thanks to the financial assistance of Jerry Weiner, a major force in the Minsk-Atlanta Jewish partnership, and others such as the Simon Mark Lazarus Foundation, and also due to the spiritual guidance of Slutsk Ghetto survivor, Fredrich Falevich, the memorial was erected, marking this previously virtually unknown historical locale. The elderly Slutsk community has finally achieved a long-anticipated victory of building their memorial in the hopes that passersby will now pay tribute to a nearly-lost Jewish community which once comprised approximately 80% of Slutsk’s pre-war population.

Click here for more on the massacre of Slutsk's Jewry.

Aliyah and Erica: Leading Jewish Belarus to Glory!

2007-09-18T08:29:00.000-07:00

The count is officially in: TWO Americans are currently residing in Minsk! Watch out Kazakhs, cause there’s a new national minority group in town! This new record-breaking stat doesn’t just mean more recitations of “beans beans the musical fruit” and other American literary classics, because these two with their amazing yiddisher khokhma are taking Jewish Belarus by storm.

Above photo: Watch as Hillel students ride Eritchka’s and Aliyitchka’s coattails to shtetl-fabulous glory. Just remember: don’t drink and ride!

Ktiva Ve'Khatima Tova: May you be written in The Good Blog for this year to come

2007-09-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

Minsk “Jointniks” wish you and yours a Happy New Year! Even if you don’t follow the integrated lunar-solar calendar of the chosen people, take this opportunity to do some heart-searching and make some resolutions for the coming year. And don’t forget to eat as many sweets as possible, because it will unquestionably clinch you a candy-coated year!

Photo: Jointnik Katia (far right) coquettishly eyes the mouthwatering apples and homemade forest honey at the JDC Minsk Rosh Hashana party while her neighbors are entranced in a lecture on the traditions and obligations observed on the Jewish New Year.

August’s Best Babushka: Having a Ball

2007-09-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

Lena Fruman is exercising her Jewish core with fitness balls in the newly renovated Barry and Merle Ginsburg Community Building gym in Vitebsk. This trendy fitness method is mostly yet unknown in Belarus, but these en vogue pensioners are spreading the rage, while firming their abs, with their total-body, low-impact conditioning. Vitebsk seniors aren’t the only ones flexing their muscles with chic workouts. Come to Minsk, where Hesed Rachamim’s golden-agers attend dance and pilates classes in the Minsk Jewish Campus. So for those optimum abs, buns, and thighs, it’s best to keep with the Jewish Belarusian Babushkas, who stay on the move with the latest fitness trends.

July's Best Bab- Dancing Queen: Irina Bukhel

2007-08-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

This pioneering pensioner was one of the first to join Vitebsk Hesed’s dance troupe. “As soon as I heard about the club, I made sure my name was at the top of the sign up sheet,” said the 77 year-old. Affectionately called the Vitebskie Devchata, or Gals of Vitebsk, the group currently has 15 regular members who come together twice-a-week in the Barry and Merle Ginsburg Community Building in Vitebsk to practice eye-popping dances which never betray the ladys’ ages. “We make all of our costumes ourselves,” Irina proudly explained displaying her blue and white gown and crocheted bonnet. “We gals are proof to the world that grandmas can move!”

Top Photo: Irina poses in one of her fur hats after rehearsal. "I have a much bigger one," she says. Bottom Photo: Irina in motion!

Camp Raduga: People with Limits Push the Boundaries

2007-08-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

To the average Minsk resident, traveling a mere one kilometer outside the city is no major escapade. But to participants and organizers of the Raduga camp, that kilometer is for some, an achievement of a lifetime. Raduga, Russian for rainbow, is a club for young Jewish adults living with psychological and physical disabilities. The club is organized by Hesed Rachamim, Minsk’s main Jewish welfare organization, and meets at the Minsk Jewish campus twice a week.

The main activities of Raduga aim toward the integration and social adaptation of its members, especially working on building confidence, independence, and Jewish identity through cooking, arts and crafts, theater, and physical fitness.

“For urban Belarusians, the summer is a time to escape from work and the stresses of city life. However, for individuals suffering from severe disabilities, it can be virtually impossible to leave the apartment, let alone the city,” explained Lena Efremenko, year-round Raduga social worker. For this reason, the Raduga camp, which provided transportation accessible to individuals with special needs, is liberation from the monotony of the rest of the year. “Especially for young people trapped at home all summer, this gives them a release,” Efremenko added.

The camp is located in Terassova, a small village dominated by a large church. The house in which the campers are living is specifically designed for retreats for disabled individuals, and the house itself is in fact owned by the church. “Icons are apparent throughout the rooms, but the staff here is understanding and lets us put up our own Jewish symbols around the house,” Lena illustrated, pointing to the large “Grace After Meals” poster. “We face no trouble here with displaying our Jewishness.”

The camp is run in two 10-day shifts, with about 20 people per shift, including some mothers who accompany their acutely dependent children.

An important part of camp is of course, the physical element. For that, Raduga staff brought in Boris Bachkovsky, who has made a career of competing himself and training others in competitions for the disabled. He holds the title for world champion of wheelchair dancing, and his is currently preparing a Raduga delegation to compete in this year’s Special Olympics games in Shanghai. Boris designed games that encompassed the both the fitness and emotional aspects of sports, giving campers an opportunity to test their limits, and feel proud of their success.

The camp also offers cooking, painting, and of course singalongs around the bonfire.

To an outside observer of the camp, what is immediately visible might be the tragic stories of helpless individuals facing a dead end on the road of life. But to Lena, these youngsters represent improvement and potential. “I have been working with these young people for years now, and it is amazing to see how much progress some have made since they joined the group.” Pointing to a conspicuously cheerful brunette playing horseshoes with another camper, she expanded, “Natasha over there was in a wheel chair at last year’s camp. She and her family had despaired of any possible improvement in her condition, and Natasha always had a dejected look on her face. Now look at her. She is literally standing on her own two feet and is so happy about it.”

The first shift of Raduga camp ended with a song session around the bonfire. They sang Soviet marches, children’s songs, and pop. The song before bedtime was “Shalom al Yisrael,” and although not everyone could pronounce the words, everyone was singing, rejoicing in their emerging personalities, abilities, and challenges they face ahead.

June’s Best Babushka: Founding Baba, Sonia Filkova

2007-07-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

This Babushka is one of the 4 founding mothers of the post-Soviet Belarusian Jewish community. Before any Jewish organization had been established in Minsk, or anywhere else in the country for that matter, Sonia taught the Belarusian yingele in the only Jewish Sunday school of the time. Sonia and the others kept their full-time jobs while working as full-time volunteers in the Jewish community. When the JDC sent their first emissary to Belarus after the fall of the Soviet Union, he discovered these four women had already created a basic community infrastructure, but it was in need of assistance. Since she was so wonderful with children, she was offered the position of director of the as-of-yet non-existant local JCC, JCC Emuna. Since then, Sonia has been invaluable in creating programs for Jewish children across the Republic. Sonia loves eating chocolates and cakes as much as she likes distributing them to her JCC children. Once you talk to this Baba, you’ll find that you’ll get a sweet tooth for more of her.

Sonia has one grandson who participates in programming in the Minsk Jewish Campus.

Babushka! May in Mogilev

2007-07-13T01:13:00.000-07:00

You’ve apprehensively waited for May’s Best, but this one’s definitely worth it. Masha from Mogilev was a child when World War II broke out, and she and her parents were evacuated to the Urals. While tumult was all around her, she learned to find inner peace. Masha will tell you that she “has a deep artistic Jewish spirit,” and that’s also why she likes attending Hesed’s jewelry-making classes in the Mogilev Jewish Community House. When you meet her, you will indeed sense that Masha’s creative soul can peer out from her fishbowl glasses and read your deepest thoughts.

Yiddish Alef Bet

2007-07-10T14:14:00.001-07:00

For the Yiddishist in you...

Cornbread Meets Caviar: Atlanta Teen Ambassadors Come to Belarus

2007-07-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

This morning Jason Feldman was touring Minsk with his new pal Vadim, and an elderly Hesed volunteer named Garik. But this was no tourist’s excursion. These three had a mission: to deliver food packages for the hosts of the “Warm Home” programs planned for the ensuing Shabbat. The program provides lonely and isolated elderly individuals with a much-needed nutritious meal, company, and the opportunity to celebrate Shabbat in a hospitable home setting.

Jason’s knowledge of Russian was limited to a cheerful “Priviet!,” yet it was enough to bring appreciative smiles and words of welcome from Hesed clients-- old, lonely, and sick. Coming from a world that is completely different from what is commonplace in Belarus, Jason was not impressed with the decrepitude he was exposed to, or so it seemed. He behaved like a seasoned welfare worker, mixing up an accurate dose of sympathy with huge amounts of respect and an encouraging presence. The half-a-dozen individuals Jason visited before lunch will be dwelling upon his confident smile and hearty priviet for quite some time.

At that very same moment, Jason’s peers were scattered all around Minsk busily preparing Shabbat activities for needy Belarusian Jews, bringing the spirit of Shabbat to where it otherwise would not be found.

Jason and his seven associates are participants of a group called the “Teen Ambassadors,” a group of high school students from Atlanta, GA, reinforcing the sister-city bond between Atlanta and Minsk. In its third year, the “Teen Ambassadors” group is a response to a growing recognition of the importance in strengthening our international Jewish support network. This year’s American emissaries are disciples of the Weber School, a pluralistic Jewish community high school which not only offers its pupils science, math, history, and Jewish subjects, but also works hard to reinforce the concepts of tikkun olam, social action, and love for Israel in every facet of school life. The Jewish Federation of Atlanta, Jerry Weiner, and the ambassadors themselves provided the necessary funding which made the trip possible.

Volunteerism aside, an essential component of the teen expedition was the involvement of Jewish Belarusian high school counterparts. Just as important as offering manpower and smiles to the elderly and ailing was finding common ground with Jewish peers on the opposite side of the planet, demonstrating that Jewishness indeed creates common ground across boundaries.

Together, American and Belarusian teens carried out service projects and honored the Jewish dead at monuments in once-vibrant Jewish communities. While most groups simply visit the historical yeshivas and cemeteries of Mir and Volozhn, these take-charge highschoolers donned their gardening gloves and crouched down in the dirt to salvage what was left of Volozhn’s Jewish tombstones. While other Americans were taking a day off on the 4th of July, these teens honored their American Independence by scraping Jewish tombstones clean of moss and clearing out the grass which had long overgrown most of the names of the Jews of the town.

With the help of Minsk’s Hesed Rachamim and Jewish Family Outreach Service, the American and Belarusian ambassadors were split into services routes to assist with the delivery of food and humanitarian aid to destitute families, the elderly, and individuals with special needs. While this work can be difficult for the untrained, it was apparent by the smiles on the faces of both giver and receiver that these pupils had intuitively understood the essence of giving.

On a visit to Kurapati, a Stalin killing-ground in the forests outside Minsk, the young adults somberly walked through the lanes of crosses, led by Yakov Bassin, head of the Progressive Jewish Community of Belarus, to reach a small stone structure stained with red paint. Upon a closer look, it became clear that it was a monument placed by the Jewish community in memory of “Jewish, Christian, and Moslem brothers” killed in this camp. They also realized that the red paint formed a faded swastika. The ambassadors also visited Khatyn World War II memorial in memory of the town which was burnt down with all of its inhabitants.

In a very different kind of camp-ground, the Teen Ambassadors visited young Jewish children participating in the JDC-funded camp for artistically talented youth. The teens were welcomed by singing and dancing campers, who clearly felt lucky to hone the talents that they had not the means to develop. The campers and ambassadors welcomed the Sabbath together with an interactive Kabbalat Shabbat, played games, and enjoyed a Shabbat dinner together.

By the end of their stay in Belarus, the American messengers were aghast with thoughts and sensations, barely knowing what to do with all of their excess energy. Beth, one of the American ambassadors commented, “This whole week has been so different. I really hope I can take what I saw back with me and do something about the problems.” Another ambassador named Ben said, “I did not sleep all night thinking about the family I visited in Cherven. I want to go back and start helping families like this one.”

But it was not only the Americans that gained from the experience. Masha, a Belarusian participant of the program, revealed, “This program showed me things in my own country that I did not see during all of my 15 years.” Dima, another partaker of the program who had attended Camp Barney in Atlanta as part of the Minsk-Atlanta partnership also shared his thoughts about the program with his American companions. “It was very interesting for me to learn about the place where I live. We visited cemeteries, cemeteries, and monuments, and we saw our very difficult Jewish history. I hope that when you come here again in 50 years that you can see things better than cemeteries, and we can show you a much brighter community.”

Although the Americans have returned home, the adventure is far from finished, as is the role of the Ambassadors. Artur Lifshitz, Director of the Resource Development Center in the Minsk Jewish Campus, who has been instrumental in building the Minsk-Atlanta relationship, told the Atlanta teens that “we truly believe you are going to become our ambassadors in Atlanta, taking responsibility, along with us, for the future of the community.”

Live the Belarusian Dream this Belarusian Independence Day!

2007-07-06T01:11:00.000-07:00

Honor this dynamic nation with shashliki (barbeques), family gatherings, and a military parade! No Belarusian Independence Day is complete without a giant cabbage leading the armed forces into victory. Uncle Sam’s July 4th fireworks cannot begin to compete with Cousin Ivan’s July 3rd Soviet concerts. Come celebrate the existence of Belarus in the capital itself where the smells of daffodils and alcohol permeate the air!

Happy Birthday, Belarus!

Stuck a sheitl in her hat and called herself a Yankee

2007-07-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

If you ask most Americans why the Yankees win as much as they do, you might hear, “because of Jeter.” or a spiteful, “because Steinbrenner is a smart businessman who knows how to buy the best players off of other teams.” or a simple, “because they’re the best.” But on a recent trip to The Big Apple from the Kashabasket of White Russia, Eritchka learned the real reason for the superhuman Yankee success, and that the reason for the success is truly superhuman.

The New York Yankees, or the “Bronx Bombers,” is the most triumphant team, scoring 26 World Series titles and 39 American League Pennants. This professional Major League Team is the most successful franchise in North American professional sports history, consisting of some of history’s most famous all-stars such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Joe DiMaggio.

But how did this Yankees heritage of triumph begin? And what sustains it? For the answer to this question, let us go back in time.

The year is 1903: the New York Highlanders are born and as little bat younglings, take to the field for their first game on April 22, playing the Washington Nats. That same year, New York was in the midst of tackling an immigration boom, and Eastern European Jews fleeing persecution in search of opportunity were amongst the various internationals arriving en masse. By 1924, just after the Highlanders became the Yankees, and Babe Ruth joined the team, two million Jews had already arrived to the United States, a huge number of them settling down in New York City.

Many Jews wanted to make America’s culture their own, and accordingly, made America’s game their own. The Big City in the early 1900s mass-produced Jewish baseball fans, and even bred some New York City Jews who proudly donned the pinstripes themselves, though not necessarily for the Yanks, such as Moe Berg, Alta Cohen, Harry Eisenstat, Leo Fischel, and of course, Hank Greenberg.

Baseball is the ultimate Jewish gene which can be transmitted patrilinially and matrilinially. With all those New York Jews scattered around the United States, it's not difficult to understand why most American Jews still root for the Yanks. And what other team sells Kosher Carvel soft serve in adorable helmet cups? What other stadium sells Hebrew National and Glatt hotdogs?

When they have enough minyans at a game, the Yankees always win enough points from above to be victorious. Just as the Israelites prayed for food and received manna from the heavens to sate their hunger, so too, can modern Jewry sanctify the Bronx with a grand slam.

PHOTOS: Top- a religious Jew, his wife, and her sister grab a nosh at the kosher pretzel stand in Yankees Stadium. The wife is a self-proclaimed Yankees fan "born and bred." Photo 2- can you guess that sect? Even the chassidim like to play America's sport. Photo 3- Evening minyan gathers in the halls of the Stadium. There are at least 2 minyans that night praying for a Yankee victory, which God indeed delivered later that night. Photo 4- Hungry Jews gather around "Strikly Kosher" hotdog stand in need of some kosher comestibles. Below- Jewish girl openly shares her Jewish love for Jeter. "Even if he's not Jewish, at least our children will be."

Belarus Party Profiles: Hillel Turns 10!

2007-06-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

Jewish communities across the Former Soviet Union were astir with chatter this week following the blowout party run by Hillel Minsk in honor of its 10th birthday. This invitation–only bash turned out to be the sizzling soiree of the season, with over 200 lining up along Vera Khoruzhay street to get into the Reaktor nightclub.

Party master, Ossik Axelrod, Hillel Regional Director of Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan, traveled all the way from Kiev to attend the gala out of adoration of one of his best regional Hillels. With him, he brought associates Darina Privalko, director of program development in the region, and Yulia Belilovskaya, regional educational director. Other notables who made an appearance at the event include, but are not limited to, Yuri Dorn, director of the Union of Religious Jewish Congregations in Belarus, Yigal Gittelman, Director of JAFI Belarus, Yoni Leifer, Representative of JDC Minsk, and Leonid Levin, Head of the Belarusian Jewish Communities, who was spotted boogying down on the dancefloor with his daughter.

The party at Reaktor also included cameo appearances by eccentric Hillel Minsk ensembles such as Victory Stars' Eastern–style Ashkenazi music trumpet and darbuka duet, and the talented and alluring Divas song–and–dance troupe. Amateur performances by Hillel leadership were barely blundering when they presented their dances and special 10th anniversary song. The Reaktor club stayed open all night to allow Hillel members to express their birthday elation disco–style.

The VIP after–party allowed entry to only the most influential in the Hillel organization and the Belarusian Jewish community. The night that ensued was filled with catered and waited–on guests and dignitaries making toasts to the next successful 10 years of Hillel in Minsk.

Woody Allen’s Classmate: Finally Famous in His Own Right

2007-05-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

“No one has ever asked me for my autograph in my life,” a shocked and hungry Lou said in Beze Café in between bites of his Belarusian poppy-seed strudel.

Lou, husband of February’s Best Babushka, vaguely remembers his awkward Brooklyn schoolmate Allen Konigsburg. But the first time Lou saw Allen on his TV set, it took a while to sink in that little Allen K. had become celebrity-comedian Woody Allen.

That was a long time ago, and Lou has since come to terms with the fact that he would probably not reach the public eminence achieved by his elementary-school associate, which is not to say that he would not surpass his accomplishments. Little did Lou know, however, that his decision to become an English Language Fellow in the Minsk State Linguistic University through the U.S. Department of State would immortalize his name as renown scholar of film and companion to the rich and famous.

This year’s American Film Festival in Minsk was sponsored by the American Embassy in Belarus and was held in the soviet-era Victory Theater. The film lineup features such classics as Kramer vs. Kramer, directed by Robert Benton and starring Dustin Hoffman, and of course Annie Hall, directed by and starring little Allen K.

The U.S. Embassy could not hold back from asking Lou to introduce Annie Hall. Lou spoke of recollections of his classmate, growing up in Brooklyn, and even mentioned that his wife, February’s Best, went to school in Astoria, Queens with Christopher Walken, who also makes a cameo in Annie Hall as Annie’s creepy brother. She remembers eating delicious pastries at Christopher’s father’s store, “Walken’s Bakery.”

Judging by the roaring laughter, the assembled audience, about 1,000-Belarusians-strong, appreciated Allen’s humor more than your average American.

In the above photo: Much to his wife’s surprise, Belarusian students crowded around Lou to ask for his autograph and seek advice.

I Don't Mean to Pop Your Bubble But... IT'S JERUSALEM DAY!

2007-05-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

Yom Yerushalayim--Jerusalem Day--is the most recent addition to the Hebrew calendar. It is celebrated on the 28th day of Iyar, six weeks after the first Passover seder, one week before the eve of Shavuot. Although Jerusalem has been considered the capital city of the Jewish people since the time of King David, who conquered it and built it as the seat of his monarchy in approximately 1000 B.C.E., there has never been a special day in honor of the city until the Israeli army took over the ancient, eastern part of the city on the third day of the Six-Day War in June, 1967.

Because Jerusalem Day is such a new addition to the Jewish calendar, there are still few customs and traditions which distinguish this day from other Jewish holidays. However, new traditions are emerging throughout the globe. In Israel, people take day-trips or even hike from different cities through the hills surrounding Jerusalem to the old city in a show of solidarity. In New York, Jews in various communities arrange assemblies and Jewish dances in celebration of the ancient stronghold. In Minsk, Jews from across Belarus gather to watch the Felmans blow bubbles.

In a Jerusalem day show organized by the Israel Cultural Center and the Jewish Agency for Israel, musical and dance ensembles were brought together for a gala festival which was attended by some 500 people. But it was clear that the three-hour show was stolen by the Feldmans, who are known throughout Belarus for their famous bubble-blowing show.

During their performance, the Feldmans, a young Jewish couple from Minsk, convey such sheer delight in their bubbles, that the most crabby-babushka spectators cannot help but crack toothless smiles. Even the usually-austere Israeli Ambassador to Belarus ecstatically reached his hands above his head to try to pop the bubbles the Feldmans blew his way. Judging by the look on his face, Mr. Ambassador will surely establish bubble-blowing as obligatory for Belarusian Jerusalem Day.

Top Photo: The Feldmans steal the show with their bubble-blowing talents!

Middle Photo: Yeah, there was like, some dancing and stuff.

Bottom Photo: Mr. Feldman makes a bubble-chain.

VICTORY!

2007-05-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Eritchka celebrates surviving 6 months in BELARUS! After 6 long months of kasha and doting grandmas, Eritchka is happy to say that she has made it through 6 months, and she’s ready for another 6, maybe even 9.

Minsk was also celebrating a victory this weekend. That is, the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 8th, 1945. Eritchka celebrated Europe’s victory, and her own, by attending parades, ceremonies, and cruising along the highway in a 1980 Russian Zhigoolly car to the Stalin Line.

Yes, the Stalin Line. It is a huge tract of land protected by fortifications which served to protect the Western border of the Soviet Union. Work began on the system in the 1920s to protect the USSR against western aggression. The line was made up of concrete bunkers, gun emplacements, and tank storage area. Now after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the line is a military museum located in the territory of the Republic of Belarus, just a few kilometers outside Minsk.

Eritchka and some Hillel Minsk buddies spent the day frolicking about the battlefields, climbing the tanks and helicopters and crawling into bunkers. The rain didn’t stop them from enjoying the field of Soviet Vehicle Skeletons.

Victory Day in the Yama Pit

2007-05-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

Victory Day, which occurs May 9th in the former Soviet bloc, celebrates the end of World War II, and specifically the capitulation of the German army to the Allied forces: the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France, the United States, and other Allied states. Although the German Instrument of Surrender document came into effect on May 8th, 1945 at 23:01 Central European Time, it was already May 9th in Eastern European countries due to the time difference.

The May 9th Victory Day is observed in most of the successor states of the Soviet Union, and is marked by ceremonial military parades and firework salutes at night. Specifically celebrated in the region is the Soviet defeat of the Nazi forces in Berlin, which is commemorated through a famous photograph of a soldier triumphantly waving the Soviet flag above the Reichstag.

Because the Nazi defeat also gives occasion for Jews to celebrate, Jews from all over Belarus, around 1,000 people ages 0-94 gathered at the Yama memorial in the Minsk city center to celebrate Victory Day. The Yama memorial is best known for having been the first erected in the Soviet Union to specifically mark that “Jews” were murdered here, not just “Soviet citizens.”

The Yama memorial, erected in the pit where the thousands of members of the Minsk ghetto were murdered, has become a traditional place of gathering for Jews since after WWII. Jews have gathered here for decades for major meetings and ceremonies, and Victory Day is no exception. This May 9th, the ceremony was led by the heads of the Jewish Veterans and Ghetto Survivors’ Association, and Chabad Rabbi Shneur Deitch led the large crowd in reciting the memorial kaddish prayer. Head of the Belarusian Jewish Community and sculptor of the Yama memorial, spoke about the importance of Israel for the survival of the Jewish people across the globe.

The ceremony ended with a long moment of silence, which was broken by the giggles of Jewish children playing tag and picking daffodils from the lush green Yama ditch.

Den' Pobedy

2007-05-11T06:16:00.001-07:00

THE May 9th Victory Day song. Really get into the victorious Soviet spirit with this marching tune! After listening to this, even you'll have to admit that the Soviets sure knew how to make military music!

Gardirobshitsas Galore! April’s Best Babushkas

2007-04-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

As April blizzards lead to May flurries, we salute Xena and Galya, 2 of the most loyal volunteers of the Minsk Jewish Campus: the coat ladies, or gardirobshitsi. No one enters the campus without first being screened by these grandmas. Eritchka cannot enter or leave the Jewish campus without having a 10-minute Russian gossip-fest with these ladies, thus making them the best Russian teachers Eritchka has in Belarus.

Xena and Galya have both been volunteering as the Minsk Jewish Campus coat ladies since it was founded in 2002, and they plan on continuing their services “until Minsk doesn’t have winters anymore,” as Xena aptly put it. From Shabbat services, to family club, to Yiddish concerts, Xena and Galya are present at every important event to relieve cold community members of their heavy winter-wear.

Besides contributing their time, both babushkas have trained their offspring to be future leaders of the Jewish community. Galya has 2 grandchildren who are frequent visitors at Jewish events, and Xena’s granddaughter is on the Hillel board.

Although there are still snow flurries in Minsk, the ladies will not be taking coats again until October, when people start wearing heavy coats again.

Above Photo: Galya motions to Xena telling her to focus on the camera. "But I haven't fixed my hair!" Xena exclaims. These babs always look their best.

Israeli Independence Day with Elasto Girl!

2007-04-30T07:55:00.001-07:00

Really flexible Jewish girl performs splits and flips in the Minsk Jewish Campus much to the amazement of the (mostly geriatric) crowd. Happy Yom Haatzmaut! For more on Israel Independence Day on the Minsk Jewish Campus, see http://www.meod.by/en/news/b5d5624296f4fdc1.html.

It's Enough Already!

2007-04-11T08:27:00.001-07:00

Watch professionals of the Jewish Community sing "Dayenu" at the Minsk Jewish Campus. "Dayenu," hebrew for "it would have been enough" and a Passover classic, perfectly expresses Eritchka's feelings after 8 seders. Two would have been enough.

Check Out This Blog from Pinsk!

2007-04-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

What's a blog on Jewish Minsk without a comrade-blog from Jewish Pinsk?! Finally, added to Eritchka's "Link List" on the right side of the webpage, you can always find out the latest happenings from Jewish Pinsk by reading the Karlin Gazette. Check out the latest article on "Kosher Food in Pinsk for Passover!"

There's No "Fool" in "Jew"

2007-04-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

On a day known for absurdity and shenanigans, Jews gathered in the Minsk Jewish Campus to obstinately celebrate a heritage of braininess. While the rest of the world played preposterous pranks on neighbors, Jews, in their usual stiff-necked fashion, did just the opposite. The April Fools’ production in the Minsk Jewish Campus, contrarily entitled “Yiddishe Khokhma,” Yiddish for “Jewish Wisdom,” defiantly exalted Jewish wit throughout the ages through song, poetry, and of course smart jokes only.

Apparently people at the Minsk Jewish Campus weren’t the only Jews in Minsk diametrically opposing April Fools’ Day. The synagogue on Daumana Street also hosted a gathering of Jewish folk singers and poets who shared their favorite classic verses with an intimate crowd in the synagogue study.

Chew on This!

2007-04-02T03:09:00.001-07:00

“This is really the bread of affliction,” speculates Ilya Fridman looking like he’s chewing on a wooden plank. It is clear though, that not everyone at the Minsk Jewish Campus Mazl Tov model seder feels the same. At this daycare center’s seder for ages 0-3, toddlers ravenously devour hunks of matzah bigger than their heads, some putting down 2 or 3 whole pieces. The Mazl Tov staff bundles stacks of unleavened bread for parents to take home for the holiday so the whole family can celebrate, that is, if they can keep it away from their insatiable children!

Above photo: Ilya feeling the suffering of the Israelites while trying to eat a piece of matzah. On left: Mazl Tov staff woman celebrates Pesach in style—leopard is the new black this seder night!

Happy Passover!

Babushka of the Month: Looking Back on March Madness

2007-04-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Before moving onto Passover festivities, let us ponder the past month of Purim folly. There is no better way to meditate than with March’s best babushka. Donning her men’s suit, mustache, and bowler hat, Shoshana is the embodiment of the Purim theme, nothing is what it seems. In this photo, Shoshana is rehearsing for the Hesed elderly daycare Purimshpil. In their modern take on the story of Esther, Shoshana, as Achashverosh, is a gambling fanatic who loses his wife through the addiction. “He” meets the lovely Esther and saves her family from Haman, the evil cowboy, who tries to kill Esther’s family. Shoshana, grandmother of 3, is a regular attendee of Hesed programming and a celebrity in the Minsk Jewish Campus.

Iyi Ki Dogdun!* Silk Road Takes Detour through the Former Soviet Union

2007-03-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

By the 5th century BCE, the Persian Royal Road ran some 2,857 km from the city of Susa on the lower Tigris to the port of Smyrna on the Aegean Sea. This route, which eventually became part of the larger Silk Road, was the staging arena of inter-regional trade and cross-cultural integration spanning from Eurasia to East Asia.

Although this thoroughfare has long since become defunct, and overland voyaging has been replaced by train and air travel, Chloe, a JDC volunteer in Izmir, Turkey, formerly Smyrna on the Aegean, decided to revive her city’s ancient heritage of cultural exchange through the trading of goods.

A surprised Eritchka received a package with a scarf, Turkish candies, an assortment of balloons, including a Turkish-flag-balloon, and a mind-blowing birthday card from Swimmy the fish.

What Belarusian goods will take the return JDC-silk-route back to Smyrna? Stay tuned till May when Swimmy celebrates her own special day.

Above Photos: first photo: Donning her new Turkish scarf, Eritchka plans on starting a new trend in Minsk. second photo: birthday balloons!

*Iyi ki Dogdun is Turkish for "Happy Birthday"

Between Purim and Pesach

2007-03-27T14:57:00.001-07:00

The JCC kids put on a dance performance in the Jewish Campus, well, just because! Can you spot the Belarusian cowboy at the end of the video?

A Sports Arena Gained is a Jewish Cemetery Lost

2007-03-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

An unusually somber crowd congregated outside the Neman Sports Stadium in Grodna this Sunday. To bystanders walking the normally rowdy streets surrounding the stadium, this seems like a strange setting for solemnity. But for those that witnessed the stadium’s construction in the 50s, the location could not have been any more suitable for a subdued event.
Similar to many Belarusian cities and towns, Grodno had a large and flourishing Jewish population before World War II. By the 14th century, the Jews of Grodno had already established a synagogue, built a cemetery, and owned tracts of real-estate in and around Grodno. The well-resourced community members kept busy with trade, handicrafts, and land-leasing.

Throughout the centuries, the stability of the existence of Grodno Jews vacillated. When times were good, the Jews prospered in their professions and even took in less fortunate Jewish refugees from neighboring municipalities who were victims of pogroms and expulsions. But when times were bad, the Jews of Grodno suffered their own banishments, land confiscation, and from any other restrictive decree.

After World War II, only a small percentage of the Jews and Jewish relics in Belarus survived. The Jewish community of Grodno, however tattered, was luckily left with an ancient synagogue and cemetery to remind them of their rich history.

But only one of these artifacts would remain, as soon after the war, Soviet authorities demolished the Jewish cemetery and built the “Red Flag Stadium,” later renamed “Neman,” over ancient tombstones and graves which were still being visited by living relatives. Many tombstones were used to pave roads, and the metal sign at the cemetery entranceway was used to build a monument of Lenin in the Grodno central square. Some local residents even used the stones from the cemetery to furnish their facilities.

In an effort to perpetuate the memory of the deceased who could no longer be visited, members of the community fought to construct some form of memorial. After years of negotiation with local authorities and collecting funds, the Jews of Grodna had successfully received permission to put up a commemorative plaque.

Jews from Grodno and all over Belarus gathered around the wall by the Neman stadium to mark the occasion. Sunday’s ceremony was attended by many officials, including the head of the Jewish National Cultural Association of Grodno and heads of Regional and Municipal Executive Committees of Belarus. Also present were leaders from the Chabad and Orthodox communities of Belarus, and Mr. Levin, the head of the Union of Belarusian Jewish Communities. Israeli Ambassador Ze’ev Ben Aryeh presented a medal to the wife of a man saved one Jew from being murdered during World War II.

The commemorative inscription reads in Belarusian and Russian: “In memory of the Jewish community, which lived within the land borders of their ancestors since the 14th century.”

See the what the Belarusian Embassy's website says "On the Issue of the Former Jewish Cemetery in the City of Grodno"

Above Photos: The new plaque on the wall of the Neman Stadium; A man stands in the one synagogue left in Grodno

Purimshpil- Old Country Style

2007-03-08T01:30:00.001-08:00

In this segment of a purm play performed by elderly Jews of Minsk, King Ahashverosh laments the loss of his ex-wife, Vashti, until he falls in love with the beautiful Jewess, Esther. Don't forget to check out the costumes of the choir singers!

Purim Project: Hillel Minsk Gearing Up for Atlanta Invasion

2007-03-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

Over two thousand years ago, the Jews of Persia equipped themselves to thwart away the troops of the evil Haman. In honor of their bravery, this Purim, Jews in Minsk are preparing themselves for a more festive foray—the arrival of a group of Jewish students from Atlanta.

Emory University is sending its 10 most adventurous Jewish undergraduates to Belarus to pair up with 10 members of JDC-supported Hillel Minsk. Together, the group will be “Purim Postmen,” delivering the joy of Purim throughout Belarus. The delegation will be distributing mishloach manot to Jewish children, and will bring presents to low-income families and to the elderly. Last year’s special messengers collectively visited over 60 homes. This year, the couriers are aiming for more than 70.

“It’s always great to see that people want to be volunteers and like to be volunteers and are willing to spend 12 hours a day doing this,” explains Hillel Minsk director, Maxim Yudin. “Our students are motivated by meeting the Americans and we find that the Minsk students in past years have continued volunteering. And for the Americans, it is also an emotional experience and a way for them to become more involved in Jewish life at home.”

After last year’s Purim Project participants returned to Emory University, they organized a fundraising project which raised $3,000. The money will go to low-income families in Minsk who are clients of the JDC-funded Jewish Family Outreach Service. Hillel Minsk volunteers are working together with JFOS professionals to asses which families can benefit most from this support and how it will be distributed.

Besides delivering gifts, the Purim Postmen will be packing food parcels and humanitarian aid items from World Jewish Relief and distributing them to needy families and individuals in their homes. In addition, they will be attending the annual JAFI Purimspiel in Vitebsk, and are organizing a Purim carnival at the Minsk Jewish Campus for the Jewish youth of Minsk.

“We hope this will motivate more partnership between Minsk and Emory students-- maybe by sending madrichim from Minsk to participate in Atlanta Jewish summer programs, or by bringing students from Atlanta here to take part in our Jewish camps. Both the Americans and Minsk Jews really learn a lot and benefit from the exchange.”

For more on Purim happenings in the Minsk Jewish Campus, please see MJC Website.

Above Photos: Hillel Minsk director, Maxim Yudin, tries on his new armor to prep for the mission from Atlanta; Planning Committee makes a toast to the success of their partnership with the Atlanta group.

HAPPY PURIM! or, A Recipe that Really Captures Haman's Ear Flavor

2007-03-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

In an ambitious attempt to provide the Minsk Jewish Campus with traditional hamentashen, Eritchka, along with her faithful assistants Olga Tseitlina and Ksenya Sosnovskaya carried the ingredients and spent hours slaving over kilos of dough to make a variety of hamentashen favorites such as strawberry and chocolate, and the least favorite among young American Jews, the mohn, or poppy-seed-flavored tash. Olga, Ksenya and Eritchka, wide-eyed and excited to taste the final product, took generous handfuls of tashen, stuffed their mouths and could not hide their facial expressions upon having this unanimous Purim revelation:

There is an important difference between Baking Soda and Baking Powder. Don't believe me? Replace baking powder with baking soda in your favorite hamentashen recipe, and you too can capture the real flavor of Haman's ears with poppy seeds! Don't have a recipe? Here's the one Olga, Ksenya and Eritchka used:

Dough:

3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups flour (approximately)

POPPY SEED FILLING:
1/2 lb poppy seeds
4 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

HAMANTASCHEN: Combine the ingredients in the order given, using enough flour to make a soft dough which is not sticky Let stand 15 minutes. Divide dough into 4 parts. Roll to 1/4" thickness on a floured board. Cut in 4" circles. Place a tsp of desired filling in the center of each circle. Form triangles by folding the sides in towards the middle. Brush with beaten egg. Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Above Photos: Olga, Ksenya, and Eritchka say, "These are GROSS!"

Yama Holocaust Memorial Ceremony

2007-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Today, hundreds gathered in the rain to honor the memory of 5,000 prisoners of the Minsk ghetto who were brutally murdered by Nazis on this day 65 years ago. The ceremony was held in the Yama pit, where victims were forced to dig their own mass-grave, were shot by the Nazis and thrown into the pit. This site, where many victims were buried alive in whirlwind of extermination, is now surrounded by modern residential buildings. Mr. Leonid Levin, architect, head of the Minsk Jewish Community and Director of the Belarusian Union of Jewish Communities, along with other artists, erected a memorial in the pit in honor of the deceased.

Michail Treister, Chair of the Belarusian Association of Former Jewish Ghetto and Nazi Camps Prisoners emceed the event. Among those who attended were Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh, Israeli Ambassador to Belarus, Jonathan M. Moore, Counselor and Deputy Chief of the U.S. Embassy in Minsk, and Latvian Ambassador to Belarus, Maira Mora. Youth members of JCC “Emuna” recited Holocaust poetry, and Rabbi Grisha Abramovich of the Progressive Community recited Av Harachamim, the prayer for martyred Jews.

After the ceremony, diplomats, honorees, veterans, survivors, children, and Jewish community professionals lined up to place wreaths, bouquets, or even single flowers on the memorial to offer their respects to those that were lost.

February's Best Babushka

2007-03-01T05:35:00.000-08:00

Name: Rena Pinkett
Previously of Vorhees, NJ, now of Minsk, Belarus

When Rena’s husband Lou found out that he would be the Minsk elf, English Language Fellow with the U.S. Dept. of State, he jumped at the exciting cultural opportunity. Anxious to get in touch with a Jewish community, Rena sent an email to the Joint wondering if there was a community and offered her volunteering services. Little did she know that she would be responded to with a flood of excited community members ready to welcome her and her husband into the team. Since then, Rena and Lou have become regulars at the Minsk Jewish Campus assisting with proposal-writing and attending programs.

Rena’s paternal grandparents were born and raised in Minsk, and she really looks like a native in her black and magenta winter coat and matching mittens.

Rena and Lou have 4 grandchildren: Mandy, Samantha, Barry, and Evan.

Above Photo: Rena poses in her apartment atop the their "Corn" tower. There are five "Corns" in Minsk.

Photo on Right: The view of one of the sunnier days in Minsk from the Pinkett window. Can you find a Corn building?

Uncle Artur Wants YOU…

2007-02-26T15:41:00.000-08:00

To send more HoHos to Belarus!

Thanks to Sarah Edelsburg, a much-needed package of goodies arrived from the U.S. After 6 weeks in transit from New York, a box arrived to the Minsk Jewish Campus filled with Eritchka’s favorites such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, microwave popcorn, and most importantly, HoHos.

For more information on sending more gifts like this to Eritchka at the Minsk Jewish Campus, please see MJC Contact Info.

First Egalitarian Britah at the Minsk Jewish Campus: Rabbi’s Wife Has Second Baby with Initials AAA

2007-02-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Names. Everyone’s got one, and everyone’s indicates identity, sense of self, a personality. In Judaism, a name is essential to fulfill certain rituals such as aliyah to the Torah or reciting a prayer for the ill, and a seminal moment which marks the beginning of Jewish history is when God changes Avram and Sarai’s names to Abraham and Sarah.

Although today the Former Soviet Union possesses the third largest Jewish population in the world, it is still not customary for newborn babies to be given a Jewish name. Recently, however, a pioneering couple in the Minsk Jewish Community—Rabbi Grisha Abramovich of the Religious Union for Progressive Judaism in the Republic of Belarus, and Rabbanit Ira Abramovich, director of JCC Educational Programs and the madrichim school organized a rare baby-naming in the FSU.

The Brit Bat, Simchat Bat, or simply Britah is the covenant ceremony that parallels the Jewish newborn boy’s Brit Milah, or circumcision. Since by Jewish law girls do not get circumcised, the Britah is an opportunity to officially welcome a baby girl into the world.

Until Irra and Grisha, the few britahs that had taken place in Minsk were at the orthodox synagogue on Daumana Street. The only issue was that these events were few and far between, and was not spreading as a tradition amongst the less religious. Now upon the arrival of the newborn Abramovich, finally Minsk could make claim to an egalitarian baby-naming service. The event attracted hundreds of individuals, from the head of the JCC to the local representative of the Joint, and many others, all friends of the Abramoviches.

Upon the birth of their first child, they agreed that all of their children’s names would begin with the letter “A,” and so they named their first son Alexander Aharon, who had his brit milah at the synagogue on Daumana street. Their daughter Alisa Asnat was also given “A” names, keeping the memory of Rabbi Abramovich’s grandmother, Anna, alive.

“We gave her the name Alisa, Hebrew for joy, because we wish that she be the joy of our home. The name Asnat is the name of the wife of Joseph, because we wouldn’t mind our daughter marrying a successful important man,” explained Rabbi Abramovich over the phone.

While Gas Prices Rise, Belarusians Keep Eating Mayo

2007-02-20T08:24:00.000-08:00

What with the recent sky-rocketing gas prices, you might think that Belarusians would find this to be a good time to be frugal. But on a recent trip to the Korona supermarket in Minsk, Eritchka realized that Belarusians were taking the carpe diem approach to life. Instead of cutting back on unneeded items, residents of the Republic were displaying signs of increasing decadence. There, in the supermarket, stood a testament to this escalation of self-indulgence: a new section devoted entirely to different varieties of mayonnaise. Eritchka was shocked upon seeing such depravity from such a disciplined people, but then realized that each nation has its Achilles’ heel, and Belarusians were simply powerless in the face of Hellman’s.

In the Above Photo: the “Mayonnaise” section of the Korona supermarket boasts a whopping 50 varieties of mayo and can be found between “Produce” and “Meat.”

The Beaver and the Jew: Reunited As in Days of Yore

2007-02-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Its fur is dark brown. It has a rounded head, a large flat paddle-shaped tail and webbed hind feet.

For hundreds of years, the Berezina River was filled with blissful beavers nibbling on water-lilies awash in their river lodges. Beaver-trappers settled the region 500 years ago and started hunting the beaver for its meat and fur, drastically altering the beaver’s harmonious lifestyle. As more beaver-trappers settled along the riverbanks, they decided to call their new dwelling place “Bobruisk,” named after their source of income, the babyor, Russian for beaver.

As Bobruisk grew in size and affluence, traders and smiths were drawn to the area to establish themselves. Many of those that stayed in Bobruisk were Jewish because they thrived as trades and craftsmen in the region. This in turn, attracted more Jews and more Jews, until the city became over 60% Jewish.

By the end of the 19th century, the beaver and the Jew were considered the 2 lucky charms of Bobruisk, because both attracted prosperity and both dominated the region. However, by the start of the 20th century, lives of the beavers and Jews were wholly disrupted. World War II demolished the majority of the Jewish population of Bobruisk, and due to hunting and industrialization, the beaver has been brought to the brink of extinction.

Many of the surviving Jews emigrated to Israel or the United States, but many remained because of not wishing to relinquish their “Bobruisker” identity. Today, there is a small community of a few thousand Jews, but Jews living there still tell people that they live in the Jerusalem of Belarus.

Bobruisk Trivia

-Babruisk is mentioned in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the episode "Family" the character of Worf is waiting for his parents to teleport up to the Enterprise from "Earth station Babruysk" in the year 2367.

-Babruysk was mentioned to be the origin of Valentin Mironov in The Good Shepheard

Above Photo:
In a warm embrace, Eritchka and the Bobruisk-city-beaver pose for the camera. The Jew and the beaver are still considered to be the foundation of Bobruisk.

An Elegy for the Gaon of Vilna by Grisha of Staten Island, NY

2007-02-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

As the sun of the third month shines,
Snow melts away,
And the earth is uncovered,
Awaken and revived from its winter slumber.

The bright blue sky along with its warm, flowing breeze,
Helps set the course of nature to thrive,
But still I am inside,
Still not ready to arise.

Since you’ve departed from the land of the Litvaks,
Life for me cannot continue on,
Still lying in bed, calling out to you,
Still frozen in my slumber, longing for you.

Since you can only be found in dreams,
As no longer on this earth can you be with me.

Tevye Says “Shalom, Shabbat!” in Byelorussian Fiddler

2007-02-07T05:38:00.000-08:00

When Igor Shapiro offered Eritchka to go to the theater, she expected to stare blankly at a stage for an hour and a half while actors made wild gestures and blabbed their Russian lines away.

“It will be a good language lesson, at least,” she thought. But when Eritchka arrived to the Yanka Kupala Theater in the center of Minsk, Igor informed Eritchka that Russian works are actually never allowed here-- only Belarusian shows. For Eritchka, this is an utter nightmare, as in 3 months she has learned at least a modest amount of Russian, but Belarusian, which lies somewhere between Ukrainian, Polish, and insanity, remained completely in obscurity to her. As the lights went out in the theater, Erichka heaved a heavy sigh, wondering how on earth she would stay awake for the next 90 minutes of national Belarusian theater in the Belarusian language.

As usual, nothing happened as Eritchka expected. The curtains went up, and out came a line of men and women wearing stereotypical 19th century peasant garb dancing what looked to be the Hora on a stage decorated with Chagall images. But this wouldn’t be the first time Eritchka had caught herself hallucinating Jewish images, so she tried to tell herself that this was a traditional Belarusian dance. But, Eritchka could have sworn that one of the characters was being called Motel, and then an older woman appeared who was named Golda. Eritchka knew these names. For some reason images of Zero Mostel from a Broadway musical kept entering her mind, and then it dawned on her: This is Belarusian Fiddler on the Roof! Now there was no need to struggle to understand the plot. Eritchka even realized that she understood better than everyone else in the room when Golda said “hamotzi” on the candles, and Tevya wished his family a “Shalom Shabbat!” in a very sephardi accent.

See Topol sing "L'chaim" from Fiddler on the Roof the way Shalom Aleichem would have wanted it.

L'chaim!

2007-02-06T09:59:00.001-08:00

The Vitebsk Jewish Choir Sings in celebration of the recently constructed Barry and Merle Ginsburg Building, the new community center in Vitebsk. For those of you who do not know about this important Belarusian city, Vitebsk is the birthplace of Marc Chagall, and at the turn of the 20th century, Vitebsk housed 35,000 Jews, more than 50% of the city's general population. "L'chaim," a Russian/Yiddish song is performed here by the head soloist who, even at 81, cannot help but dance.

January's Best Babushka

2007-02-03T01:34:00.000-08:00

Name: Esther
Age: 89
Place of Birth: Shiraz, Iran
Current city of Residence: Jerusalem

Don’t immediately reject this Babushka for not being Belarusian. The overthrow of the Shah in ’79 instigated a steady flow of immigration of Iranian Jews to Israel. Esther, already a mother of 6, decided to move to Israel with her grown daughters and brother. In this photo, Esther is showing off her emergency button bracelet. Although she lives alone, she can find peace of mind with the two-way transmitter which connects her to Yad Sarah’s communication center. A touch of the button on her wrist automatically activates a voice connection with the nearest Yad Sarah control room, allowing her to feel secure as a housebound elderly woman. She received this bracelet free-of-charge through JDC-ESHEL, which strives to improve the living conditions for the elderly population of Israel. This little invention is a triumph of engineering skill which allows Esther to remain Queen of her little palace in Nakhla'ot.

Babushka Gone Wild

2007-01-26T02:16:00.001-08:00

The ultimate old lady music video of the Former Soviet Union by Serduchka.

Eritchka Returns to Minsk After Setting World Record for Meat-Eating

2007-01-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

2 weeks, 11 steaks, 4 burgers, and 10 shnitzels later, Eritchka is revitalized and thrilled to be back in Minsk. In Israel, Eritchka met with 11 other Jewish Service Corps volunteers who gathered together for their mid-year seminar where they shared their thoughts and received briefings on all topics from community building, to teaching techniques, to security on the field.

Needless to say, innumerous anecdotes of awkward cross-cultural situations made their way into group conversation. Awiwa (Eng. Aviva), the volunteer in Warsaw described how she asked some locals, without speaking Polish, where the cemetery was by making gestures of strangling herself. Chloe, from Izmir, regaled the group with the legendary tale of how she tripped the Chief Rabbi of Turkey while simcha dancing with him. These meetings were essential for Eritchka to understand that she wasn’t the only one accidentally calling people “constipated” when she meant to say “this blintz is simply delish.”

Thanks to one another and the JDC professionals who organized and attended the seminar, the volunteers are all back in their respective countries, batteries recharged and ready to use the new ideas they collected. And frankly, after all that binge-eating Eritchka is happy to be back to eating kasha. But don't worry-- she's got a few salamis in her luggage for those carnivorous attacks.

Away From Minsk, Eritchka Turns Blue

2007-01-10T17:19:00.000-08:00

After an overnight flight sitting next to a Belarusian woman and her yapping chihuahua, Eritchka arrived in Israel feeling a bit sad to be away from the Old Country. Thankfully though, there are planty of blinztes to eat in the Holy Land to tide her over until her return. Eritchka is in Israel for her not-so-mid-year seminar for Jewish Service Corps fellows, and will return to Minsk Jan. 23.

December Babushka of the Month

2007-01-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

Now that January is upon us, it is time to reflect on December’s triumphs, failures, and babushkas. There is more to this babushka than looks. Alona, 76, is one of the few Jews remaining in the historical yeshiva-town of Volozhn. Once 80% Jewish, Volozhn now only houses approximately 30 Jews out of its population of 20 thousand. This wonder of a woman made latkes for 25 as part of the JDC “warm-home” program, which helps Jews in remote areas celebrate Jewish festivals.

Hanukkah Comes to an "Inspirational" Close with an Intergenerational Play

2006-12-29T02:11:00.000-08:00

Folks in the Minsk Jewish campus can't stop talking about “Inspiration,” the Hanukkah play put together by professionals and clients of Hesed, Raduga, and The Jewish Family Outreach Service. When Lena, the director of Raduga, the club for young Jews with disabilities, proposed creating a Hanukkah play to be performed by mentally disabled youth and elderly individuals with physical illnesses, people thought she was reaching for the impossible. But after 4 months of daily tireless rehearsals with psychologists, counselors, and professional stage managers, Hesed, Raduga, and JFOS proved everyone wrong.

Actors old and young worked together throughout the entire theatrical process, from backstage management, to on–stage dialogue. Volunteers from Hesed remained on–call, assisting the young disabled to put on their costumes and practice their lines. What resulted was a Jewish artistic masterpiece which wowed the 100–strong audience.

Among those attending the performance was the director of Hesed from Bobruysk. The Minsk Jewish community has a reputation for pioneering innovative programming, and organization directors from all–over Belarus were curious to see the outcome of such an experiment. After the play, the Bobruysk Hesed director commented that now that she knows such a production is possible, she hopes to replicate it in her community.

Eritchka Is Officially a Resident of Belarus!

2006-12-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

To celebrate, Eritchka buys dishes for her new apartment. Nothing says I’m-an-American-with-a-multiple-entry-visa-living-in-Minsk like a set of 6 glasses with the Russian Mountain Dew logo!

I Don't Think You're Ready For THIS Jelly!

2006-12-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Kseniya Sosnovskaya, the only grant-writer in Belarus and the Queen of the Resource Center of the Minsk Jewish Campus, the Jews of Belarus were able to eat sufganiyot, or jelly donuts, this Hanukkah. Using her exceptional fact-finding skills, Kseniya honed in on the only store in Minsk which kept a "shpritz," or injector, in stock. It was a true wild-goose chase at first, but 5 stores, 15 lines, and 4 hours later, Eritchka and Kseniya left the department store with shpritz in hand.

Although she had never made even one sufganiya before, Eritchka could not say no to her Israeli boss when he requested her to make sufganiyot for the 40 JDC Staff members attending the JDC Minsk Hanukkah party. On Hanukkah, Belarusian Jews eat donuts called poinchiki, which is simply a plain, jellyless donut, unheard of to both American and Israeli Jews.

Now, Hanukkah is all about extending limited resources. Just as the little bit of oil lasted 8 full days, so too this Hanukkah in Minsk did 2 such miracles occur: 1) Kseniya found a shpritz in Minsk and 2) One piece of dough inexplicably became 56 sufganiyot. Another supernatural wonder of this Hanukkah was that all 56 miraculously disappeared by the end of the party. Only the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and possibly Yoni Leifer can understand how or why.

HAPPY HANUKKAH!

Eritchka Does Heavy Lifting This Hanukkah

2006-12-19T07:17:00.000-08:00

After three long months of waiting and a journey across thousands of miles, the cargo train carrying hundreds of boxes labeled “JDC” has finally arrived to the unloading dock outside Minsk. These boxes, containing fleece sweatshirts from Barry and Merle Ginsburg, departed from China and crossed the Asian continent to deliver cozy fleece sweatshirts to Jewish children in the midst of the Belarusian winter.

How Does YOUR Kasha Grow?

2006-12-13T06:55:00.000-08:00

With silver bells and cockleshells
And pretty maids all in a row?

After one week without refrigeration, this kasha had not one silver bell,
but blue spots with a stinky smell.
And wretch it made me want to go.

Try this at home to see what YOUR kasha can grow!

This Week: Eritchka Goes Russian Red

2006-12-04T05:04:00.000-08:00

In honor of this year’s Ofek Jewish Book Festival, Hillel and the JCC teamed up to create the first-ever “Literary Casino.” The makeshift casino, set up in the large hall in the Minsk Jewish Community Campus, featured gambling, bowling, and a disco Tec. Each activity integrated Jewish literary themes. For example, before a player could get her points in a game of darts, she would have to answer a question such as, “name the author of the book, Der Judenstaat,” or, “Who invented the character Gimple the Fool?”

To create a real atmosphere of competition, players had to gamble with “Ofek Money.” The unlucky gamblers could buy only a cup of juice with their Ofek dollars. The lucky ones, however, had the photo opportunity of a lifetime—to take a picture with the most famous piece of Jewish literature of all time, the 10 Commandments, held by the modern Belarusian Moses. Adorned in red fabric and wearing a red wig and a sparkling gold hat, Eritchka looked like a Moses who would star in a Jewish “La Cage aux Folles.”

Nonetheless, participants in the casino night lined up to take pictures with this strange-looking character holding a Russian version of the Tablets. By the end of the night, Eritchka, acting in the benevolent way of God’s favorite prophet, even took pictures with those who had played away all of their money.

This was the 10th annual Ofek Literary Festival. The Festival was a collaborative event organized by the JCC, the Union of Belarusian Jewish Communities, Israel Cultural Center, and the Joint Distribution Committee.

A Rabbi, a Priest, and a Mufti Walked Into Campus...

2006-12-03T04:52:00.000-08:00

It may sound like the opening of an ethnic joke, but for the first time in Belarusian history, an inter-religious meeting was held to discuss issues of religious persecution. Due to the recent anti-semitic vandalism of the Yama Holocaust Memorial, The Union of Belarusian Jewish Communities invited leaders of various religious groups to the Jewish Campus in Minsk to discuss what could be done about anti-religious acts. This meeting was not only the first of its kind at the Jewish campus, but the first of its kind in the Republic. Among those present at the roundtable were Catholic Cleric Vladislav Zavalnuk, Russian Orthodox Father Fedor Povney, and Abu-Bakr Shabanovich, the Mufti of Belarus.

Leonid Levin mediated the discussion and invited each religious representative to share his thoughts. Each leader agreed on the importance of promoting religious tolerance to young Belarusians, and was eager to collaborate. Participants in the roundtable agreed that it was important for the different religions to come together as a regular committee. Through this committee, they will keep one another updated on religious issues and collaborate in creating programs and seminars promoting tolerance.

The Award for Minsk's November Babushka Goes To...

2006-12-01T01:28:00.000-08:00

The hottest meat-merchant at Komarovsky market! Check out how she wraps cow-intestine in fuschia to match the streak in her hair!

Over the River and Through the Woods to Zhudinovichi We Go: Flannel in the FSU

2006-11-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

Eritchka watched in amazement on Thursday night as a marine named Ron from Georgia, this time not Tbilisi, cut a 15-pound Turkey for Thanksgiving, and scooped out the stuffing. American Ambassador to Belarus, Karen Stewart ordered Turkey from Helsinki especially for the casual pot-luck dinner at the U.S. Marine House in Zhudonovichi, north of Minsk. The house, fully equipped with an indoor pool, bar, and exercise center, was also not lacking the traditional Thanksgiving American football game, received via satellite TV.

Look Mom, No Subtitles! Eritchka Sees Her First Russian Film in Minsk.

2006-11-22T07:18:00.000-08:00

Last night Eritchka went with Alona, the logistical assistant at the Joint, to see the acclaimed Russian film, Ostrov, or The Island, an epic drama which was the closing film of the 2006 Venice Film Festival. They saw this film in the Octyabr Cinema, a theater which holds approximately 1,000 viewers. Like all films shown in Belarus, this film had no Englsih subtitles, and even the English films shown across The Republic are dubbed. Don't be fooled by the picture--this film isn't about a cantor and a rabbi. It's actually about the paths of repentence of Russian Orthodox monks living ascetic lives on a remote Russian island. Thankfully for Eritchka, the lack of ample dialogue made the film easily comprehensible.

Eritchka's 8th Day as Minsker!

2006-11-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

In celebration of the momentous occasion of her 8th day in Minsk, Eritchka is premiering her blog and eating buckwheat!