Final preparations are currently underway for an event of
major significance in the annals of the revival of Jewish
life in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The Vaad
Lehatzolas Nidchei Yisroel which, over the past two decades,
has pioneered every stage of the miraculous renewal of
Yiddishkeit in those lands, has organized a mission
that will be visiting some of the centers of its activity. As
well as surveying the impressive results of the work of
recent years, the Vaad representatives will be marking new
stages in the communities' growth with the opening of a
number of new institutions to serve the basic religious needs
of the growing numbers of Jews returning to their spiritual
roots.
HaRav Salomon, mashgiach of Lakewood Yeshiva, will be
heading a group of prominent community leaders, activists and
laymen from the United States, Europe and Eretz Yisroel. As
well as participating in the special events that have been
coordinated for this visit, the mission's members will be
meeting the Vaad's resident shelichim in Georgia,
Azerbaijan and Russia, to discuss each community's particular
needs and the challenges that its members face. The
mashgiach is scheduled to deliver words of
chizuk at each event.
The tour begins be'ezras Hashem on Monday the first of
Marcheshvan 5760 (October 11). The mission's first stop will
be Tbilisi, Georgia, where the members will survey the range
of educational institutions that have been operating there
over the past six years under the dynamic leadership of Rabbi
Ariel Levine. A special communal assembly is planned, as well
as the opening of a new elementary school.
The next day, the mission will continue to its next
destination, Azerbaijan. It will first be visiting the
ancient community of Kuba that has been served by a number of
Vaad institutions for the past five years, and then continue
to Gandza, where a newly-discovered Jewish community has
recently begun to search for its own identity. After meeting
members of the community, the new beis haknesses --
the community's first -- will be dedicated.
The third day will bring the members to Baku, capital of
Azerbaijan, where the already impressive range of communal
facilities will be enhanced by the inauguration of a new
mikveh.
The final stage of the tour is to be St. Petersburg, Russia
where, on Thursday the fourth of Marcheshvan, the festive
opening of Yeshivas Pri Yitzchok is to be held. The yeshiva
is named after HaRav Yitzchok Blaser zt'l, one of the
closest talmidim of HaRav Yisroel Salanter
zt'l, who served as rov of the city's then-large
Jewish community until his departure for Yerushalayim, around
one hundred and twenty years ago. Pri Yitzchok was the
name given to one of the works which HaRav Blaser wrote
during his tenure as the city's rov.
In recent years, St. Petersburg has hosted a number of very
successful Vaad seminars, which have catered largely to the
highly intelligent local Jewish population of this, Russia's
second city, an intellectual and cultural center. With a
relatively high initial enrollment of approximately seventy
young men, the new yeshiva is staffed by native Russian
bnei Torah, themselves products of Vaad institutions
in Russia and Yeshivas Shvut Ami in Yerushalayim. It will be
an important addition to the handful of institutions of
higher learning already serving the Jewish communities of
these lands.
As well as the immense chizuk which local Jews derive
from such visits from their brethren -- not to mention the
deep impression left upon the visitors themselves -- it is
hoped that among the long term results of the trip will be a
heightened awareness among the Jews of other lands of the
pressing need to continue bolstering these nascent
communities, who are still taking their first steps back to
the path of their forefathers. Although several years have
now passed since the initial burst of excitement over the
reestablishment of contact with these Jews, the need for
support of all kinds remains paramount, for after so many
long years of enforced isolation, the road they must travel
to spiritual self-sufficiency is still long and difficult.
In a letter publicized a year ago, the geonim HaRav
Eliashiv and HaRav Steinman speak of the full obligation that
is incumbent upon each and every Jew to work towards saving
the Jews of these lands who, through no fault of their own
were absorbed by the gentiles and lost all Torah and yiras
Shomayim. Although the progress that has been made to
date in drawing them closer to Torah and mitzvos is nothing
short of incredible, we must not allow our efforts on their
behalf to slack when their need is still so great.
HaRav Salomon and the other members of the leadership mission
will be seeing with their own eyes the steps that have been
taken and the promise that yet remains to be fulfilled. This
important and historic trip will be'ezras Hashem pave
the way for even greater involvement in the spiritual rebirth
of the Jewish communities of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
the other countries of the former Soviet Union.
For information on how to be a part of this event and for
dedication opportunities, please call 718-252-5974 or 888-252-
5974.
