YU Student Returns From Heartening Visit To Minsk

It was September 1995 when YC junior Boris Gelfand arrived in the United States from Minsk, leaving behind a Jewish community whose sparsely attended synagogue attracted only septuagenarians, whose youth leaders operated out of one dank, uncomfortable room, and whose members lacked basic Jewish knowledge and pride. When he returned for ten days in 1997, he was greeted by manifestations of a remarkable rebirth. He met a population being transformed by YUSSR, Yeshiva and University Students for the Spiritual Revival of Soviet Jewry.

Gelfand, 21, was born and raised in the economically depressed Belarussian capital that is home to approximately 25,000 Jews. In Minsk, a locus of YUSSR activity, it is virtually impossible to be an observant Jew. Kosher meat is hard to come by, public school meets on Saturday, and few learning opportunities exist. In the former Soviet Union "people have no concept of where Judaism belongs in their lives. Judaism has been dead for so long," Gelfand laments. "To be religious in Belarus is to give up everything. It is a courageous act."

But it is an act being increasingly facilitated by YUSSR, whose summer and winter camps expose hundreds of Jewish youth from Belarus, Russia, and the Ukraine to the heritage and traditions that were repressed under the Soviet regime. YUSSR, founded in 1990, is run by college-age student volunteers from an office under Muss Hall, but is unaffiliated with Yeshiva University. In 1993, Gelfand served as a translator for the YUSSR camp at Vitebsk, Belarus. The next summer saw him traveling to Israel with 35 other YUSSR teenagers for learning, leadership training, and a tour of the land. And upon his return, Gelfand increased his commitment to the Jewish community in Minsk, running Kabbalat Shabbat programs and teaching in the Minsk synagogue's Sunday school. But in September 1995 economic pressure forced the Gelfand family to leave Belarus for good. Boris, his parents, and older sister, came to America, settling in New York. After helping out in the YUSSR office for several weeks, Boris decided to try out YU - and stayed, turning down the University of Pennsylvania to attend JSS and then IBC.

This past Succot break gave Gelfand the time to return to his native Minsk, visit friends and relatives, and chart the progress of its Jewish community. He fund-raised for his own junket and arrived in Minsk - with ten sets of arba minim - to find the newly-dedicated Lauder Lech Lecha Youth Center occupying the second and third stories of the synagogue. YUSSR's newest facility is a vast improvement over the dank, uncomfortable room of his days, says Gelfand. It contains a Beit Midrash, lunchroom, kitchen, bedrooms, and showers to attract more youth and allow them to stay on Shabbat. "It's very impressive. YUSSR is providing more opportunities to practice Judaism."

Improved programming has followed the increase in interest. Gelfand observed three Sunday school classes with real curricula - all taught by graduates of YUSSR's camps. Managing the operation is Avi Katz-Orlow, a Columbia University graduate sent by YUSSR to teach and inspire the Minsk community. Gelfand sees Katz-Orlow's presence as the key to the population's revival: "He is a role model who leads the Jewish Orthodox lifestyle; he is young and worldly and has a wealth of knowledge with which to teach others. The YUSSR emissary bridges the gap between the Judaism of old and the Minsk of today."

And instead of seeing a synagogue filled with septuagenarians, Gelfand counted forty teenagers among the participants during Succot and Simchat Torah. The youth are beginning to revitalize the community, and the middle generation of Jews is slowly trickling back as the children bring their parents to shul. "There has been growth in knowledge and commitment" since he left two years ago, Gelfand observes. The dancing on Simchat Torah was enthusiastic, and the classes Gelfand gave were well-attended. Boris returned to New York a witness to the remarkable progress made in his hometown in only two, short years. Is another visit to Minsk in Boris' future?

"Pesach. Maybe Pesach."