This posting was originally written as an e-mail on Nov. 21, 2008 by Asher Ostrin, Executive Director of JDC Programs in the Former Soviet Union

Dear all,

Readers of this weekly were introduced to our staff member, Ira Lipsky several months ago.  She returned last week to Jerusalem after her first visit to Georgia in the aftermath of the war there this summer. We were all delighted that she is once again traveling; it says volumes about the progress of her son, our favorite soldier Shai.

I found Ira's report so moving that I decided to share it in its entirety, without editing.  I believe it is evidence of a promise we made to ourselves as an organization while that war was still raging, and one that the local community associates with JDC to this day.  At the time we reassured our local partners that while the memory of the war will fade from the consciousness of the world in short order, JDC would remain behind and deal with its consequences as long as necessary:

"I thought I do not like my city. It always seemed to me too small, too peripheral, too boring" said Nata K., Director of Homecare Services in Hesed Gori. "But you cannot imagine how much I missed it and how much I wanted to come back, when I was watching Gori being bombed on the TV in Tbilisi".

On the morning of August 8, 2008, Nata together with her colleagues from Hesed Gori started their working day as usual. Kitchen workers were cooking lunch for their clients, the doctor was seeing his patients, when a terrible boom was heard; a moment later they found themselves on the floor. The distraught women working at the Hesed ran out of the building and tried to stop passing cars begging them to take them home.  It was the summer vacation and all of them had children at home. When she reached her home, Nata opened her apartment door with a clenched heart, and found her 11-years old son hysterically crying. Half an hour earlier, he stood cheerfully on the balcony because he saw a helicopter so close. This same helicopter then dropped a bomb.  The blast threw him back into the apartment and down on the floor.

That same evening Nata, her family, relatives and neighbors managed to leave Gori and go to Tbilisi in their neighbors' minivan.  Reports indicated that Russian troops were on their way to Gori, and Nata and her entourage joined the exodus.  In order to fit all twenty five people into the van, they took out all the chairs, put blankets on the floor and thus they were all able to reach Tbilisi.

Nata's family has a relative in Tbilisi, who has been building a new house on her land plot. Due to the unfinished construction, this relative could give temporary shelter to 31 people. Five kids, the youngest being one year old, were among them. The conditions were hard. In the unfinished building there was neither running water nor electricity. There was no furniture and people slept on the floor. In order to bathe the kids in the evenings, Nata and the other women warmed numerous plastic bottles in the sun for the whole day.

Nata, a very energetic woman, could not just sit and wait. She came to the JDC office for two reasons: to offer her help and to receive help. "We took nothing with us, just our passports", says Nata. "We felt so lost and scared, that we could not think about anything.  But this is the same JDC as we have in Gori, so I knew it would be a place of comfort."  At the JDC office she received food, hygiene products and some clothes.

When the bombing on Gori ceased, Nata's father-in-law returned to Gori. On August 23rd, when he was sure that it was safe enough for the others to return, he brought his family back home.

When the war broke out, Lamara, a 74 year old Hesed client, hid in the forest together with her grandchildren and daughter in-law. After three days, they managed to find someone who agreed to take them to Tbilisi for the outrageous cost of 50 GEL ($35). Lamara cries every time she thinks of what they went through during those days. Her life was never easy. Her older son drowned in the sea and his body was never found. Her youngest son, who is 40 years old, is an alcoholic and is psychologically in a very bad state and needs very expensive injections to calm him down. Lamara herself has a serious vascular disease and needs very expensive medicine. She must make ends meet with her meager 80 GEL pension – a pension she receives after 31 years working as a chief accountant in Gori. Lamara, a veteran worker, lived for many years without a refrigerator. The old one broke down and she could not afford a new one. In order to preserve the food that she received from Hesed, she put the meal in a dish with cold water. She would change the water every three hours, including at night. After the war, together with additional Food Cards and additional medicines, Lamara received a new refrigerator from Hesed.

"I am happy I am Jewish", says Lamara, "I have a place to come to. They always wait for us at Hesed, it is warm here and the food is very good. Can you imagine, we have meat three times a week?!"

 

(Ira continues): Though the war is over, we will be feeling the aftermath for many more months. It is not only the Tbilisi-Gori road, which was significantly damaged by tanks tracks and burned trees alongside it. It is not only new settlements for the Georgian refugees from Ossetia. It is a fear you can see in people's eyes, psychological traumas of adults and kids, who are still afraid of any whisper.

Helping people to cope with the psychological impact of the war, is not less important than providing them with food. The JDC-supported 'Knowledge and Information Center' in Tbilisi organized a rehabilitation program for children, parents and grandparents. The program is very successful. Nata said that due to this program not only has her son become less anxious, but she has also learned how to communicate better with her kids. "I understand now that the problems with my son were caused by miscommunication between us. I used wrong words, and now, using the tools that the psychologists gave us at the seminar, I can better hear and understand my son. He notes this and appreciates my efforts."

The rehabilitation project works with different age groups, as both needs and rehabilitation methods differ depending on the age. In addition to the groups, there is individual work with those who need it. The project takes place twice a week and involves 123 participants of different ages: pre-school kids, young teenagers (11-13 years old) and teenagers (14-17 years old), parents and elderly.

JDCs assistance to Gori Jews is ongoing. Together with massive material support (food, medications, wood, furniture, schoolbooks, computers, etc) we are planning to open a children's group at Hesed in 2009. Gori has no quality framework for children and we find it crucial to continue the connection and activities with the community's children in a Jewish framework following the rehabilitation. The Hesed has already prepared a list of 50 kids of different ages. The plan is for the children to come to Hesed three times a week for four hours. The activities will include games, movies for kids, English and computer classes, Jewish subjects.

Since the war has ceased, JDC continues to assist the Jewish community of Gori and other locations in Georgia. A comprehensive plan for assistance in 2009 is currently being prepared.

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We move from Georgia and a war, to Kazakhstan and the struggle of its Hesed to deal with the vicissitudes of the current economic situation.  What follows is a report received earlier this week from our representative in Alma Ati. It gives a glimpse of the current environment in which the Hasadim of Kazakhstan are working:

"The medicine program in the 4 Hasadim in our country was temporarily suspended this week until the end of December.  The main reason is the cost of drugs.  The average cost has risen in real terms 73% since early September, and most are not available in shops.

Our country is very dependent on feed for livestock.  The cost of that feed has skyrocketed due to the difficulty in getting credit.  The credit freeze, in turn, has caused key banks to fail, and therefore foreign currency to import drugs is not available.

Today, the government announced a 76% increase in the price of heating fuel.  This impacts our Hesed facilities and of course our clients.  We are currently surveying their needs and will provide emergency help where needed."

A difficult situation, to be sure. It is impressive, though, that local professionals are looking to find their own solutions to the problems. They are informing JDC, but not relating to JDC as the panacea. This is a major step forward, that we should note and see as an accomplishment of our efforts over the past 15 years.  Now, hopefully, some relief for this situation can be found.

Shabbat shalom,

Asher

Asher Ostrin is Executive Director of JDC Programs in the Former Soviet Union

FROM GORI TO THE WESTERN WALL AND THE JORDAN RIVER:
40 YOUTH FROM GEORGIA ON A WEEK-LONG TOUR IN ISRAEL

Credit: Brian Hendler/JAFI

The Jewish Agency for Israel brought 40 youth from Georgia, including several from the war-torn city of Gori, for a week-long tour of the country; they visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem, greeted by the Rabbi of the Kotel (Sunday, Sept. 21), and enjoyed kayaking in the Jordan River.

The group will travel throughout the country, meet peers on programs in Israel and learn about opportunities to complete their high school studies in Israel.

 

Credit: Tom Neuberg/JAFI

The trip was underwritten by the United Jewish Communities – Federations of North America through the United Israel Appeal.

 

 

This posting was provided by JAFI

Tuvia and her family of 24 people left Gori for Tbilisi the day after the Georgia-Russia conflict erupted on August 7. For over two weeks, they stayed with distant relatives living in the capital—30 people living in one tiny apartment. Most of the guests, including 71-year-old Tuvia, slept on the floor.

The family has since returned to Gori, but today they face a much bleaker reality than before. Tuvia’s husband, who has diabetes and is in poor health, has a pension which barely covers the costs of his monthly medications. The bank loan that a few months ago was a lifeline for the family is now a mounting burden as Tuvia’s sons—the family’s main wage earners—remain out of work and the debt increases.

When Tuvia’s family returned to their home, they were among the fortunate ones: their homes were not looted. But they have been robbed of their livelihoods and lifestyle. The family has been surviving on relief provided during the war by JDC and on the small funds they earn by selling their furniture for food. Because of the poor relations between the countries, Tuvia’s son who had been working in Moscow, and who was in Georgia on holiday when the war broke out, has been unable to return to his job in Russia; her other son lost his job during the war. Neither man has been able to find new work in Georgia.

To help cope with their new situation, Tuvia’s family receives monthly assistance through JDC’s Food Card, a debit-like card which enables vulnerable elderly and their families to purchase much-needed foods from the local supermarket. Since the war erupted, the program has been expanding to purchase additional items such as hygienic products and basic needs. As the seasons change, the family will also receive winter relief packages.

Tuvia’s family registered as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) with all the relevant authorities when the war broke out. But the distribution of rations lagged behind. Assistance from JDC through the local Hesed welfare center was the only source of aid to Tuvia’s family. "Without them, I am sure we would have died!" she said.

As the family struggles to readjust at home, they are particularly worried about how they will fare in the upcoming harsh winter. Energy prices are set to rise and Tuvia knows from previous experience that her pension may only cover the electricity bill for winter. Missing even one day’s payment means their power will be cut off, no questions asked. And that is something this struggling family certainly cannot afford to endure during Georgia’s bitter cold winter.

JDC will continue to provide the victims of this war with basic needs and help families like Tuvia’s get back on track.

 

This posting was contributed by Asher Ostrin, JDC’s Director of FSU Operations

Dear all,

1)  I returned yesterday from a very brief visit to Georgia.  While there, I divided my time between Gori and Tbilisi.  The goal was to get a clear picture of the current needs, and to attempt to project forward the scope of our involvement in the aftermath of the summer hostilities.  We are now in a position to look at needs, and should have something prepared for JDC consideration shortly.  In the meantime, some immediate reflections on what I saw.

Wherever I went and from whomever I met, both within the Jewish community and from the international arena, I heard praise heaped upon JDC, and particularly its staff.  International NGOs (with non-Jewish sponsorship), diplomats, government officials and local Jews all spoke in glowing terms of our colleagues.  They received kudos for the thoughtful and deliberate manner in which they acted, their insistence on putting concrete actions ahead of interviews with the press, and perhaps most telling, the fact that "JDC is still here" to deal with the longer aspects of the clean up.  All this made a tremendous impression on all with whom I spoke.  I strongly urge those of you who can to be at the board meeting on Monday, to hear a first person account from our colleague Shauli Dritter who was with Amir Ben Zvi and Yitzik Averbuch in the field, occasionally in the line of fire, during the War.  His account is a chilling one, and spells out in great detail a wonderful JDC story of rescue in its broadest sense.

At one level, Georgia today is playing out a script from "The Mouse That Roared".  It clearly lost a battle with a power much greater than itself, and is now the object of massive amounts of funds for reconstruction.  During my visit, NATO ministers were arriving, as European Union ministers were leaving. This, shortly after visits from Dick Cheney and IMF officers.  All left promising significant funds for the Georgian economy.  Estimates I heard were in the neighborhood of 3 billion dollars.

In Tbilisi there is no sense of a war footing.  There was minimal physical damage to the city, and life continues apace.  Prices for food and utilities are up slightly, but everything is available.  In previous visits to capitals of countries involved in war- e.g. Baku when Azerbaijan fought Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh, or Kishinev when battles were fought after Transdniester declared independence, the feeling was much different.  There was a sense of a war footing, soldiers and military vehicles were ubiquitous, and visitors were subject to harangues by officials and locals about "how right we are and how evil the other side is".  This was absent in Tbilisi. 

An hour away in Gori, which was surrounded by Russian forces (Gori is just south of one of the two break away republics (South Ossetia) and suffered from Russian shelling), the situation is a bit different.  There the scars of war are visible, although only if one knows where to look.  Work crews are repairing the handful of buildings damaged by Russian shelling, and work is expected to be completed before the onset of winter.   Several Jews lived in buildings that suffered damage- JDC found temporary housing for them and will help these families find employment and school options.

The issue for the government is the problem of refugees- people of Georgian ethnicity who fled from villages with mixed populations in the areas taken over by the Russians.  There are an estimated 100,000 refugees, living now in tent camps, serviced by international NGOs.  This is a big challenge, as it is unlikely that they will be able to return to their homes.  The ethnic hatreds in the region run so deep that a slur from 400 years ago by one group on another is literally a causis belli today.   So there is no going back.

There are a few displaced Jews.  JDC knows of them and is dealing with them.  There are other issues that effect the Jewish community, although in ways we would not have anticipated.  For example, schools and kindergartens are being used to house refugees.  As a result the school year has not begun.  The Jewish community, with JDC help, will be opening a kindergarten for the community's children.

Residents of the community are suffering from post trauma.  A family camp is being organized to give families a release, and the Hesed in Gori has increased its roles to assist both materially and psychologically those suffering from post traumatic stress.  There is concern that there will be a round of price rises, and there is talk that some people will not agree to connect their homes to the municipal gas lines because of a fear of an inability to pay the new tariffs.  The Hesed will ensure that Jews are not among them.

Two scenes remain in my mind from the brief visit.

The first was a walk around a housing complex that was shelled on the outskirts of Gori.  It is a large apartment building, and was crawling with work men.  The damage was not great, but the building still required repair, particularly its façade.  The entire outer wall was taken down, so that from the street you could see into the each of the apartments, probably 80 in number.

From what we could see everything was bare.  The Hesed director who accompanied us told us that the buildings were abandoned early on, and looters emptied them.  And then he pointed to one apartment exactly like all of the others- naked but for one solitary piece of furniture visible from the street: a bookcase, full to the brim with books.  Still there, because clearly no one was interested in this booty.  "There were two Jewish families in the building- that's the apartment of one of them", as he pointed to the otherwise empty apartment, but for a collection of books!

The second thing that stays with me was a meeting I had with our local staff before I left for the airport to return.  By all accounts they behaved in a way that brought tremendous credit to them and to JDC.   They worked around the clock, and never once hesitated when a need arose for their contribution.  They demonstrated concern for every single Jew who was at risk, and acted as the consummate professionals they are.  For me it was particularly moving in that their nationalities were of no concern.  There were Jews of Georgian extraction, and Jews of Russian extraction, working together. We should not take for granted the transcendent nature of their Jewish identities in this situation.  So I wanted to thank them, and let them know that in the eyes of JDC leadership, and their colleagues, they will take pride of place along with so many JDC staff who have been called on throughout our history to go above and beyond the call of duty.

What remains with me today was the response to my words from the welfare coordinator of our work in Georgia.  He declared: "It is we who should say thank you to JDC.  You gave us the possibility and the means to help.  Without you we would have looked on helplessly.  This organization said to us that that cannot happen, and for this we are grateful". 

2)  Over the last few weeks the weeklies have addressed the issue of creating a Jewish civil service- ways to attract and retain capable professionals.  We have looked at professional training for them, ways to showcase their work in order to give them recognition, and the more general issue of how to demonstrate to them the esteem in which they are held by colleagues around the world.

This week we will look at another way we hope to engage them and validate their choice of a career.  Here, though, the validation comes not from an international agency and its affiliates, but from their peers in their community.

If the tools that the professionals have available are not high quality, they will not attract the quality we all desire.  If the JCC in which they work looks tired and rundown, the message it projects will be the same.  Alternatively, if the physical place pulsates and swarms with people, if advertising for programming is slick and attractive, if programs are of a high quality, they will generate interest.  Make it good- and the Jews will come!

Lehava is a young leadership training program that takes place in St Petersburg each year.  It is similar to ones that are held throughout the FSU, and that are the object of a proposal before the JDC Board for a special investment in 2009 (which requires the exceptional step of approving a deficit budget for the year). It benefits from ongoing support from the Palm Beach Federation.

To be frank, I am a bit uncomfortable with the term "leadership training", and prefer something less "sexy" but I believe more accurate like "investment in activists".  The leadership issue is a welcome by-product of the program, and, if the participants become real "leaders", this will not happen immediately.  For now, the attempt is to create a critical mass of committed young people who will be magnets to others, and who will form the basis of community life now.  Important contributions to community life are not limited only to leaders.  In fact, one could argue that too many leaders constitute a problem!

What follows is not an attempt to describe a program, or define its goals.  It is not even to attempt to measure the success of the program by the people it attracts.

Instead, I want to do something altogether different.  I want to propose that if we want to entice good young people into Jewish communal service, we need to demonstrate that involvement in the community is something that is valued- not just by JDC, but by their own peers.  The effort here is to show how a quality program attracts the best and the brightest, and that that validates a decision by a young person to choose a career path in Jewish communal life.  "By making this choice I will meet and work with stimulating people who want to be involved in the community I represent.  These are people like me, who value what I do".  This, I believe, is an important statement for young professionals to make.  What follows are short bios of several people who are current participants in Lehava.  Each is taking full advantage of opportunities in the broader community, with career choices that are marked by an entrepreneurial spirit.  They are hungry for success, and have each chosen to enrich their professional lives with involvement in the Jewish community.  The decision of most of these young people to become involved in community life was not an outgrowth of their own upbringing.  Instead, there was something in the community that piqued their interest; in all such instances the quality of the community offering was an important factor in their decision.

*  Mikhail Gershov.  26 years old.  A graduate of the management faculty of the Academy of Finance and Economics.  Upon graduation he launched his own business, creating a studio called "Innovative Technologies", which is primarily involved in the world of public relations.

Mikhail was involved in Jewish life as a youngster, winning a mathematics competition that gave him a two month stint at the Weitzman Institute.  After that experience, his involvement in the community waned, until last year when some friends were involved in organizing a Purim Party at the Yesod JCC.  They turned to him to provide PR services pro bono.  He was intrigued by their efforts, and found himself spending increasing amounts of time at Yesod activities.  On one visit he noticed a poster for Lehava.  He says that it coincided with a time in which he was looking for something more than total immersion in his business.

*  Yana Gordina.  26 years old.  Born in St Petersburg to an Army family, raised from age 5 in Dagestan, in the Russian Caucuses.  She was awarded  a B.A. in languages from the Dagestan State University (which you probably know as DSA- which has a major rivalry with Ohio State in football, sort of), and is now studying marketing at St Petersburg's Economics Institute.  Between degrees she worked as the manager of the purchasing department of Euroset, Russia's largest mobile phone network.  Today, she is the manager of a foreign investment portfolio in a venture capital firm.  As an avocation she is a singer, and has developed a Jewish repertoire.  Using these skills, she began organizing musical soirees at Yesod for Jewish singles in which she performs.  Lehava is an opportunity for her to acquire Jewish knowledge and community organizing skills that will serve to deepen and broaden the singles' programs.

*  Ekaterina Karmanova, 21 years old.  She is a graduate of the University of Culture and Performing Arts in St Petersburg.  She has acted on stage since age 8.  She had no knowledge of any Jewish roots in her family.

Last year a group of young people organized a Chanukkah play at Yesod.  They asked friends with professional training to participate.  Katya was engaged by the organizers, and was very taken by the whole experience.  A subsequent conversation with her parents...The trajectory of this story is well known to us already.  Anxious to make up for lost time in crafting her own identity, Katya showed up for Lehava registration and announced from the outset that she will be accepted to the program, irrespective of the decision taken by those in charge!  She has to make up for a lot of lost time, during which she had no knowledge of any personal Jewish connections.

*  Evgeny Yablokov.  29 years old.  Graduated with honors from the Pedagogical University with specialization in English and Chemistry.  Based on his academic record he was awarded a (Russian) presidential grant covering tuition and living expenses at the Academy of Finance.  After completing his work there he was retained as a faculty member, and teaches Business English to Russian firms connected to international investors.

Evgeny was raised knowing that he is a Jew, but the only true experiences of his Jewishness were negative.  He remembers being singled out in several environments as "the Jew, Yablokov".  At some point last year he led an English discussion group at Yesod (in itself testimony to the kind of quality the institution attracts).  By his third visit his appetite was whetted by what he saw around him, and he initiated a conversation with the program director on ways to deepen his involvement.  Attendance at holiday celebrations were the first step, and then participation in Bible study groups.  Lehava, to him, is the culmination of the process- a far more intensive experience with both an intellectual and a social component.

These four examples of Lehava participants open a window into the kind of people the program attracts.  Their participation is important on many levels.  For the purposes of this briefing, their engagement in the program, and, by extension in Jewish life, encourages young community professionals.  It reminds them that they have dedicated their lives to something that others, whom they respect, value. 

Shabbat shalom,

Asher  Ostrin

63-year-old Mari and her blind, infirm mother fled their home in Gori when the attacks began. Mari continues to care for her elderly parents and their trauma.

When a nearby explosion blew out the windows of the home of 63-year-old Mari, an English teacher, she instinctually tended to her blind, elderly parents for whom she is the primary caretaker. Moments later, when she discovered that the impact on her windows resulted from the bombing of an apartment building across the street, Mari immediately thought: “My sister, Sima!”

Sima, along with her husband and teenage daughter, had become trapped in her blazing seconds after her building was hit. Using a metal bar from a clothing wardrobe to break open the main door, Sima, a nurse, extricated her family from the burning building. Her husband was badly wounded in the fire and suffered lung and kidney damage.

Terrified, Mari, Sima, and the entire family fled by car to Tbilisi, where Sima’s husband underwent surgery. JDC supported the newly displaced family with what the family calls “vital help”—food and medicine packages as well as cash assistance to purchase basic necessities.

Mari and her sister, Sima, in the shell of Sima's apartment in Gori, the contents of which were destroyed in fires following an attack. Sima, whose husband was injured during the attacks, remains displaced.

Weeks after the first attacks on their building, Sima and her family have returned to Gori, but they continue to be displaced. Their home is nothing but a burnt-out shell and Sima’s husband can no longer work. As the family tries to move beyond the trauma that has interrupted their lives, they all cram into Mari’s small apartment, facing harsh conditions, and where the intermittent wailing of a frail and ailing mother is a chilling reality check.