I found out one fall morning that I would be traveling to Kishinev, Moldova to visit eleven children’s hospitals. I was participating in a program called “Gift of Hope” with a local humanitarian aid organization.
THE KISHINEV COMMUNITY THROUGH MY EYES
BY APRIL GOCHBERG
I found out one fall morning that I would be traveling to Kishinev, Moldova to visit eleven children’s hospitals. I was participating in a program called “Gift of Hope” with a local humanitarian aid organization. I have traveled to eastern Europe frequently with this organization and I always look for the Jewish community so I can keep Shabbos at the synagogue. Usually, I discover small dying communities of elderly Jews. I expected to find the same in Kishinev.
I started my search before I left home. On a whim I typed in Moldovan Jewry on my inter-net search engine and to my utter amazement I learned of a thriving Jewish community in Kishinev. I learned about a Lubavicher Rabbi who had left Israel to shepherd a dying flock. I knew very little about the Lubavich movement other than at every holiday we receive literature in the mail from the community where my husband went to college. I have always been thankful for the pamphlets and wanted to visit this community in Kishinev. I e-mailed the address on the web page and with in a day I was speaking to Zushe on the phone from New York.
Zushe made introductions for me with the community in Kishinev and they were expecting me. I was welcomed by the assistant Rabbi and was given a tour of the new mikvah, (which is nicer then the one we have here in Portland) and of the synagogue proper. He wanted to take me to the school which has 300 children, but because of my time constraints and the work I was doing there I was not able to take that tour, much to my regret.
The Assistant Rabbi and his wife had me and my translator and another man who was traveling with me for lunch. With many traditional salads and cholent, it was like being at my husband’s Grandmothers house in Brooklyn.
I was very pleased that the reality of the Kishinev community greatly exceeded my expectations. I encourage anyone who has a heart for this part of the world to actively support the Jewish Community in Kishinev.
