Shlicus in Kazakhstan Part II

We last left off on the way to the train station, however, that was not the only thing that was left on the way to the train station, but rather our matzos were also left! Thank G-d, we got to the station early, bribed the customs guard to get our 30 kilos of frozen chicken on the train, and the shliach was able to run the matzos over just before the train left. After finding our cabin (sleepers with two sets of bunks) we decided to take the next empty one over because it looked like our cabin mates would be two Kazakhis drinking beer. Unfortunately, we were now occupying the cabin of a general in the army, and when he arrived on the scene we were forced into our ticketed accommodations. Nachman and myself, hassidim and shluchim of the Rebbe, of course did not let this deter us, and we proceed to befriend our new cabin mates. Shim-Chan (like Genghis-Chan) spoke about the One G-d that every body shares, and Dmitri said that before he met us he supported the Palestinians, but now he supports Israel. We even told them about the Rebbe, and the great love he has for all of G-d's Creation. Eventually, they decided they were hungry, and brought out a roast chicken, which they proceeded to devour directly on the cabin table. After persistent efforts to share their food with us, Nachman and I decided to bring out our own chicken, so we would at least share in the eating experience. At this point, Shim-Chan decided he wanted some of our chicken, and began trying to grab at it. To placate him, I tossed him a piece of white-meat, but my lack of accustomization to Kazakhi custom foiled me again and this ended up upsetting him very much. He started to complain, "Why do you treat me like a dog? You Americans always think you are better than everybody else!" Nachman took the next two hours until we went to bed calming them down and rationing them the mashka (vodka) that we had with us to say l'chaim for the Rebbe's birthday that happened to be that night. Boruch Hashem, Nachman took control of the situation and impressed me very much. The rest of the night, the cabin smelled like drunken Kazakhi, and in the morning we arrived in Teraz.
At the station two locals were waiting for our arrival, Vlad and Victor, who the local Chesed (Jewish Community) Center had sent for us. Victor drove us into town, while Nachman chatted with Vlad and I checked out the scenery. Vlad, it turns out has a Jewish grandfather and feels very connected to the tradition, as we could see from his involvement with Chesed. Once we arrived at the Chesed center we davened Shacharit (morning prayers) and Nachman acquainted himself with the staff. I checked out the kitchen: two stoves, and fridge, a counter, typical stuff; a few pots and pans and a load of silver ware. We began to evaluate the situation, and it became clear that Chesed did not know what to expect (we were the first bochurim ever sent there), and all they had for us was a roll of tinfoil and blow torch. When we explained what might be involved to casher the kitchen (another roll or two of tinfoil, and maybe some sheets of plastic), the treasurer began to cry. Eventually we calmed them down and Vlad and Victor took us to our flat nearby. Later in the day we returned to the Chesed center and began to take care of some small details in the casherut: covering tables and counters, lining the fridge so we could put the 30 kilos of frozen chicken away, setting aside that which we could casher and that which should be put away for the holiday, etc. and then we went to the market to by some new pots, etc. so that we could make food for ourselves. We took these to the local river, the river Telas, about 1/2 strength of the Northern Connecticut River, to toivel (ritually immerse) them, and conveniently found a set of stairs leading down to the river, which Nachman commented, "were created just for this mitzvah!" Then we went past the restaurant where the seder's would be held in town. Hashem gave us a very big blessing, because the room where we made the saders was new, with new furniture, and they were putting on new tablecloths and opening up new chairs, all of this made concerns about kashrus (particularly hametz, or leavening, on Pesach) very minimal. I commented that "the Rebbe was opening doors for us". At that point we were finished for the day and were very tired from our trip, so we went back to the flat and reviewed the halochos of cashering in preperation for the next day, the 13th of Nissan, when we would casher the whole kitchen. To be continued...

Parshas Tazria-Metzora

Since it's been a few weeks, I'll try to fill ourselves in on the past two parshas, Tzav and Shimini, which continued describing the various sacrificial services in the Temple, and then bore testimony to the actual construction of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, which Moshe put-up and took-down for seven consecutive days before setting it up permanently on the 8th day (which is the meaning of the word Shmini). During this "inauguration period" Moshe was serving as the priest in the Tabernacle, however, after the 8th day he anointed Aharon and his sons to the priesthood. The Torah then tells the story of Nadav and Avihu, two of Aharon's sons, who brought a voluntary incense offering while intoxicated from wine, and their souls were subsequently "incinerated" from their bodies. The period of mourning that followed brought about some difficult halachic (legal) questions before Moshe and Aharon. After the instillation of the priesthood, the Torah must now describe laws of ritual purity, because the priests can only serve in the Temple when they are ritually clean. Therefore, the Torah begins to describe the clean and unclean foods, on land, in the sea, and in the air, and how they can affect vessels; and this completes parsha Shmini.

This weeks parsha is a combined sidra, Tazria-Metzora, and continues to teach on ritual impurity, beginning with the "time of separation" required after a woman gives birth; which is the meaning of the word "tazria", "she will conceive"; and describes the offerings she must bring to regain her purity, and become again permissible to her husband (who himself will become impure by sleeping with her, and therefore be unable to enter the Temple, or serve if he is a priest). The main body of the parsha describes different types of skin outbreaks, "metzora", which is generally translated as "leprosy". In truth, however, metzora does not exist now, and was a miraculous disease that would strike those who could not control their tongues, and would speak gossip, or worse. Once diagnosed with the affliction, which a priest must do (not a doctor), the victim would have to reside outside of the city in quarantine for 1 week at a time, until the outbreak dissipated; at which point they would be required to bring offerings and immerse in a ritual pool (mikveh). Metzora can also strike one's house, clothing, or vessels, so be careful! In fact, there was an order of events in which first his curtains would be affected, and then his vessels, and then his house, and then his skin. Even after the breakout, he would be given time to empty his house, and then he would need to show the metzora to a priest, who would then declare him clean or unclean. Therefore, in all this time he would have many opportunities to repent from his slanderous ways, and therefore the metzora disease is seen as a example of G-d's great mercy. In fact, in rabbinic and chassidic literature, the metzora actually represents a very holy status. For example, in the Talmud it is written that King Moshiach, the future redeemer of Israel, will be called "The Leper". This poses many questions, because it contradicts almost all other descriptions of Mashiach, who is referred to as a "comforter", and the one who will "remove the spirit of impurity from the face of the earth"; and most importantly, he will usher in the Messianic era, characterized by the resurrection of the dead, the building of the third Temple in Jerusalem, and the open revelation of G-d's existence that will even surpass that at Mt. Sinai. Therefore, how can he possible be a "leper", and requiring of quarantine? To answer this, we first must understand a bit deeper the concept of metzora (leprosy) in the Torah. In the verses of the Torah, it is written that this disease will appear on the "skin of his flesh"; in other words, the outermost layer of a human being. While this describes the literal trait of metzora, it also symbolically represents the place in the person's soul which bears the blemish of metzora, caused by his loose tongue; in other words, it is the most external aspect of his soul, the most superficial. Therefore, we say that metzora can really only strike somebody who has refined themselves so thoroughly that only these very superficial aspects of their soul and personality are left to mend, and the the essential aspects of Thought, Speech, and Deed have already been fine-tuned to their perfection. Since right now, the world still struggles to perfect itself in these areas, now we see no metzora; until the Days of Moshiach, when he will come to refine this last most superficial layer. May it be very soon indeed! On a more practical level, however, here today, we have the responsibility of refining those internal aspects and preparing the stage for Moshiach, which we do through Torah and Mitzvot, tzedakah and good deeds, by which we take physical objects, such as metal coins, and turn them into vessels for G-d's infinite light. By bringing holiness into the gross matter of the world, eventually we will reach the "skin of the flesh", and merit to once again see the outbreak of metzora, in Moshiach Tzidikenu.

Slichus In Kazakhstan, Part I

The slichus began when Rabbi Wichinin asked me if I might like to do Merkos Shlichus in Belarus. I agreed, and the next morning he informed me that we would go to Kazakhstan. I did not have any more information until the day before our trip, that we would be leaving at 10 in the morning. I swung down to the Malchei Yisrael and up to the Shuk to grab some last minute preparations, and the next morning we were off to Almaty, Kazakhstan by way of Moscow Domodedovo. About 18 hours about we left Mayanot yeshiva, myself, Shimon Susskind, Alex Rubin, and Nachman found ourselves the the land of Borat (high five!). We warded off taxi drivers for about 20 minutes until our host shliach, Shevach, arrived with two other russian-speaking bochurim from Migdal Emek (Elchanan and Daniel), and his son Dan. As the sun rose over the airport, we observed the street sweepers, who were using sheathes of hay, and the made our way into the city. The first impression of Almaty is the large cement apartment blocks, either from the Soviet era or directly after the fall, and the open drainage that lines all of the streets clogs and floods whenever it rains (which is often). The city sits at the base of a very large mountain range, some of the largest I have seen, and on a clear day, like the day of our arrival, they make for a very pleasant site. Shevach brought us first to the mikvah at the local schul, and then to the school which he operates in Almaty, where we stayed. The school is really an entire complex, covering half of a city block, with gates and 24-hour security, as well as a fleet of drivers (mostly for the school buses). Inside the school, a large staff cooks and otherwise maintains the grounds. Because the semester was ending, very few kids were there (in addition, the recession has affected their funding, reducing the number of students), but we did get to spend some time with the orphans that stay there. While I do not speak russian, kids always have a way of communicating, either by sports or games, or even just laughing at your inability to speak their language. We spent a couple days there getting settled and receiving our "assignments", met the other sliach at the school, Reb Zev. We went up to the mountains for a bit to see the skating rink and the avalanche dam, and then passed shabbos. On the first day of the week, we did some hands on review on cashering a kitchen (at the school), and then after noon the hevrusas began to leave for their respective cites. Nachman and I were assigned to Taraz, Kazakhstan, and our train left at night. We would take with us a 30 kilo bag of frozen chickens, two boxes of matza, five bottles of wine, and would have to casher a kitchen in preparation for the seder on Wednesday night. To be continued...