How often do you go back to Israel for a break?
The truth is that there is no set time. The last time I visited Israel with my family was three and a half years ago.
Why did it take you so long?
We have a job, which is our shlichus. It involves the tremendous responsibility of taking care of Jewish life in Kazakhstan and everything that this entails. Unless there is a definite reason to go anywhere, we stay here and get on with our holy work.
And why did you travel this time?
Being away for so long, at the service of the community at all times, is like a full-time daily office job. It can lead to stress and physical burnout. We always have to be at weddings, and even on Shabbos, we are arranging services and meals. When we work very hard for any reason we need to take a breather to be able to continue. So when we heard that my sister-in-law was engaged, we decided to attend the wedding.
But wouldn’t you be going anyway to a brother or sister’s wedding?
That’s a good question. Thank G-d, we are a large family, and we have missed several weddings already. But everyone understands that our community work takes precedence, and travelling to Israel for a wedding could take away a lot of time from our activities. Our brothers and sisters are even jealous of the merit we have of being the Rebbe’s shluchim and they know that our activities and our possible absence because of them are actually a privilege.
Don’t the children feel they are missing out on visits to Israel to their grandparents and everyone else?
It is true that our children couldn’t wait to make such a visit, so that they could see their grandparents in Israel. But they understand the challenge of shlichus, and you can see how happy they are to be the Rebbe’s shluchim.
And what kind of a welcome did the children receive in Israel?
Here, there is so much to say. Of course, the family welcomed them very warmly. But also the schools in Kfar Chabad, who are used to absorbing shluchim from various places around the world, made them feel at home. When they joined the classes, the teachers introduced the children to everyone and talked about the location of their shlichus. They discussed their self-sacrifice and asked the children to talk about their experiences.
The administration of the cheder even asked me to hold farbrengens with some of the classes so that the children could learn about our shlichus. Of course I agreed, and I told the children some very interesting stories about our life on shlichus. As a result of these farbrengens, I was asked to speak in some other schools, and of course I felt that I should not refuse.
So what did you manage to achieve during your stay in Israel?
We did many different things. We spent as much time as possible with our families, as well as with our friends who have moved to Israel from Kazakhstan and other people who have visited us on our shlichus and have become as close as family to us. We didn’t manage to do everything that we would have wanted, but it was still a very special visit. Even getting to see all of my brothers and sisters, as well as those of my wife, and all of their children, who are, of course, my children’s cousins, was very special. It was great spending every day visiting family members who are scattered throughout Israel, getting to know everyone’s names. As we have more than 100 nieces and nephews between us, that was quite a project!
Why did you start your son at cheder during your visit? Couldn’t you have done that in Kazakhstan?
With our other children, we did this in Almaty. However, there are certain customs involved, such as trying to make sure that the child doesn’t see anything impure on his first day, which means bringing him from the house to the cheder wrapped in a tallis. We thought that doing this during our trip to Israel would be an ideal opportunity as we could do it properly. Also, as we were not involved in our usual activities, we could stay at home with our son during the day.
Did you manage to visit the holy sites in Israel?
Of course. Our children have always dreamed of visiting the Western Wall and reciting Tehillim there in the merit of the family and the community. We also managed to visit several other places, including Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s tomb in Meron.
