Mr. Mashkevitz received a warm reception at the municipality, where he was declared a friend of the city. At a short ceremony, a choir of children of the Yiddish-speaking Ohel Menachem cheder sang “Bo’achem Leshalom” in his honor.
Accompanying Mr. Mashkevitz on his visit were Euro-Asian Jewish Congress members Mikhail Chlenov, Josef Zisels, and Roman I. Spektor, .
After a short meeting in the mayor’s office, the visitors sat down in the council chamber for an official reception. Also present were the Chief Rabbi of the Chabad community, Rabbi Asher Lemel Cohen, his son, Rabbi Yeshayah Elazar Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, Rabbi Elchonon Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Almaty, Rabbi Moshe Dovid Cohen, director of the Relief Fund of the Jews of Kazakhstan, Yaakov Lerner, MK Rabbi Meir Porush, and Mr. Mashkevitz’s friend, deputy mayor Rabbi Shlomo Sharabi. Also present were various department heads, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Cohen of the local Chabad institutions, and other public figures.
Rabbi Asher Lemel Cohen praised Mr. Mashkevitz for his contribution to Chabad in Almaty, Pavlodar, and Astana. Rabbi Cohen related his first meeting with Mr. Mashkevitz, when his son, the Chief Rabbi of Kazakhstan, first embarked upon his shlichus in Almaty with absolutely nothing. Since then, Mr. Mashkevitz, who also supports Chabad institutions in Beitar Illit, has been Rabbi Cohen’s welcome guest.
Rabbi Yeshayah Elazar Cohen said that a son could not show his father any greater honor than this. “Alexander Mashkevitz, who set up, and is still establishing dozens of Jewish centers in the memory of his mother is the greatest gift that I could give my father,” he said.
Mayor Rubinstein, who honored the visitor with the title, “Friend of the City,” said that Beitar Ilit unites the glorious Jewish past with the future. “We must remember that two-thirds of the population of Beitar is under the age of 17,” he said. “In this city, the future generation of the Jewish nation is growing up. A representative of the future spiritual and material regeneration of the Jews of the Communist exile and is also doing so much here in Beitar, Israel, deserves the title of ‘Friend of the City.’ With his actions, he is realizing the connection between the past and the future.”
Rabbi Meir Porush, who gave Mr. Mashkevitz an artistic representation of Rachel’s Tomb, said that as a child of Beitar himself, he was very happy to be a part of the growth of the city. “Alexander Mashkevitz, we are close to the tomb of our mother Rachel, and every day we are fulfilling G-d’s promise to her – ‘And your children will return to their borders.’ How happy your mother, Rachel, must be that her son has merited to assist the children of Rachel our ancestor, the children of Beitar Illit.”
After viewing a presentation on the development of the city of Beitar, the mayor and his guests visited the Yiddish-speaking cheder, Ohel Menachem Chabad, which is still in caravans. There, one of the students, David Glukhov, greeted Mr. Mashkevitz in Russian. Mr. Mashkevitz was very moved, and he said he was happy to see the children of the cheder and that he warmly received their blessings.
Mr. Mashkevitz next visited the Oholei Menachem Ateret Chaya Girls’ School. The students and staff greeted him with a special souvenir to thank him for his input. After a short speech, the visitors went on to a ceremony marking the dedication of a new play park on Motzfi Street.
The park, which occupies an area of five dunams, is called “Yaldei Rachel” [the children of Rachel] in memory of Mr. Mashkevitz’s mother. Mr. Mashkevitz, Rabbi Porush, and the mayor looked at a memorial that has been set up for her in the park. Mr. Mashkevitz said that he was very grateful to the mayor for the beautiful monument to his mother, and that he had developed a special relationship with the children’s city of Beitar Illit.
