By Rabbi Michoel Oishie for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
One of the elders in our community is still a member of the Communist Party. He believes with his entire heart that the Soviet way was good; the error was in implementation. Every day, he waits for the Soviet redemption to arrive.
But he also puts on tefillin almost every day, studies Torah, and is advancing in his Judaism.
Once, I showed him a video of Jews in New York dancing in the streets, singing in English, “I’m a Jew and every Jew’s a proud Jew… Never be ashamed to be a proud Jew… So sing this song and spread the pride around you.”
As I am translating the words to Russian, I look at him. His face is getting redder and redder. Finally, he interrupts, “These are really the words? They are dancing to these words in the middle of the street?”
I nod my head.
Tears start rolling down his cheeks. I could only imagine the thoughts going through his mind. I am reminded that the freedom we take for granted, to some, is incomprehensible.
Rabbi Michoel Oishie leads the Jewish Community Kaluga, Russia. An excerpt from the forthcoming book In the Trenches: Stories from the Front Lines of Jewish Life in Russia, it can be pre-ordered here. Find more of Hasidic Archives latest books on HasidicArchives.com. Hasidic Archives books are also available in bulk.
