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January 12, 2001/Tevet 17, 5761, Vol. 53, No.15
Free to be Jewish
Chabad Russian programs meet needs of valley immigrants
BETH OLSON
Editorial Assistant
Alexey Izotov rides the carousel at Jungle Jim's Playland on a Camp Gan Israel field trip.
Photo courtesy of Rabbi Dan Hayman |
The phrase "freedom of religion" has little significance to native-born Americans, who have never been forbidden to practice religion or been persecuted for their religious beliefs.
The same words are infused with significance for Jews from the former Soviet Union, hundreds of whom have found refuge in the Phoenix area. Hence the foundation of Chabad Russian Programs, headquartered in the Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Phoenix and directed by Rabbi Dan Hayman.
In the four years since the programs' inception, they have served more than 2,000 new Americans.
While the primary focus is to provide opportunities for Russian-speaking immigrants to study and practice Judaism, Hayman also addresses the refugees' needs in acclimating to American society through services and classes conducted in Russian, a Russian newsletter, English classes, social events, a Russian-language library and a variety of youth activities.
Hayman was born in Georgia, U.S.S.R., in 1973. He grew up there during the religiously oppressed 1970s and 1980s, with no opportunity to learn about or practice Judaism. In fact, Hayman says, people did not even discuss whether or not they were Jewish.
When Hayman turned 16, he left his hometown for Moscow to attend college. At that time, he considered going to study in Israel, as that may have been his only opportunity to leave the country. With this in mind, he entered a Jewish theater to buy books to learn Hebrew and found an advertisement about the Chabad Yeshiva of Moscow - which he then went to visit.
"It was the first time in my life in the shul. They put on my tefillin, ... and they said I could stay and learn there in the yeshiva," recalls Hayman.
He remained in the Moscow yeshiva for two years. During his stay, Hayman's mother, Dina Geiman, moved to Moscow to be closer to her son. She got a job working as a secretary to Rabbi Berl Lazar, who is now Chabad-Lubavitch's chief emissary in Russia, who later invited mother and son to the United States.
Hayman and his mother were both granted visitor's visas to leave for the United States in 1992. "It is miraculous because (the Russian authorities) don't give (permission) usually to the whole family because they are afraid you will stay (in the U.S.)," says Hayman.
Hayman arrived in the United States in 1992 and spent the next four years in New York and New Jersey. During that time, he completed his studies, met his wife, Russian-born Devorah, and began working with Russian immigrants in Elizabeth, N.J.
In 1996, Hayman moved to Phoenix with Devorah and the couple's first child, Menachem Mendl, now 4. Hayman's mother soon followed them here. The Haymans since have had two more children, Levi Itzchok, 3, and Chana, 1.
Hayman came to the Valley to work with Rabbi Zalman Levertov of Congregation Bais-Menachem and to establish programs for Russian-speaking immigrants in Arizona at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center.
Hayman's position was created in response to the large exodus of Jews leaving the former Soviet Union for the United States.
"As the Russian community was growing here, I felt there was a need to hire somebody for the Russian community - one who can communicate with them and understand them," Levertov says.
While immigrants come from throughout the former Soviet Union, and all speak Russian, only some are from Russia proper. Others come from Eastern European countries such as Ukraine, located west of Russia, and still others from Central Asia, including the Bukharian Jews from Uzbekistan, located south of Russia.
The greatest number of refugees came to Phoenix in the early 1990s, according to Gail Parin, chief executive officer of Jewish Family and Children's Service. During the early 1990s, Parin says, an average of 50 Jews a year immigrated to the Valley, peaking in 1992, when more than 100 Jews relocated to the area.
Many Russian-speaking Jewish residents of the Valley were assisted by the Jewish Family and Children's Service beginning in the mid-1970s. The Russian Resettlement Program was founded in 1990 and operated until 1998.
Parin says each family had a resettlement plan that included agency support in finding housing, furniture, food, clothing, jobs and transportation, as well as assisting with individual needs.
"We were so lucky. We had an individual who spoke Russian (Larisa Boswell) who was also a master level therapist. She ... also helped with therapy issues if, in coming to a new country, there were experiences with anxiety, depression or different behavioral health needs that families might have," Parin explains.
After settling hundreds of families, the demand for the agency's resettlement services declined. "Anybody who came over after 1996 usually had relatives here, so ... the program took a shift (toward) family reunification," explains Parin.
In 1998, less than 10 immigrants made use of the program, and the agency went to the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, which funded the program, to discuss its discontinuation.
"We said to the federation that we'd be happy to provide any access to social services to the three people who were planning on coming, but we were going to discontinue our infrastructure because there was no need. Since then, we've only had one person (immigrate), in 1999," says Parin.
Parin says that currently the federation has "a network of Russians who have resettled in the state who are willing to help newly arrived refugees."
Among these resources are Hayman and his programs. He maintains local contacts to assist in finding immigrants work, housing, furniture and food, as necessary.
"Sometimes they need to just go to a doctor, and they ask me if I know somebody. (I help with) all different things in life. They know I am here, and I can spend time with them and help them," Hayman says.
In addition to the many Jews who came directly to the Valley from former Soviet Union countries in the early 1990s, a number of immigrants have relocated to Arizona after settling in other American cities.
"They have experience living in America, and they don't need financial help or furniture help. But they need to know ... about Jewish life here - how to put kids in school, what classes to take, how to do bar mitzvahs - I help with all that," says Hayman.
Carl Goldberg, a Russian-speaking American, maintains ties in the local Russian community and helps to interpret and translate papers for immigrants, when necessary.
Goldberg agrees that former Soviet Jews who come to the Valley after living in other parts of the United States have different needs than new immigrants.
"Their needs are like everybody else now - to provide for their families and raise their kids. Now raising their kids is a problem because the kids become Americanized very quickly, which means there's going to be a language problem, first of all, and a cultural problem because of American's permissive culture - that's very much against what all Russians ... try to do when they raise their kids."
One of Hayman's goals is to provide Judaic education and programming for the children, whether or not the families can afford it. Students are encouraged to enroll in Chabad's Hebrew school, bar and bat mitzvah classes, Gan Israel summer camp, and the Phoenix Preparatory High Schools, Chabad's four-year high school.
The summer camp is especially meaningful to Hayman.
"I have to say it's the best project in the way that it reaches out to a lot of people, but it's not only for Russians. It's for everybody," Hayman explains. "Since I'm here I try to get more Russians involved, so last year we had 80 kids, and 30 were from Russian families. I try not to leave anybody out. A lot of people can't afford the prices, especially Russian families, so I don't reject anybody just because they can't pay."
Levertov also feels the camp is an important resource for the families. "That's the first experience for many of them, because they don't go to any Jewish day school in town, to experience something Jewish," he says.
Experienced counselors from New York and Israel staff the camp. Programs include Judaic studies, arts and crafts, daily swimming and field trips.
Arsen and Yelena Babazhanov of Phoenix are the parents of Yuriy, 9, Mark, 8, and Veoletta, 2 months. Their two older children have attended the camp for the last two years. The boys also participate in other Chabad activities, including Sunday school.
"I like that every time they go to Chabad - for example, Hebrew classes - they talk about the traditions and the stories of every holiday, about why they celebrate every holiday," says Yelena Babazhanov.
She says that her children's experience is very different from that of her childhood in Uzbekistan, where she was aware of Jewish holidays but was never taught the meaning behind the traditions.
"Here in America it is easy to go to Chabad and meet the Jewish families, but it's not easy to do it in Russia," she recalls.
Since most of the immigrants didn't grow up with Judaism as part of their daily lives, it is a challenge for Hayman to get them to participate now, but he tries to involve them in a variety of ways.
He sends a monthly newsletter to 700 families in Phoenix and Tucson. Printed in Russian, it incorporates local and international news and information about holidays, customs, cooking and upcoming events.
Hayman also offers Judaic classes in Russian - weekly in Phoenix and monthly in Tucson. He provides Russian calendars and writes a one-page weekly publication, "The Jewish Page," for Russian speakers who attend Shabbat services at Chabad. "The Jewish Page" includes information about the Torah portion for the week and a short story.
In addition to families with children, many elderly Russian-speaking Jews live in the Valley. To address their needs, Hayman began a group called Open World, which meets monthly at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center.
Older adults may be "depressed because they don't have too much going on. They all live separately. They cannot be part of American society because their mentality is still old, ... and (they have a language) barrier," Hayman says.
He also arranged for a volunteer, Mary Glenn, to teach free English classes to seniors at Fellowship Towers in Phoenix. The classes are open to anyone in the community.
When Levertov hired Hayman, he committed to pay two years' salary. Since then, Hayman has had to raise funds on his own to pay his salary and to keep the programs afloat, he says.
His latest - and largest to date - fund-raiser is an upcoming concert with Russian-born Israeli violinist Shlomo Mintz 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Jan. 24, at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 E. Second St. in Scottsdale.
Mintz's performance will feature Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata and Brahms' Sonata No. 3.
Tickets are available by calling 480-994-ARTS, or online at www.tickets.com.
Contact Hayman at 602-944-2753, or 602-266-8770.
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