By COLlive reporter
Russian Jews are showing an unprecedented interest in Jewish tradition today, thanks to the new era of religious freedom, and thanks to the tremendous job constantly done by Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, and the Shluchim.
Today, Jewish life has been totally transformed, and they have succeeded in bringing Yiddishkeit to much of the Jewish population in Russia.
Some of the key players in this success, Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg Mendel Pewsner, Rabbi Zvi Pinski and Chief Rabbi of Perm Rabbi Zalman Deutch, organized a lecture tour to help further inspire locals.
They invited the young Rabbi Benzion Laskin, program director of the international Chamah organization in New York and a weekly columnist in the Forum newspaper and host of the radio show “Conversations on Judaism and Kabbalah.”
His tour began with a lecture dedicated to 19 Kislev and the novelty of Chsasidic doctrine that took place at the Choral Synagogue of S. Petersburg, the city in which the Alter Rebbe was imprisoned.
The lecture evoked a powerful response in the audience. Reviews on the lecture were published in the federal Russian press, “St. Petersburg Diary,” and the federal information agency ROSBALT.
In the city of Perm, Laskin spoke to a packed house, with the audience also including people from nearby towns. Some of them came from as far away as the city of Nizhny Tagil (250 miles from Perm), to hear the lecture.
The sessions lasted well over three hours. “Russia’s Jews are eager to know as much as possible about Chassidism, about their roots and traditions,” commented Rabbi Laskin who was called by the Russian media “a rising star on the Jewish scene.”
The final lecture of the tour took place in Moscow, and was organized by the shliach Rabbi Mendy Wilensky, before a crowd of young students, who, upon its completion, were reluctant to leave thanks to Rabbi Laskin’s combination of creativity, dynamic interaction with the audience, sense of humor, and a deep Chassidic approach to any topic.
For hours they raised questions whose answers they had long been seeking, and afterward, many expressed their desire to study Torah in depth.
VIDEO:
Photos show a intense desire for hearing, facial expressions are remarkable reflection of interest
keep using your talents for chizuk hayahadus and hafatzas hamaayanos mchayil el chayil !!
EZ Brooklyn NY
Keep up the good job !
: )
Unfortunately don’t understand Russian but heard him lecturing in English and Hebrew .Really great !
lichsheyofutzu……………..