Documentary Film: “The Rostover”

By COLlive reporter

“My grandfather saw the Rebbe Rashab,” said Leonid Valdman, whose family lived across the street from the Rebbe. “He told us of the religious Jews who would often gather there.”

Valdman was among a wide range of Rostov locals interviewed by Yanky Ascher for his “Souls on the Don” project, documenting the revival of Jewish life in the southern-Russian port city.

Valdman’s family lived across from 42 Bratski Street, which served as the Rebbe Rashab’s residence and Chabad’s headquarters at the time. It was there that the fifth Rebbe took his last breath. Right before his passing, he turned to those around him and said, “I’m going up to heaven now, but I leave you with my most precious possessions: my writings.”

According to Rabbi Yitzchok Kogan, an ex-refusenik affectionately known as the Tzaddik from Leningrad, the Rebbe’s final words were an appeal. “This was an instruction for all generations,” said Rabbi Kogan. “If we want to connect to our Rabbeim, we have to study and live by the teachings that they left us.”

Unfortunately, with the rise of the Soviet Union, religious life became extremely difficult and Jews began to think twice before discussing religious matters.

Miriam Goldfarb, 91, was born six years after the Rebbe Rashab’s passing. “No one told us anything about the fifth Rebbe,” said Goldfarb. “They did not want the children to talk too much. My parents and grandparents probably knew. I was just a child. I knew nothing.”

In 1939, almost two decades after the Rebbe’s passing, word got out that there were plans to build a new sports complex on the site of the Jewish cemetery. One morning, before dawn, a group of Jews met together for a risky mission: to move the Rebbe Rashab’s Ohel.

One of those brave men was Abram Norman. His granddaughter, Marina Kulishova, heard him tell the story many times. “When they opened the coffin,” said Kulishova, “the body was whole. It was such a shock to everyone present. Other than gasping, no one said a word.”

Decades of assimilation made it hard for the Russian Jews to hold on to their heritage, but if you look at Rostov’s community today, you’ll find that they persevered.

In recent years, under the leadership of Rabbi Chaim Danzinger, the community has seen tremendous growth. “It’s all thanks to our rabbis, of course,” said Dr. Chaim P. Goldshmid. “But in truth, they’re just branches. The trunk is here: the Rebbe Rashab.”

Goldfarb agrees. She only wishes that her ancestors could witness the Jewish revival happening today. “When I stand at the Ohel and look down at the Kever, I think, ‘if only my grandparents could be here today and see me here…’ It is so important to me.”

The 15-minute documentary film, The Rostover, features 9 interviews and visits the sites of Chabad’s century-old history in the city. The film premiered in Rostov last month, at an event marking the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday and the completion of the restoration of his Ohel.

VIDEO: The Rostover