SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange celebrated its 25-year anniversary of helping more than 40 emigres from the former Soviet Union resettle in the area with a free musical performance by professional cellist and former emigre Andrey Tchekmazov on Nov. 19.
Tchekmazov, one of the children originally settled through Oheb Shalom’s efforts, requested the opportunity to show his gratitude through a concert performance. He is known for his versatility as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, with performances featured on WQXR, WGBH, NPR, and other TV and radio stations across Eastern and Western Europe and South America.
Oheb Shalom was among the foremost supporters in welcoming emigres from the former Soviet Union to the United States in the 1990s. Oheb Shalom congregants assisted them with learning English, securing and cleaning apartments, negotiating the Social Security system, finding jobs, and helping with their transportation needs.
Donations of everything from cars and furniture, to food and clothing were organized in an effort that lasted many years. Out of this project grew two important community initiatives: the Bobrow Kosher Food Pantry, which continues to serve needy families across northern New Jersey, and the Oheb Shalom Free Loan Society, now the Hebrew Free Loan Organization of New Jersey.
Event Chairwoman Inna Gulberg was especially excited to share this celebration with the community; as an emigre who resettled in the United States from Minsk, Belarus, she is intimately acquainted with the generosity of Oheb Shalom Congregation.
“One of the reasons why I wanted to chair this event is because I think both Andrey and myself are forever grateful to everyone for letting us become a part of Oheb and the Jewish community. My family came in 1990 when I was 12 years old, and members of Oheb Shalom honestly picked us up from the airport, brought us to our first apartment in the United States, and any need that you could think of, anything and everything, they were involved with helping,” Gulberg said in a recent interview with the News-Record. “I met Andrey when he was 21 and had resettled through Oheb Shalom as well. We were really lucky because we ended up meeting people who opened up their hearts, opened up their homes and brought us into their community, and that was a very profound experience for me as a 12-year-old child.
“My message for the concert is that people’s contributions great or small play a significant role in someone’s life when they emigrate to this country,” Gulberg continued.
Though Oheb Shalom is not currently helping families resettle in the United States, many of the initiatives that came out of that work are still in operation, such as the Bobrow Kosher Food Pantry.
“The work is ongoing through our kosher food pantry, which serves elder immigrant families, and anyone else in the community; it’s a nondenominational food pantry that serves over 200 people in the community, many of whom are not Jewish,” Oheb Shalom Cantor Erika Lippitz said in a recent phone interview with the News-Record. “Those who are older immigrants may not be able to work, so they certainly benefit from the food, as well as others in need in our area.”
For Lippitz, the celebration event was not only a time to celebrate the families the congregation has been able to assist over the years, but also an opportunity to bring heightened sensitivity and awareness to current immigration issues in the United States.
“We could not have predicted the way in which refugee issues would be at the forefront of our national discussion, but we knew that, no matter who won the election, Americans need to think deeply and carefully about being a nation of immigrants and, as Jews who largely come from fairly recent immigration, (we must as well),” she said. “We want to increase sensitivity and identification with today’s emigres. I am very concerned about trends in our culture to treat the immigrant as ‘other.’ As far as I’m concerned, we are all immigrants to this land, except for Native Americans, and there should be humility when we speak about our national policies.
“The Jewish community feels a strong kinship to Soviet refugees. Many of us are descendants of those who had the good fortune to leave before the advent of the Soviet Union so we are all aware that it could have been us that fell behind the Iron Curtain,” Lippitz continued. “Jews were singled out for religious persecution in the Soviet Union. Those who came included many who had received a Jewish identity from parents and grandparents almost in secret and wanted to be able to practice openly. I think that all discussion about refugees will help make Americans more sensitive to their plight.”
Photos Courtesy of Inna Gulberg