Crimea River...ha!

Black Sea

Привет! [Hello!]

Greetings from the Crimean Peninsula!
Over the last few days, Vlad, Jessie, and I have had some incredible, meaningful experiences, and some really delicious food.

Yesterday we ventured to Евпатория [Yevpаtoria] in order to lead a seder there. After an exciting car ride to the Black Sea, we arrived at the congregation there. What an incredible space! The building is over 100 years old and is in a process of renovation. The tables were all set up when we go there, and so we got to spend some time walking around the synagogue and the area surrounding it. The town of Yevpаtoria is working on a project called "Little Jerusalem". When we saw this written on our itinerary, we thought we would be walking around a model city of Jerusalem, all covered in Jerusalem stone like what we see every day. Luckily, what we found when we got there was an interesting walk through the city's holy sites.

This mosque was built for a khan who only came to town once a year!

One surprising thing we've learned since arriving to Crimea is that there are many different very active religious communities in the regions. A quick walk around town will have you running into Eastern Orthodox churches, mosques with colorful minarets, and even the occasional synagogue! We enjoyed our walking tour despite the dreary weather, and we got to see many Eastern Orthodox believers preparing for Palm Sunday (which is today!) by walking around carrying branches of pussy-willow [no palm trees in Crimea] and daffodils to offer up at church. We saw the Black Sea (which is a total misnomer at this time of year--it was a lovely greenish blue color!) and lots and lots of swans.

#PartnersinCrimea hanging out in the synagogue in Yevpatoria.

We had the opportunity to speak with one of the community leaders about the renovation project--they're planning on opening the only kosher-style restaurant in the area, which will help bring in tourists from the Little Jerusalem tour during the summer when the city is filled with visitors from throughout the Former Soviet Union. After exploring the town, we finally got to help lead the seder. It's been a really amazing opportunity helping these communities celebrate Passover. We're working with a rabbi here named Misha, and his energy and passion for his work is so inspiring.

What a feast! Our seder plates.

For a lot of the people we're working with, this celebration of the Passover seder is one of the only times during the year that they participate in a distinctly Jewish celebration. Gathering together in a historic synagogue, surrounded by families and neighbors, these seders provide the progressive Jewish communities with the opportunity to start celebrating and connecting to Jewish tradition, and we feel very lucky to be a part of it.

Me and Jessie with our interpreter Tonya

After returning from our lovely experience in Yevpetoria, we went to a restaurant that was based on the theme of Baba Yaga (a traditional fairy tale here about a witchy character eating children). It was a very interesting dining experience--all of the tables are located in little huts on the property, so each dining party has their own distinct space. It was really strange but a cute idea! We're realizing that everywhere we go has pretty delish soups and meaty entrees. Loving the food!

Today we woke up early and headed to Феодозия (Feodosia). We got to drive through some of the mountains, and the views were absolutely lovely! There are so many sheep and goats on the sides of the roads--it's a lot like driving right outside of Jerusalem, but with fewer camels. We got to the Hesed community center where the seder was being held, and parked outside of the building was a white Zhiguli--the very same kind of car that Vlad's dad used to drive when he was little! It's been really cool and entertaining (and, I'll admit, really meaningful) to see how Vlad is connecting to being here. When he sings during the seders you can hear people in the community singing along--it's so cool being able to feel the connection between the people who left after the Soviet regime fell and the people who remained here. What connects them, at least this week, is Judaism and עם ישראל––the people of Israel.

I cannot stress how amazing it is to know that, despite the language barriers, how similar these progressive communities are to our communities back home. All of the places we've been so far are "twinned" with American or other progressive Jewish communities, and pictures line the walls of joint programming and holiday celebrations. While we might need an interpreter (ours is Tonya and she is awesome) to get through the hagadah, there are things that bring us together on a much more important and tangible level. Today, the community was toasting "l'chaim"s and "am yisrael chai"s during the seder! There are Israeli flags all over these synagogues, and it's amazing to know what's going on here and knowing that we can be of service to these communities.

Birds in Feodosia

We've been doing a lot of meandering around town with Rabbi Misha and Tonya (usually with food as an end goal. Tonight we even had delicious Indian food!). Jessie and I are not good at keeping up with the pace--here, strolling around seemingly aimlessly is the norm, and though we always get everywhere on time, the two of us are really struggling to slow down our normal pace. Our slow, relaxed walks are allowing us to see some very beautiful and unexpected sights. We've seen some lovely public parks, many a WWII memorial, a cool art gallery in Feodosia, the Black Sea, and, hilariously, the Crimea River.

Say that out loud.

It sounds like "cry me a river."

We are all obviously very tickled by this.

Thank you all so much for reading this and supporting us while we're here! Спасибо!

Even in Ukraine, we can't escape from Israeli ice cream products!