Laugh of God

What can Hasidic Jews teach Ukrainians?

viramakovii — Fri, 6 Apr 2012 06:50:00 GMT

History has scattered religious shrines all over the world, but pilgrims continue visiting them, as before, in a show of tribute to their faith. In Uman, 20,000 Hasidic Jews from all places recently gathered to see in the new 5770 year. They have been coming here in the past 20 years to pray to their holiest shrine—the grave of their religious guru Tzaddik (Rabbi) Nachman. This pilgrimage costs them a pretty penny because Uman residents charge them exorbitant housing rent. But the Hasidic Jews do not take offense —they have fun. So before the next Rosh Hashanah (New Year) comes around, the hosts do a major renovation for the money they received and rent their apartments out again, moving temporarily to garages and makeshift houses.

The Israeli government would like to transfer Rabbi Nachman’s grave to Israel and promises Ukraine a considerable pay. But money may be here today and gone tomorrow, so neither Ukrainians nor the Hasidim want any changes. (Nachman willed that the righteous visit this land.) The Jews have long been buying apartments in Uman, and local residents say, and rightly so, that Uman is going to be Israel’s second capital.

The number of the visiting Hasidic Jews is expected to rise, as the world population, including that of Judaic believers, is growing. So if Uman becomes a Ukrainian Mecca, we, who live in a polyphonic society, should know the traditions, customs, and values of various religions.

Hasidic Jews are telling the world via their religion that the main thing in the life of a believer is righteous behavior, fanatical prayers, and zealous fulfillment of God’s commandments, which allow a human to become a heavenly interlocutor. They live off a powerful idea and sincerely believe that they will be forgiven everything in the name of the Lord.

It would be also good for us to recall what a great idea is, because it seems to have died in our society. We do not believe in anything now, even in ourselves. “And what can I do? Will this change anything?” Ukrainians say, wringing their hands. All our simplistic adult principles are working against us. Maybe, Ukrainians should also reread and trust fairy tales, as they did in their childhood years. Nachman did not preach — he would tell his followers fairy tales, thinking that they would bring an individual into a specific state of meditation, which would help tell the truth from falsity.

Ukrainians should work out a different perception of things —through personally gained experience. Yes, Hasidic Jews strive to perceive existence the way it is and acquire the original, unspoiled joy. They are educated in the belief that the thing God likes the most: simply is simplicity: simply to believe, simply to be (but the Ukrainian belief is that nothing can be “simple”). Hasidism teaches that man should serve God with all his thoughts and deeds and seek sanctity, whereas what is considered sinful is doubt and spiritual failures, rather than sin itself. We seem to have stopped uplifting our spirit a long time ago. This occurs because we let ourselves sink into despondency and think that we will never succeed — and we will really never succeed as long as we think so.

Good ideas are often tampered with and used to the detriment of people. Yes, Christianity is also a light for people, but it turns into anti-Christianity in the hands of some wicked people. Socialism brings along progress, but it degenerates into genocide in the hands of bandits. Zionists also use the exalted Hasidic ideas to manipulate the consciousness of the faithful in pursuit of their political and financial goals. So, with this in view, let us create a new philosophy in which we will be the real characters, rather than actors playing their parts.

Stalinism slowly being forgotten in the “polar boiler room”

viramakovii — Fri, 6 Apr 2012 06:48:00 GMT

In the endless spaces of “white silence” winter reigns for nine months out of twelve, dark days are followed by white nights, and wild deer make friends with people. Vorkuta blossoms in June, when the splendor of painted houses is most evident, dandelions fill every valley, and young paperboys deliver newspapers in the streets, yelling: “Read all about the MK Vorkuta!” People feed bread to pigeons, rare guests that, like people, arrive here only by train (sitting on the roof). In the summer Nenets reindeer herders arrive in Vorkuta on their sleighs, even though there is grass underfoot.

VORKUTA — A MULTINATIONAL CITY

Vorkuta, the size of Slovenia or Macedonia, covers six percent of the area of the Komi Republic. This is a multinational city, populated by Russians, Ukrainians, Komi, Belarusians, Moldovans, Georgians, and other nationalities. But the Ukrainian diaspora is the largest in this republic.

The intelligentsia is made up of highly-educated, talented people from whom one can learn many things. In various ways they are all enriching the spiritual life of Vorkuta, which is known for its coal mining. Today the city is developing rapidly. There are some city boulevards, amazing theaters, the grand Miners’ Culture Palace, crowded squares, splendid architectural ensembles, various commemorative signs, and a huge fountain. The ice castles built by talented architects adorn the city in winter.

There is a splendid exhibition hall. Employee Olena Morozova explained that this year’s summer season is depicted in the paintings and photos created by talented children in Vorkuta, some of whom attended an exhibit in the US. Ms. Morozova showed me around the city, recounting its history. In the early 20th century deposits of high-quality coal, very good for coking, were discovered near the Vorkuta River, which flows near the foothills of the Ural Mountains, the border between Europe and Asia. At the time, the socialist state needed oil, coal, and ore for industrialization. So in the 1930s the Soviet government developed the almost inaccessible Siberian region and built a new economic base with the aid of political prisoners. This is how the concentration camp city, one of the symbols of the Stalinist era, arose.

UKRAINIANS IN VORKUTA

In the city I met a wonderful person from Ukraine, the economist Yevdokia Lisova. Our acquaintance began when she greeted me in Ukrainian: “Good afternoon, how do you like our city?” I was overjoyed at hearing my native language. Yevdokia comes from Poltava and is very excited by what is taking place in Ukraine. She reads a lot of Ukrainian books and discusses the nation’s painful problems at meetings of the Ukraina Society.

“On Christmas Day and the Old New Year we visit each other, carrying the star of Bethlehem and singing carols. We sing shchedrivky (ancient New Year’s songs). All this warms our hearts and souls,” this Ukrainian resident of Vorkuta told me.

There is a cultural center in the city called Ukrainska khata (Ukrainian House). This is an authentic Ukrainian village, where everything is handmade: houses, wicker fences, sunflowers, and national costumes. The center also has a collection of Ukrainian literary works. The Ukraina civic organization is also active in the city. Officially founded in 2003, it hosts literary soirees devoted to Taras Shevchenko and Lesia Ukrainka, as well as many other interesting creative activities that are helping to revive Ukrainian traditions and culture.

For the first time the Ukrainians in Russia organized the Chervona Ruta Festival in Vorkuta. The Ukrainian choir Pivnichne siaivo (Northern Lights), which regularly takes part in the Pisenni dzherela (Song Sources) international celebration of literature and art and the festival Ukrainian Songs in the World, was founded in 2003. The choir often tours abroad. When the performers sing the prayer for Ukraine, everyone listens to it standing at attention, and there is always a full house. The Ukrainian language has been taught as an optional subject in Vorkuta’s schools since 1988.

WOULD VORKUTA HAVE EXISTED WITHOUT POLITICAL PRISONERS?

In a way, Vorkuta’s past resembles Armageddon: people’s lives were maimed, families were broken up, children froze to death after being thrown from trains into the winter tundra, prisoners were tortured by hunger, the bones of the dead lie buried in the ground, people were crippled, and many hot tears mixed with blood. Those who survived died without ever seeing either their home or parents: Stalin’s dictatorship dealt efficiently with the “disagreeable.”

I was lucky to talk to a local poet named Maryk Kagantsov, who is an emergency doctor and the author of the book Verses byUkrainian Poets — Political Prisoners of the Vorkuta Concentration Camps. He is the son of victims of the repressions from the Crimea. The poems of unknown Ukrainian poets, including Volodymyr Kosovsky, Yevhenii Cherednyshenko, Ivan Palamarchuk, and Vasyl Petriv, are masterfully conveyed in his Russian translations. These poems are heart-rending and stay with the reader for a long time.

There are also splendid churches in this unusual city. Petro Deputat, a native of Ternopil oblast, is the dean of the Church of Prince Ihor.

“My father was repressed for his membership in the OUN and UPA,” the Reverend Petro explained. “I was born in Vorkuta, and when it came time to choose my future profession, I decided to become a priest, like my grandfather. So I went to Lviv and graduated from the Lviv Seminary. I have been serving the Lord here for 10 years. The first six years I served divine liturgies in the camp commandant’s office, which substituted for a church: the cells were still there. Now I am in the new church. The residents of Vorkuta like to attend church. Most of them come because of some inner compulsion.”

This is what the remote Siberian region is like: everywhere you look gives you the shivers. Nothing grows and everything but coal is shipped in. But people live here and don’t even complain about their fate. They say they have gotten used to it, but they will go to Ukraine to die.

Warsaw’s multicolored life

viramakovii — Fri, 6 Apr 2012 06:43:00 GMT

The magic of Warsaw begins at Nowy Swiat Street. Walking away from this historic thoroughfare, visitors are amazed by the sensation of watching a black-and-white film in the district of Praga and by the harmony, beauty, and silence of Lazienki Park. The many small and winding streets give one the illusion of being in a maze. Eleven students from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus recently walked along these streets. They were taking part in a 12-day study tour of Poland, based in Warsaw, with the goal of learning about the various aspects of Polish life.

OLD TOWN

The capital of Poland is known for its special play of colors, emotions, and moods. The unusual local contrasts enchant both visitors and city residents. The old center of Warsaw smiles at people with its multicolored houses that once expressed the moods of Polish noble families, who would pull up in horse-drawn carriages to a ball, dance a polka or a polonaise, the women dressed in exquisite, sophisticated ball gowns, and listen to a performance by Frederic Chopin. Legend has it that at night in these houses you can see a dragon that fell in love with the queen of the capital, the mermaid Siren. Today his bronze beloved stands in the Old Town center. If you listen closely, you can hear the dragon’s love song.

Roaming the little back streets of old Warsaw, visitors can hear the music of bells, violins, drums, flutes, and double-basses. Local musicians seem to have struck a deal to play in unison because you can hear harmony and the same rhythm that has endured throughout the years. No one has ever seen the faces of the creators of this moon-lit evening show.

THE LIFE OF POLES

The entire Polish capital is green and carpeted with flowers. You can see them in huge flowerbeds, on windowsills and balconies, and at intervals of a dozen or so meters you will come across smiling florists, who sometimes offer their wares for free. Varsovians are openhearted and friendly: they address people as “love” or “dear,” while smiling broadly. Salespeople and shoppers always say hello and goodbye to one another.

Warsaw residents spend their leisure time in a wide variety of ways: some flock to the splendid parks of Wilanow and Lazienki, others listen to sailor songs in pubs, while others attend international festivals. Some Varsovians prefer to take classes, take a stroll through some Polish royal castles, or visit traditional and modern museums. The most other-worldly individuals like to carve medieval paraphernalia in workshops. In the evening, most Poles are glued to their televisions, watching their favorite television series Ranczo.

The best form of transport in Warsaw is the streetcar. You can get around quickly on streetcars because there are no traffic jams. There is also a convenient subway — only one line with some very unusual stations. However, it is dangerous and expensive to travel on Polish trains because there are only two conductors for every train. Poles say that passengers are sometimes robbed on trains.

PRAGA

Praga is the only district in Warsaw that survived World War II intact. The buildings here have never been rebuilt. Everything is a surprise in this area. Local residents know everything about each other, and they always greet each other earnestly and loudly even if they see somebody from their balcony. Local cats befriend dogs and lie together on the same windowsill.

There is no answer to the strange things that go on this city district. Why is a 1930s-type dandy shooting, in broad daylight, from his crossbow at some odd targets? Why are a few men playing a card game with only three cards on a broken chair? Why is there only a tiny window in a huge wall? Why do a synagogue, an Orthodox church, and a Roman Catholic church form a triangle? Why are people sleeping with their eyes open next to a window? Why does the wall of a central building have a picture of nuns playing the guitar, and why does everybody love this picture and want to hang onto it?

STUDY TOUR OF POLAND

After seeing Warsaw from the outside, we began to study it from the inside. Bogdan Borusiewicz, Marshal (Speaker) of the Polish Senate, told us that Poland plans to introduce the euro, the national economy has risen by six percent, and a lot of international investments are coming in. He also said that many Poles, especially doctors, are looking for jobs in Ireland, England, and other countries. The marshal noted that all this is relative because the number of well-paid jobs is on the rise, and the citizens of neighboring countries can now come to Poland to work.

Asked about Poland’s strategic interests in Ukraine, Borusiewicz said, “We have a good experience of cooperating with Ukraine. This state has always been a friend of ours, and now we want Ukraine to join the European Union to be able to develop.”

There are many tour guides at the Sejm (Poland’s parliament) and the Senate of Poland because these institutions are very popular with schoolchildren. Parliamentary sessions are open to the public, and anyone can sign up to attend one. The same applies to Polish courts. “There is no corruption here at all,” our group’s interpreter Irena Matiienko said, “because EU offices are monitoring this closely.”

The group of students also visited the Warsaw Uprising Museum, where every second you can hear the beating heart of a Polish resistance fighter. On display are letters, photographs, pages of newspapers, typewriters, weapons, American airplanes, medicines, uniforms worn by soldiers and nurses uniforms, fragments from the ruins of Warsaw, motorcycles, water flasks, military medals, sections of walls bearing tragic inscriptions and the words of Polish patriotic songs, radio sets, and old-fashioned telephones that visitors can use to call up an insurgent and ask about his or her life during the war. The Warsaw Uprising lasted for 63 days, and after it was suppressed the Germans destroyed the city.

The students managed to visit the only synagogue in Warsaw. Out of a total of 400 prewar Jewish temples, only this one survived because the Germans used it as a stable during the war. Today Varsovians have a special attitude to Jews. Krzysztof, a salesclerk in an antique store, said that his boss, a Jew, is 70 years old, but he still comes to the shop every day, sits down in an old-fashioned armchair, peruses magazines for hours, looks out the window, and sometimes tells interesting stories of Jewish life. The elderly Jew never interferes in the salesman’s work, he simply observes.

WARSAW STUDENTS

Warsaw University students have a unique “green” library with an enormous rooftop garden, where you can lie in the shade of a tree among the flowers and drink some tea. The students order books for the library on the Internet. You can find the most popular ones by yourself, while the oldest books are kept in the stacks. There are also specially equipped rooms for blind researchers. Next to the library entrance stand tall columns inscribed with quotations by famous philosophers. Inside there is a globe that you can only see when the sun is setting. Incidentally, the curriculum requires that Polish students read three times more books during one academic year than their Ukrainian counterparts.

Poland is not known for its subcultures. You will rarely encounter a Goth, an emo, or a rocker on the street, and other contemporary trends are simply unknown. In Warsaw young people usually work as volunteers in civic organizations or moonlight somewhere. Young politicians have their own party in the local government, and some young Varsovians travel to Ukraine, stay in the homes of old women in Carpathian villages, study our language, traditions, and mythology and then write dissertations. Sometimes they choose to stay in Ukraine for good. Young Polish men like Ukrainian girls a lot: they say that only our girls have warm eyes and capable hands.

My Scholarship entry - Seeing the world through other eyes

viramakovii — Fri, 6 Apr 2012 05:55:25 GMT

The Cost of Faith
I met a girl on the train to L’viv who was running away from home. Olya drinks and smokes, leading to constant fights with her mom. Her mother wants to help her kick bad habits and asks her to visit some sacred sites in Russia. “What for?” the girl shouts back. “To learn how the Saints lived and get yourself right” mom says. “What do I need your kind of “right” for? Take a look at yourself. Dad beats you every day for the sake of your church.”
Olya wanted going to L’viv to study at the Print Academy, but mother has her marked for a law degree. After while, mom promised to let Olya go to L’viv and give some money, if Olya will go to Russia. Olya agreed. This pilgrimage cost three months’ salary, she squirreled away, unknown to her husband.
Soon after, a bus with some church members and Olya set off for a three-week trip to Russia. They spent nearly the whole time cramped up in the bus, eating there, sleeping there. Olya have lost 10 kilo. The church members passed judgment for her short skirt, short-sleeved blouse, and her unruly hair. She had to steal any chance she could to grab a smoke. Once they caught her smoking near the WC, heaped abuse on her, telling the priest that she was an addict, and then shunned her, refusing to talk.
The mom didn’t really have anything to live on herself, and had taken a loan from a friend. She’d be waiting ‘til the Second Coming of Christ before she saw her next paycheck, if she ever saw it. Mom was hopeful that now, cleansed of her sins, the girl wouldn’t want to leave her.
Before Olya’s arrival, mom cleaned, and cooked her favorite dumplings with cottage cheese and poppy seeds. The girl came and said: “Give me the money. I’ve been to your Siberia; I’ll be in L’viv by tomorrow.” That night Olya went to the discotheque, say goodbye to her friends. She came home drun, her mom waited up, and crying all night told her: “God punishes me through you for not believing in him when I was younger.”