Some of the schools that nurture descendants of the Vilna
Gaon and relatives of Rav Eliezer Menachem Mann Shach, among
others, are not tucked away in the chareidi neighborhoods in
Meah Shearim or Geula as one might expect. Some of their
students are not even aware of the importance of their
lineage.
These schools are Shuvu schools, and their students are
Russian immigrant children who know little -- if anything --
about Yiddishkeit when they first enter the Shuvu
system. They are now tracing their lineage as part of a new
program called Shorashim, or Roots, designed to help them
forge a connection to the past and to encourage them to bring
Torah and Yiddishkeit into their present-day lives.
The amazing discoveries that the children make as a result of
the program strengthen not only themselves, but also their
parents and grandparents by drawing them into the world of
Torah learning and forging together the chain of the
generations.
"It's important for the children to realize who they are,"
says Shuvu Director in Eretz Yisroel Rabbi Chaim Michoel
Gutterman, "for the teachers to realize who they're teaching,
and for parents to realize they're a link in the chain."
"This is reminiscent of the Greeks' oppression of Jews during
the times of the Chashmonaim. The Greeks forbade all forms of
Torah learning and mitzvah observance," says Rabbi Gutterman.
"However, just as in the miracle of Chanukah, the Jews were
brought back to their roots and rededicated their commitment
to Torah. So too, the Jews of Russia were oppressed and torn
away from their Jewish way of life. Now, through the
rediscovery of their roots, they are finding their way back
to Torah and mitzvos."
From Grozny To Chadera
As part of the Shorashim project, which is being introduced
throughout Shuvu's network of schools and activities that
reach a total of 13,500 children, the students are asked to
bring in old family pictures.
Many of the children -- or rather, their parents -- are often
hesitant to do so.
"Many Russians are very reluctant to acknowledge their past,"
explains Rabbi Gutterman. "In general, Russian parents were
brought up in such oppression that anything connected to
Yiddishkeit had to be kept hidden. It is reminiscent
of the times of the Misyavnim, when Torah-true Judaism came
under attack. They tend to keep old family pictures of
religious ancestors buried in the back of their closets. If
not for this program, much of this information would have
remained hidden forever."
Shuvu holds a special raffle to encourage the children to
bring in photos of their families. Many of the students have
already brought in photos, and most included rabbonim and
gedolei hador.
Some of the students had particularly astounding stories,
like Stephan Pinchasov, a first-grader at the Shuvu school in
Chadera. Pinchas' great-great- grandfather was Reb Mattisyahu
Bogatyrev, the parnas of Grozny a century ago.
In the late 1800s, Reb Mattisyahu and his son Yaakov built
the main shul of Grozny, as well as a Jewish school. In 1903,
Reb Mattisyahu went to the Zionist Congress in Basel, where
he supported the idea of Jews moving to Eretz Yisroel, but
only if this were done in an atmosphere of Torah
observance.
When the Soviets rose to power in 1923, Reb Mattisyahu was
one of the first to be executed. His brothers and sons,
including Yaakov, were deported to Siberia. His grandson,
Daniel, who was Yaakov's son, was arrested in 1933 and
sentenced to death. He later earned a reprieve and was
sentenced instead to exile.
Many years later, in the 1991 war between Russia and
Chechnya, Chechnian rebels climbed on to the roof of the
Bogatyrev shul to use it as a firing position against Russian
Army troops. There they discovered an etching ascribing the
building to the Bogatyrev family.
The fully-armed rebels searched the town to find the
Bogatyrevs. The family, sure that a bloody fate awaited them,
proudly admitted that their ancestors had indeed built the
shul.
But to the Bogatyrevs surprise, rather than killing them, the
Chechnian rebels bowed down to them in a show of respect and
promised to protect them. Apparently the rebels were awed by
a family that would build such a holy building.
During the war, the town was reduced to ruins, but the
Bogatyrev house, the shul and the school built by Reb
Mattisyahu and his son, were some of the few buildings that
remained standing.
Six months after this incident, the family escaped to Eretz
Yisroel.
Now, a decade later, Reb Mattisyahu's great-great- grandson
is learning about Yiddishkeit and why it was so
precious to his ancestors that they risked their lives rather
than abandon it. His grandmother is proud of Stephan
"There are no men left in the family, and nobody who can
daven," she says. "Our only hope is Stephan. He is
only seven years old, but he already reads from the Torah. We
are very proud of him."
In The Footsteps Of The Gedolim
Another student who has discovered greatness in his past as a
result of Shuvu's Shorashim Project is Yitzchok Frolov, a
fifth-grader in Shuvu's elementary school in Beit Shemesh.
Yitzchok, who immigrated to Israel in 1997, is the great-
great-grandson of Yankel Kupitskii, who was taken as a child
in 1835 to serve in Czar Nicholas' army. Yankel was finally
released 30 years later, after undergoing much suffering.
Despite the tortuous conditions, he remained a Jew and even
married a Jewish woman.
Today, his great-great-grandson Yitzchok is following in his
footsteps, pursuing Torah and mitzvos even when faced with
modern difficulties.
There are more stories, each more astounding than the
next.
Two cousins in the Shuvu Ashdod school, Eliyahu and Shai
Weinstein, discovered that they have a rather illustrious
cousin -- HaRav Menachem Mann Shach, zt"l. They knew
that they had "someone in the family who was a rav," but did
not know exactly who that was.
When Shuvu staff members saw the photograph of the Weinstein
brothers' ancestor, they contacted Rav Shach's son, who said
that he recalled his father mentioning that they had family
in the area where the Weinsteins had lived. A further search
confirmed that the Weinsteins are indeed related to Rav
Shach.
Rina Medvednik, a Shuvu Rechovot first-grader, brought in a
picture of a descendant of the Vilna Gaon, the only family
heirloom belonging to her grandmother that survived World War
II. The family did not know much about the Vilna Gaon, but
the oral tradition of its great family ancestry had remained
intact.
Chizuk For Today's Generation
These links to gedolim continue to be uncovered in
Shuvu schools across Eretz Yisroel thanks to Shuvu's
Shorashim Project. They connect Russian children to the
distinguished lineage of their past, and to the Jewish
heritage that is so much a part of their future.
"Russian children who can connect in this way to their past
are able to feel that they are part of a heritage greater
than themselves," says Rabbi Gutterman. "They are able to
move into the present, to be open to the Torah and mitzvos
being presented to them in the Shuvu classroom, and to make
them more tangible, more real, and a true part of their
lives."
