Welcome to Minsk...

Our journey began in Chicago, jumped to Washington, DC, lumbered to Vienna and meandered on to Minsk. The bulk of our flights were on Austrian Air. I must admit that it was disconcerting to hear the announcements in German and doubly disconcerting to see the flight attendants all dressed in bright red.

(In my mind, all I could see on their sleeves was a black swastika…it is hard to separate the history of Austria vis-à-vis the Jewish people and modern times. While not one of the attendants was old enough to be alive during WWII, I could not help by wonder, “what were their grandparents doing in the early 1940’s?” )

As in past trips, we had the opportunity to daven with a minyan in the airport of a country that once wanted to eradicate Jews from the planet….such a nice feeling!

I must make mention before continuing this log of a few points. We are privileged to have with us on our trip (as in all past trips) HaRav Gedalia Dov Schwartz, shlit”a, Av bet Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and the Bet Din of America. His knowledge of both the depth and breadth of Halacha, Jewish history and its personalities and his undying love for his fellow Jews adds an immeasurable dimension of wisdom and sagacity to our trip. In addition, we are privileged to have Rabbi Yehiel Poupko as our scholar-in-residence and as our teacher/guide. His ability to bring to life both the old and the new as far as history, people, places and time periods helps to make this trip that much more meaningful.

(MINSK) I must say that when we (finally) arrived in Minsk and after going through the airport, I felt like I was back in Kiev; the Soviet garb, Soviet-looking facility and the uniformed airport personnel. (The woman who stamped my passport had an army uniform complete with three stars on her lapel. Does she receive another star with every 1,000th customer??) The personnel looked like they were right out of central casting for Stalin-era actors! I assumed that this would be the type of city that would greet us, but the truth is that it turns out to be much more cosmopolitan and Western than I had anticipated.

Already on the bus from the airport, we learned some of the recent history of Minsk and of its Jewish population…how at one time Minsk was nearly 50% Jewish (!). Since the brain is a little fuzzy due to the long trip, I will save the details and add them to the events of Tuesday.
No matter all the travelling…this is going to be a wonderful and educational trip.
Assuming I am able to get an internet connection each night, I will add to this blog on a daily basis.
Your comments are always welcome!