Destination: the USSR — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as “Russia”

The borders are all but closed. Visas can be obtained, but getting them is not easy. Still, you decide to take a chance and enter a land that is a countrywide jail, and the people who live there will risk their freedom to meet you. Destination: the USSR – the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as “Russia.”

In the 1970s and 1980s, Communism ruled the entire Eastern Europe, and thousands of Jews were trapped in its jaws. KGB agents secretly crawled the streets and listened in on phone conversations. Keeping Torah and mitzvos was criminal, and many Jews barely knew the basics of Yiddishkeit. But they thirsted for it, and they were willing to risk their freedom just to learn Torah.

Agudas Yisrael of America stepped into this desperate situation. Harav Mordechai Neustadt z”l took a trip to the USSR and saw how much the Jews lacked in order to be able to keep Torah and mitzvos. He founded an organization called Vaad l’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel, which sent shaliach after shaliach to the USSR. Every trip was carefully planned, so that the shluchim of the Vaad could give shiurim, chizuk, and bring practical items to the Jews of the Soviet Union. These shluchim also got to see what it was really like in Eastern Europe.

Daily Life in Eastern Europe

When you need milk or bread, all you need to do is take a short walk around the corner to the grocery store. The store might have really long checkout lines, but even if they do, how long does the whole trip take? In the USSR, you would have to go to two booths; one that sold milk, and one that sold bread. And at each booth you would have to wait, sometimes for an hour or more, for your turn to buy these basics. There was a line for everything — bread, fruit, clothing, shoes. And you were lucky if you got what you needed because there were shortages of everything.

A Week in the Life of a Shaliach of the Vaad l’Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel

June 19,1984: Tuesday Today is the day I fly out to Russia. I’ve been preparing for days with a Vaad representative, and the trip is all planned out. My black hat has been left behind in favor of a baseball cap, as I need to seem like a typical tourist. I have pockets full of coins for the payphones where I will be able to make phone calls and not be overheard, and my coded list of contacts and their phone numbers is safely tucked into my suitcase. I have even learned to read Cyrillic (Russian alphabet) so that I can read the street signs and get where I need to go without asking for help.

June 20, 1984: Wednesday I’ve landed in Moscow. With siyata D’shmaya, my suitcases make it in without getting confiscated. A government employee waited outside the airport to take me to a special hotel for foreigners. They want to make sure I have as little contact with Russians as possible. After depositing my bags in the hotel, I go out in search of a payphone. Although there is a payphone right across from the hotel, the government is watching that phone carefully. Walking nonchalantly, acting like a typical tourist, I stop at a few shops to look around. About five or ten minutes from the hotel, I find a payphone and call my contact. Upon meeting with him, I give him the psak halachah paskened by R’ Moshe Feinstein. He had asked the previous shaliach one of the many sh’eilos on my list, and part of my job here is to bring him his answer. He also lets me know that it is safe for me to go to shul, so I plan to daven with a minyan tomorrow.

June 21, 1984: Thursday I wake up to daven in shul with a minyan. Knowing that there are informers everywhere, I am careful with whom I speak and what I do. Afterwards, I take a train to deliver my first shiur. I could really hire a taxi and stop a few blocks away, but taking the train is a lot safer. When I get to the building, there is a government official watching who goes in and out. He knows I am there. He probably even knows why. Many shluchim get kicked out of the country after their first shiur, so I know I have to be careful. Inside, there are two Russian baalei teshuvah waiting to learn basics of Yiddishkeit. We learn about brachos this time. I mention a banana, but they have never heard of a banana, let alone seen one! When we are done, I go on a tour of the Kremlin. After all, I must appear to be a regular Russian tourist.

June 22, 1984: Friday First I meet with one of my contacts. He is a gabbai tzedakah of sorts, and knows the families in need. I have brought a Japanese camera worth around $300 in the US. It can be sold on the black market here for enough money to support a family for half a year! He will take the camera and give it to those in need. Afterwards I head to the Beryozka store, a store for government officials and foreigners where all sorts of items that are hard to get in Russia can actually be found. There, I buy cases of baby formula, and foods like chocolate and candy. I plan to give it all out to people in need. Then I head back to the hotel to prepare for Shabbos.

Friday Night Before I left the United States, the Vaad representative told me where the stairs are so I can avoid the elevator without arousing suspicion. I am bringing food for the seudah to the homes of the people who are hosting me. After davening in my room, I head out at a brisk pace to the home of my hosts. The seudah is beautiful, and I give them a taste of a real Shabbos. We sing zemiros, and I teach them new tunes that they have never heard before. The meat that I have given them is the only meat they have.