“I would like you to visit Camp Eitz Chaim, a girls’ camp right outside of Moscow. You absolutely must visit this camp”

O

ne Shabbos between Minchah and Maariv in late spring of 2007, my friend Neal Nissel asked me, “Is there any chance you’ll be in Moscow at the end of July?”

“Well, quite possibly,” I responded. “Why?”

“If you are going to be there, I would like you to visit Camp Eitz Chaim, a girls’ camp right outside of Moscow. You absolutely must visit this camp. Your life will never be the same again.”

It has been almost 20 years since I had emigrated from the USSR, and 11 years since my wife and I became observant. After moving from Queens to Woodmere, Long Island in 1994, I’d gotten to know Neal Nissel, a local businessman and prominent member of the community. Together with other members of the Five Towns Jewish community, he’d graciously taken me under his wing as I found my footing as a religious Jew.

Neal played a crucial role in the resurgence of Jewish observance in Russia, serving as a board member of Operation Open Curtain for 25 years, together with Mr. Reuven Dessler and Rabbi Harry Mayer. He was passionately involved with the establishment and operation of yeshivahs and summer camps for Jewish children who had been disconnected from their heritage. Now, he wanted me to visit the girls’ camp where his two daughters were counselors, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Turns out, I actually was going to be in Moscow at the end of July. My business had me traveling to the former USSR several times a year. But visiting a girls’ camp wasn’t on my itinerary.

He wouldn’t let me off that easily though. He emailed me again after Shabbos, and this time I owned up to my plans. But, I told him, I was flying out from Moscow to Siberia on Sunday and I really preferred to spend Shabbos in a quiet hotel downtown.

He wasn’t very fazed by my protests.

“You must spend Shabbos at the camp! I told you that if you come to the camp, your life will never be the same!”