"Most of the younger generation have no first-hand memories of praying for or reaching out to Soviet Jewry"

It’s over 30 years since the Iron Curtain fell, and most of the younger generation have no first-hand memories of praying for or reaching out to Soviet Jewry who were trapped behind it. “We knew some of the songs written back then in solidarity with the plight of Soviet Jews, but we couldn’t really identify. It wasn’t part of our world growing up,” says producer Doni Gross.

The current crisis in Ukraine has reawakened our dormant connection to brothers and sisters thousands of miles away. In the lands that were the cradle of so many chassidic courts and Jewish movements as well as horrifying pogroms, hundreds of thousands of Jews are trapped and physically endangered by a senseless and increasingly violent war. Dovi Safier, deeply involved with fundraising for the evacuation of families from the troubled areas (and a Mishpacha columnist), had the idea of using the 1970s’ JEP song, “Dear Nikolai,” composed by Heshy Walfish with lyrics by Chesky Kornfeld, to inspire a new song of connection. The original lyrics of “Dear Nikolai” are a letter to a young Jew behind the Iron Curtain, while a new single, “DEAR AM YISRAEL,” is a missive from a Jew trying to flee Ukraine. Privately sponsored by activists affiliated with Yad Yisrael and sung by Benny Friedman, Chayala Neuhaus’s and Dovi Safier’s updated lyrics describe a world of suffering and emunah: “Tonight we are making a move to leave, heading toward the border in the dark… A cry piercing the soul of Jews through the exile, yet we’re Jews of courage, whose faith is stronger than war…”

And hasn’t it always been?

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 904)