By Marina Kotelya

Translated by Elina Ioisher

Now Kishinev Hillel can add Iash in its list of the “conquered” cities. That is how it happened.

On May 11, ten of our Hillel students went to Iash – one of the largest cities in Romania – to get to know the Jewish community there. We express our thanks to Edik Veltman, due to whose colorful appearance we were recognized at the bus station.

Jewish community of Iash accounts no more than 500 members, about 30 young people among them. Only 15 or 20 of them are active members of OTER (Romanian Jewish Youth Organization). And only 7 or 8 of them are girls. Now you can imagine how much attention was given to our girls, and how impatiently the young people are now waiting for their response visit to Moldova. 

However let us not get off the subject. We liked their quarters – a pretty big room, where, much the same like in ours, one can find a Ping-Pong table, stereo equipment, and everything required for Shabbat and other holidays. Another room serves as a restaurant, and not a simple, but a kosher one. They also have a computer lab.

The celebration of Shabbat in Yash was something special. A certain Renat Bayramov from Kishinev Hillel conducted the service in the Central Synagogue of Iash, and we all are very proud of this fact. On that Kabbalat Shabbat girls were less fortunate than guys, as the synagogue lacked any room for women, and we, the female part of the group, had to sit during the whole service in a dark and cold storeroom. Though thinking that our guys were having good time again, made us feel warm.

A Shabbat meal followed, during which Igor Furer demonstrated his unique multilingual skills. I would like to see you telling Torah portion in the Russian-Romanian-English language, enthusiastically applying gestures at the same time! Then we poured out on them all our stock of Shabbat and other songs, and finished them off with our favorite niggun “Ya-ba-ba”.

I do not describe our night programs, because Misha Mishuris would cut it out anyway.

In general, we were welcome guests, and guys from Iash community gave us a lot of attention. During this visit I realized that Romanian Jews is a rather educated people leading an active Jewish life.

Proud of their city and its Jewish sites, they made a 6-hour tour for us. Igal Kotler, Representative of JDC branch in Moldova, came specially for this tour. With great interest we studied each monument and each building in the city!

Though we spent only 3 days in Iash, we all can go on and on telling about this trip. Nothing could upset our excitement, neither continuous rain, nor cold weather (though Vitya Brodsky left his scarf at home), nor even absence of hot water. The other way round, it was fun to hear somebody screaming from the bathroom. Misha Zilbermintz, for example, managed to yell out a couple of songs while taking a shower. 

I would like to particularly mention our way back to Moldovan land in a van, where 21 persons squeezed in, though there were only 14 seats. You would ask how we could do that? Well, we are Jewish – we managed!

And here we are!

On the photo: Yigal and Inna Kotler, Jewish youth of Iash, and 
Kishinev Hillel in front of the Culture Palace and Stephen the Great monument