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JUNE 17, 2021 | The Jewish Home JUNE 17, 2021 | The Jewish Home
The Wandering
Jew
Our Bucharest Weekend By Hershel Lieber
The Romanian Parliament
T
he first night of Rosh Hashana of 2018 was on Sunday, September 9. Continuing a tradition which I began in 1979, and resumed annually from 1990 onward, I traveled to Warsaw to be the baal tefillah at the Nozyk Synagogue for the Yomim Noraim. During the early years, when we had smaller children at home, I made the journey alone. After our children were married or away in yeshiva, Pesi almost always was my travel mate. We would generally leave a day before Rosh Hashana and return the day after Yom Kippur. During the week of Aseres Yemei Teshuva, we would either travel to other cities in Poland or to other countries in Europe. During the years that Rosh Hashana was on Sunday night, we were compelled to leave from the United States before Shabbos. There were no late flights on Motzei Shabbos, and we could not risk a journey from the States that would arrive in Poland on Erev Rosh Hashana. We decided that we would go to Europe a few days before Shabbos and fly within Europe to Warsaw on Sunday, Erev Rosh Hashana. This happened in 2015 and again in 2018. In 2015, we spent four days in Paris, and in 2018, we spent the same amount of time in Bucharest.
The Arcul de Triumf in Bucharest
I had traveled alone to Romania in 1980. At the time, I met the legendary Chief Rabbi Moshe Rosen, who almost singlehandedly made it possible for Jewish life to coexist within the Com-
Bucharest was a city of great contrasts – fading mansions and decrepit hovels side by side
munist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. He was also instrumental in allowing thousands of Jews to emigrate to Israel during his tenure. Bucharest was a city of great contrasts – fading mansions and decrepit hovels side by side made up the image of this capital city. The pompous uniforms of the military and the police contrasted with the shabby appearance of the general
population. The only people who made an impression on me were the Gypsies dressed in tattered clothing begging for a few coins to feed their large families. Government buildings were imposing with grand plazas, but within a block or two, the streets were made up of broken sections of pavement surrounded by ramshackle huts that were homes to the average citizen. Streetlights were out, and garbage was piled up everywhere. Stores were bereft of any decent merchandise, and even the unappealing food items were in short supply. In short, Romania was a depressing sight both in terms of the country and its dwindling Jewish population. Fast forward to Wednesday, September 5, 2018 at 5 PM when we were picked up by the hotel car and taken to the Sheraton Bucharest Hotel. Other than twenty minutes at the gym room and eating the sandwiches that we brought along, we called it an early night when we fell fast asleep at 10 PM. As usual, I connected with Chabad before leaving the States to make arrangements for davening, eating and Shabbos seudos. Chabad’s headquarters are in the former Yeshuha Tova Synagogue, which is presently the Chabad Shul and Outreach
