For some Subbotnik Jews, trip to Jerusalem a first
Subbotnik Jews in Jerusalem – at the Kotel
As unbelievable as it sounds, for some members of the Subbotnik Jewish community living in Beit Shemesh, a day trip to Jerusalem organized last week by Shavei Israel included their first ever visit to the Western Wall. First time or not, a stop at the Kotel was the clear highlight for the 28 participants, all of whom have moved to Israel from Visoky and nearby towns in southern Russia.
Two hundred years ago in the early 19th century, under the rule of Czar Alexander I, thousands of mostly Russian peasants converted to Judaism. The name “Subbotnik” comes from their love of the “Subbota,” Russian for Sabbath. Many of them immigrated to Israel during the Second Aliyah in the early 1900s and have been fully integrated into Israeli society, but the flow of Jews from southern Russia in more recent times has dwindled to a slow trickle. About 300 Subbotnik Jews live today in Beit Shemesh, which is a 30-minute drive from Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem day trip was the initiative of Esther Surikova, the director of Shavei Israel’s Russia and Eastern Europe department, who said she planned the tiyul “some time ago after many requests” by community members, but that Israel’s unseasonably stormy spring weather delayed the excursion until now. The trip was led by Eliezer Friedland, a Russian-speaking guide. Shavei Israel’s emissary to the community, Rabbi Zelig Avrasin, participated as well.
The group set off from Beit Shemesh by bus at 8:00 AM for the observation point on Jerusalem’s Goldman Promenade, which sports the capital’s most stunning view of the Old City. Next stop was the historic neighborhood of Yemin Moshe – one of the first built outside the Old City walls – with its famous (and newly restored) Montefiore Windmill.
Finally it was time to enter the Old City itself – the group started at the Zion Gate, then explored the Jewish Quarter, stopping at the ancient Karaite and Tiferet Israel synagogues, before diving into a guided tour of the Temple Institute which, with its collection of sacred vessels and priestly garments, Surikova says was the most impressive part of the trip… after the Kotel, of course.
Even for those Subbotnik Jews who have been to the Western Wall before, a trip to Jerusalem is anything but a regular event. Ariel and Moria Shishliannikov made aliyah from Visoky in 2013 (we wrote about them here). They visited Jerusalem and the Kotel immediately after their aliyah (the first time anyone from the Subbotnik Jewish community had immigrated to Israel in nearly 8 years), but they had never been back since…until the trip last week.
Surikova was buoyed by the reception she received from the group and hopes “in the future we’ll have more trips like this.” The Subbotnik Jews had wanted to visit the tunnels under the Western Wall, Surikova says, but it was too crowded with tourists on the day they visited. Which might actually be a blessing in disguise, giving Surikova the impetus – and a destination – for the group’s next outing.
Here is a selection of pictures from the tiyul:
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