The climb to Masada was long and tedious. 2000,<> years after the Romans besieged Herod's monumental palace while facing barricaded Jewish rebels in an act of heroism against all odds, the young men and women climbed the winding snake path on the way to the World Heritage Site.
Traveling in Masada // Photo: Noa Gordon, Israel Nature and Parks Authority
At the height of the war, when some of them were new immigrants living in Israel for only a few months, they felt more than ever that they were part of the country. Perhaps this is why less than 24 hours earlier they had so closely connected to the lyrics of the well-known song: "The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the main thing is not to be afraid at all."
"They lack community and a sense of belonging"
The truth is that immigrants from the CIS countries who came to Masada as part of the "Israeli Friday Shabbat" project were not supposed to come to Masada at all. This is the 99th seminar of the project, whose sole purpose is to connect immigrants from the CIS countries to the Israeli experience, and the association planned to do Shabbat at the HI Tel Hai hostel. But the war shuffled the cards, and so the young men and women found themselves in the heart of the Judean Desert, in a place so symbolic of the Israeli experience from the first decade CE – in the second decade of the 21st century.
Two weeks earlier, by the way, the hostel was full of evacuees from southern settlements.
The "Israeli Friday Shabbat" association planned to come to Tel Hai with dozens of young men and women, but the war shuffled the cards, photo: None
Linda Paredes Friedburg devoted her entire life to aliyah from the CIS countries. At the age of 14, at the height of the Cold War, she studied Russian in high school, and when she graduated it was clear to her that as a Russian-speaking Jew she had to enlist in the struggle to free the Prisoners of Zion and bring down the Iron Curtain. In 1990, after winning the struggle, and against the backdrop of the Gulf War, she immigrated with 400 immigrants from the Soviet Union to Israel.
Two years after immigrating to Israel, she identified the problem – one million people immigrated from the countries of the former Soviet Union, but after their admission to Israel they were abandoned and did not receive accompaniment that would connect them to Israel emotionally and nationally.
"I felt that no one was doing anything for tens of thousands of young Russian-speakers. They invest a lot of money in bringing them, they finish the program and then they are alone in Israel and are already considering where to move forward. These are not families, they are not looking for economic solutions, but they lack a community and a sense of belonging, a home, someone who loves them. They left their families there and are looking for substance."
Already in 1992, she took out the first bus on the trip. "That was the nucleus – to take out a bus on Friday with fifty young people and be together on Shabbat."
Connect immigrants to Israel. Israeli Friday Shabbat Association,
In 2010, she founded that immigrant idea and established the "Israeli Friday Shabbat" association, whose sole essence is to connect immigrants from the CIS countries to the State of Israel, to the people of Israel.
The flagship program she initiated two decades earlier was the seminar – two intensive days in a hostel, each time in a different place in Israel, where Judaism and Zionism are absorbed, not with the aim of repentance or anything else like that, but simply to connect the immigrants to the Israeli experience.
"At first we really had to convince people to come, because they thought we were missionaries or a cult, that we were trying to force something on them," laughs Ilya Lipetsker. "The first seminar had 35 participants, and by the second or third seminar we already had a waiting list. The young people heard about us by word of mouth and came in droves." Ilya himself is a veteran immigrant. He first came to Israel as part of the Na'ala program in 1999 and immigrated to Israel four years later. For the past 14 years, he has served as Linda's right hand, as the organization's vice president.
"At first we had to really convince people to come."
Today, Israeli Friday Shabbat carries out dozens of activities every month in five branches throughout the country, from north to south, under which about 18,<> Russian-speaking immigrants have passed. At the beginning of the war, for example, they volunteered to pack food and make ceramic boards. Two buses left daily for IDF bases. However, the flagship program was and remains the seminar – Friday and Saturday of consolidation and connection to the state.
Shabbat and Havdalah songs, yoga and a historical lecture – this is part of the menu,
The young men and women sat in a circle on the synthetic grass between the rooms and excitedly sang the songs. These are songs, some of which may be considered archaic by Israelis who were born here, but these young people, who chose to immigrate to Israel and remain there now, during one of the most difficult wars in its history, found comfort in them. "The people of Israel lived," "And she stood," "The whole world is a very narrow bridge," and "On the honey and the sting."
"These are people who are attracted to the Jewish story, and would not have come to this place alone," Ilya says as we look out over Masada. "One of the reasons people come here is because they want to connect to their Jewish roots, culture and identity. It's not a religious framework, it's Jewish."
Indeed, every type of person could be found on the unique Shabbat – kippah wearers who pulled out a cell phone to document on Shabbat, and young women who were clearly not religious, who sang the songs of Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah religiously.
To connect immigrants from the CIS countries to the Israeli experience,
On Saturday morning, after Kiddush, the young men and women crowded into the room for an unusual display. One of the participants in the previous seminars turned out to be a man engaged in restoring ancient uniforms, and so he arrived dressed in the uniform of a Roman soldier, 2000,<> years after they walked on the desert land on which the hostel is located. He recruited two of the participants and dressed them in the uniforms of the ancient Jews.
"Significant and essential"
Andriya Vinogradov volunteered to dress as a fighter in what today we would call a cruiser. He is a new immigrant to Israel, only a year in Israel, and serves as a business consultant. Although it is clear that he was very enthusiastic about the experience, it was the songs at the beginning and end of Shabbat that connected him most to the event. "I loved the two-day event, full of new friends and fascinating conversations. It was especially important for me to accept and close Shabbat with songs and to participate in Sabbath and Havdalah ceremonies. The seminar introduced me to people, helped me meet good friends and have fun. It was very meaningful and vital for me."
Young people are enthusiastic: "Meaningful and vital", Photo: None
After lunch, the journey left for Masada. The participants had the option of going up by cable car or on foot, on the familiar and challenging snake trail, and although no one forced a person to walk, the vast majority did. The column of people that began with one stick began to disperse as the rise increased. The last, by the way, were me and my children – Yuval, 8, and Roi, 4, who made it through the climb and descent, despite the challenge and difficulty that overwhelmed some of the adults on the tour.
"I really liked the choice of place. Palm Farm, Masada, the Dead Sea, everything was very cool," Vanya says. She is a doctoral student at the Weizmann Institute, and this is her first time attending a seminar. And similar responses were received from many of the participants.
After a busy day, when the stars came out, the young men and women returned to the grass where they had begun Shabbat, and held a moving Havdalah ceremony. "Here is my salvation," Linda sang, moaning along with everyone else with the cheers of "Israeli Friday Shabbat."
"As far as I'm concerned, what we're doing is fixing what happened up to October 7," Linda concludes. "There are people here from all over the country, from all walks of life, who don't have the anti bug we contracted. They feel very Jewish and very Israeli, and we give them an authentic and family experience that not every Israeli gets, we don't ask them for anything, they are our brothers and we connect them to us, an ingathering of exiles for all intents and purposes."
The writer was a guest of the "Israeli Friday Shabbat" association.
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