Rejuvenation: A Jewish Mother Russia

[Music] hi everybody eeep arrow on rejuvenation for the land at his home network and I am sitting right now with dr. Daniel Fleischer yes the mother of but we're not going to talk about him unless we get to an embarrassing story at some point during the interview lovely lovely woman who I have been honored to meet on occasion and I would love this actually to be the first of a series because dr. Fleischer has a lot to say about many many things so we'll see how we can work that and maybe you should even have your own show we should talk about that anyway so thank you so much for joining me today in Jerusalem hi so what I was about to tell you a little bit about growing up in in some pitiable Russia because I guess most of the English speakers here in Israel can I don't know how how was it like on the other side over the Iron Curtain well I remember we had the whole campaign I grew up in Los Angeles I wore Silver's Amundson bracelet on my wrist for quite a few years and so the Soviet Union opened its gates but you're gonna talk to us a little bit and I have listeners from all over the world about what world is like on the other side of those gates right so actually it wasn't so bad at all I grew up in one of the most beautiful cities of Europe her when it had tremendous amount of arts and music and a museum and my father was very much into arts so like we used to go every weekend for you know her birthday she was like home I was there a few years ago with my husband we were on a cruise and it stopped there we were there for only three hours I said I could have spent months there what an unbelievable museum so it was one of my most exciting moments of my life was when I brought my son in charge not an embarrassing story too you know to see the Hermitage Museum and regretfully the the famous staircase was under restoration so we didn't see that but we saw the huge collection of Rembrandt and all the Jewish themes so of his painting care so I mean life wasn't bad then I went to school which it was the school that was opened up like the year when i en't entered in it was a like like a special method and mathematical physics mathematics cooled by the sometimes was university which was great and then I started to the university itself which was also those things was absolutely amazing okay nice can I shut the window is that okay because I just think some of the outside noise yeah okay well cut this part out obviously Ben well cut this part out always thinking have you been and background noise that's there we go much better okay we just shut the window so a little bit of less of the Jerusalem noises coming into the apartment yes to the university so that was a time although really after the big repressions so it wasn't so frightening as it used to be at the time when my parents were growing cap what do you mean about the big repression like 47 like 1937 and all the time over when when like people were like disappearing and and going to jail for many many years for for absolutely nothing for saying you're wrong like Joko or for using a newspaper for like a wrong purpose with a portrait of Stalin or stuff like this so in my time the the things were much much easier and that's actually what led to all this opening because when people are very repressed they don't des we know from our resources when the people are very repressed they cannot really like revolt there's a little easing of the repression so that's when is what's so freedom you don't have the people's mind so the from the Jewish point of view life was empty I didn't know what is pacer I knew that it was connected to the matzo I didn't know what Squasher is and basically I never sold it enough in my life and so my grandparents spoke Yiddish and actually my grandfather spoke new Hebrew he went to school but then I learned it I learned later but we were very very conscious Jews I mean I knew I know that were Jews and well knowing nothing about basically history and and language and I knew that I cannot marry not a Jew that this was one thing I knew absolutely nobody told me that but it was just in the atmosphere all the whole that was not a possibility for me siblings I am the only child that was common right a very small family are you coming this was very common like to pee to children was a big family so so when my grandparents used to meet with they had many siblings and they used to meet and now coming back I think that those were they may be Jewish holidays maybe it was a shoeshine or something like that but they never told us but they would after the dinner they would open up the book of Shalom Aleichem in he - I don't know where they got it and they read it and they remember they laughing laughing like crazy and please I sleep and it was like he's such a such a tremendous joy I kind of always kind of sense there is something very yeah terrible about like being and I was curious about oldest thing my it's a one time at age six this is a record that's in my family I somehow went to my grandfather it asked him to teach me a little bit the Hebrew alphabet yep I told his story to a couple of robbers he said oh people eat bean filling it you know a little Jew hell it don't you just woke up was it my grandfather happily told me and we talked and he did study he was educated it was an economist okay I don't take a sip of something yeah take a sip okay so yeah so in the universe very curious about the culinary know the Israel the radio station at the time the big culture in my circles was to listen to the foreign radio stations it was a culture and art you know the technical abilities because Russia actually jumped over the radio stations so there was Voice of America there was radio freedom and there was coal Israel and we always try to do my father bought some fancy Japanese little like ready was fully able to listen to it what was very hard but we did it so we knew was going home and those times in Russia nobody really believed in communists practically nobody and we all learn to read between the lines so yes oh wow yeah remember that we had once we had University a lot of foreign students and I once had a foreign student in my house with us we were watching TV and they showed the terrible like pictures of Israeli and they said that is a Israelis like beating happens such a cruel way like poor little Arabs and the guy looked at as I said but those are not Israelis these are British in Yemen because he identified the Pampas on their heads so nobody is at all this is like at the level of lies like like isn't it terrific that things have changed since then not really but yes ok what year is this about we don't think about I guess see a year like just before 67 late member 66 maybe 67 and then the war came the 67 and the 67 war was amazing it was invigorating to all the Jews to an unbelievable degree so you knew about it even with all the censorship we knew they were a Russian stations you know said we'd like but but what we knew is what the Arab sister Arabs news station said so what we know is that the Egyptians are coming to Tel Aviv French and Jordanians are rather now pumping Jerusalem whatever and then all of a sudden one day he turned out that it's completely wrong and it was an unbelievably invigorating like it was like an electricity in the air all of a sudden Jews figure out that they're Jews Wow and yeah so it was a time when I went to study and I was in university I went to study Hebrew in universe they were teaching Hebrew at the University in the something and it was a Russia has a very long history of Oriental Studies we know here in Jerusalem there is a lot of like [Music] you know Russian you can see Russian presence and there were very famous the rentals that is professors Khrushchev Suki and so in the university of Leningrad that there was a faculty of Oriental languages and I was as a student of University had the right to take any classes whenever I want you to without credit if it didn't interfere with my schedule and it didn't and I took the classes in Hebrew uh yeah we studied from fauna that's the first time I saw you you know looks the night walks but the network pages and it was very interested in the exciting stuff then I met amazing people professor Vinick F was teaching and I came to him and I said professor I want to transfer here I love it I love history I want what language it wants to transfer and she looks at mr. Jinnah chika he was a Jewish professor said ginger you like history read books Wow so we made sure you didn't transfer to you stayed in chemistry that's where your doctor it is so I stayed with chemist today I'm so grateful to Professor really cover to my team and to my father and all the people that can kind of let me stay with it was like real things as equal in Russia scientists the hard science there was like a whole story was with these Zionist organizations that and I want to get into it because there are many books written about it over again many people wrote it but how did you meet your husband within that group no my husband I met in school even before university I met him in school and he was all into chemistry he was not as like politically in those things what but yeah we were friends forever kind of forever and then we were together in in the university different departments but also was in chemistry and and then I kind of got very much into designer stuff and with God's help I was able to leave the country with very like a few first like first birds so for the rationally yeah and I came straight to Haifa and what year was this when you left and came to - giving the seventies like so do you before the Yom Kippur War before the Yom Kippur War the Yom Kippur War I was here so you left your parents behind and you left Sasha your husband he wasn't your husband yet so uh Sasha came after me it's very like it came in a couple of years after that he came after the war after Yom Kippur so they were letting some people out just like little trickles here and there after the the the plane or the trial of the plane so my look made you know they learned a lot of people are but we don't need about hundreds maybe like there was always Aliyah there was all this trickle of alia was coming mostly from a from Latvia Baltic republics because those people many of them had real relatives in Israel but the the difference is that that Aliyah was personal it was not never as a group people wanted to talk like to join their families mm-hmm it wasn't a political statement designed in no way now in my time that was the elia was was it's a Polly was a movement it was a political movement it was like a and I was kicked out of young come comes a Malik young Communist League from University how big think it was like him it was a movement it was a political movement and when we came here when we heard the Russian without exit we hocked on the streets there were very few of us and so my closest friends are from those times when we like I remember I got on the bus for some kind of three I think to the Negev and they told me there is another girl from Leningrad so I came to the bus and said who is a girl from Leningrad she said yeah it's so she's still one of my closest friends yes and of those times this girl's father the name his name was Syria Lincoln he was pronounced the citizen number three million of Israel Wow of Israel so in my lifetime the population of Israel practically tripled well that's amazing right where are they date and a half million now you think this is amazing yes becomes he was a small but very very electrified by the by the war my son is in love father came to Israel and 65 from Lithuania and when we were talking he told me stories about what happened to his family in Israel I told him I do not recognize it I do not recognize it I don't know what color are you talking about I never lived there I don't know what is it I asked you when did it change he's a successor after 67 it was like a different country it's the big miracle of the six six-day war so when I came there it was it was a huge country it was like GU - tomorrow I seen I so seen I became our hope the Sinai desert we went there at least twice a year each I used to think that in Sinai there is a deluna's over the moon is always full because we went there every circuit and every patient right our holidays are in the middle of them the Jewish month when there's a full moon first time we took our son each eye to see nigh he was one year old yeah so we went to Sinai beaches we went inside we were friendly with a really bad women soon I was a terrible tribe we had friends in Sydney it was like we lived for tonight we lived for the time when we'll go there at least twice a year even more I can't tell you what was it for me for us when we gave up soon a peace treaty with Egypt 78 79 80 - we leave Sinai life the life that was developed here they're very few P remember that for instance there was a definite villa nueva the gas station in Nueva so I was in school at Hebrew University from 79 to 80 and I must say that I spent most of the year in the Sinai desert and not in class because it was magic and now it's fortunately it's Tara central but the place was absolutely magic and my mother had a good friend who lived in a meet which was later destroyed and I won't go back there now since 82 it just hurts me too much to go back even though Israelis can write so like so you know it's just choked part of my life when we return to Sinai was Sasha and with all the kids with it once this trip which we called UC Atmos ride leaving leaving Egypt like what we did and the Passover Seder we did it on Passover actually before Passover we flew from America we lived in America those that flew from America to Cairo we like spent time in Cairo like to get acquainted to the Egyptian culture and the kind of Egyptian culture that our forefathers so you can still see it not the Arab culture that has taken over Egypt now that's not Egypt of the olden days now and we went from there like we took a taxi cross the cross the the there is a channel crossing under like the tonneau under the in the channel we went to south the city which we tried to follow the route as much as we know and we went to move to the mountain to Santa Catarina where they we think Jebel Musa that maybe was the giving of the Torah back to to do everybody's called eros eros Shaytan which we used to love and stay there a lot I couldn't like I'm not a crank person at all my daughter just told me that she doesn't remember me ever crying and I got hysterical I couldn't hold my I completely couldn't control myself like it it's like they it's like part of me it's like egg cripples well yeah losing cake you know it's one of my organs they took away from me so yeah so the middle escena and then yes you have miscellanea and then we we burnt our comments in the eleventh bread you burnt it in science and the what if ara which is a biblical border of Israel and basically didn't take you 40 years it's like a little bit less so when did you leave Israel and go to the States hmm and why was okay then we'll be fine so we left Israel in 85 85 and my Sacha has massage and some problems here with his he works in my own wilkani and he had some problems with his co-workers and his co-workers weren't very civilized and so he was offered a job in America so we figured I just like I had a very I had a great job it was I worked in they figure I mean like I mean actually the best job for my life the marine research and I had a commute there even had tenure huh Wow that you left it's what's a regretful many women do maybe it's different now but in those days you would follow your husband's work and yours wouldn't be a priority it works out okay for us so we figured were going for a couple of years like almost everybody else and we stayed for 30 years my husband I love a Shalom died in America he's buried here and had him in the hood in according to his wishes and a beautiful place was amazing view I think so now we are well here Oh families here and there's Israel including our that's my mother Shalom it was all so bad here parents come out of the Soviet Union after out of the Soviet Union my father came to Israel and he lived here all these years and my mother came to America and she kind of helped me raise my children and she was she was very happy and she loved America and she never thought about being buried in in Israel but my son you shy told me mama you will never come to her great and yes so so like she's here too and my husband's parents are buried in Canada and the truth is that we never go to their graves no known in she's going to be in Toronto for sometimes of so go but nobody goes that they're also just to visit the graves so that was very good so how did you end up staying for 30 years when I was just gonna be two he got a great job where were you what part of the state huh New Jersey mr. J New Jersey we first we got good jobs in America we got you jobs we'll put a good house we we also became religious in America how did that happen it actually started here in Israel because when I was born I out of the blue said you know what I think he should never try uncross your foot actually I'm gonna meet it's like the whole idea of courser was like pretty vague for me in those times like for all of us Russians but yes so we kind of started it and when we came to America we rented an apartment in the city of Passaic so we sent each eye to Jewish school nature because not because of the religion because because we wanted him to keep his Hebrew there are only religious schools so one of the teachers in that school was mmm Reverend Weisman very prominent family in in the saying when became my good and close friend and one time she so me pregnant with a little baby in my hand and each I like holding in a winter time going down the icy stairs like to take his shirt to the car to take to the school she looked at this picture said you know what I'm going to this school anyway so I'll take him and that's how we got friendly and then I hear we bought a house in a way better from our point of view neighborhood and we were about to take his shy from the school and she told me you can't do it you don't know what you're doing I said yeah no we have our budget we have like a whole ideas it's a beautiful place a beautiful school he has to go through the forest it's lovely it's romantic whatever she said you don't know what you're doing come to the school will talk to the with the school principal to keep him in a Jewish school ya know to keep us like aware of what's going on he has to keep him to the Jewish school but you know what they had to persuade us Sasha didn't come packing I came and they talked to me and they explained to me that I'm going to lose him he's like public school like in the best public school it's you know intermarriage kind of stuff you know like I grew up okay you may have a situation like that and then they told me what would take it with you to keep him in a Jewish school so I started to talk it in in a way which I thought is understood will by Americans money mm-hmm you know we we just put a house and these think so and the tuition because the first year tuition is free for new immigrants was free but the thinking here is over there daily so I said just to explain like we kind of just a little bit for Monday so she kind of here isolate opposite so it's money problem she said we'll make a collection she told me I will be the first to give well and I knew how they leave at the time I think eight children the house was falling apart like they were but let's put it not rich when she said something like that I thought wow I they probably know something that I don't know they saw some potential in each other yes how I told him not only the so we told him but they've been many Russian kids that they took away from Sioux City yes but we were wondering shade ago hmm say it was a good investment huh looking back yes and I came home and said Sasha they know something we don't know mmm I trust these people and we found for us different school and there was a busing and was Kushner school that was very famous and that's so the kid sister so the kids went to Jewish schools so they never from from the kindergarten opiates so and you and your husband got more involved in Jewish left more involved until we got to know her by Eugene who was like he had a whole two tenths of Russians that kind of and I had many other rabbis that been very very helpful into and Standish was awesome Torah Center device one family and many other like feminists to whom I'm very grateful and until like all my kids are all make it's a religious and all married to juice my daughter a minute to many many of my friends have Lincoln I lived like this for years that we have like part of the family in one side of the ocean in the other part of the family on the other side of the ocean but now we are very lucky well mm-hmm so when did your husband pass away in a different show I have to tell my listeners we're gonna get into more of the national side of the Fleischer's and some of the really incredible things that they did way before a lot of other people with chemistry and with zatar and with all kinds of things so this this show I just kind of wanted to focus a little bit more in the personal life so when did your husband pass away so she passed away in 2002 just after the after the at the attack of the Twin Towers wow-whee so it like he's from his place of work I watched I watched it like not on TV but real live out the window and we think we looked at each other and we said you know we were always wondering how this civilization will start to fall and probably we're watching it at the beginning of the end or the form of this I don't know whether we're right or not but definitely it's a crisis yes Sasha Titan from heart attack at the wedding of our close friend she was dancing at the wedding and he felt kind of weak and she went to the site and Josh so him the wedding was he in in the shul kind of and he saw him opened the seed or the prayer book and he looked just looked over his shoulder so the he was looking Bhishma the hear o Israel the SH my smile prayer which is the prayer and also what you should or can if you have the presence of mind to do so should be the last thing that you say before you pass away and couple of minutes after that he just fell I was on the other side over there of the of the hole and they said there's somebody fell I immediately knew that is him I didn't know how so I ran yeah oh yeah I have this strange thing and I don't remember anything I remember anything everything before I don't remember well all the events of that followed I remember that in a car he asked me for forgiveness I mean in ambulance but I don't remember many it's very vague for me like you know like not clear many times the kids were there so many times I asked kids to remind me what happened and they tell me and I remember and then I forget again mm-hmm so but I remember very clearly everything happened before just just say like a few days ago I read the article of like Israeli army a psychiatrist analyzing the doctor fort-like statement and he said that people that have the kind of like traumatic syndrome they remember very well everything that happened before so he was very suspicious about her because she didn't remember are you talking about the Cavanaugh trial right and she's she wasn't acting like a traumatized person with her memories yeah and I I read it as it exactly you know I remember I don't know what they wore I remember how we drove there I remember like such as hand on the on the wheel like like all the details and from woman she felt it's only for me like in the car foggy in very funny so it's like a little bit yeah so yes and then there and then the kids we're in like in school in universities and I here remember that I said to myself that the worst thing that can happen to me is like to have a set house of the widow so I try not to do it until we did well and by the way very grateful to Columbia University that hadn't asked them for anything I was just noting a mood set to think about it but when it learnt that session tights they just sent a good game really well so that's where he was working at Columbia how are you connected to Columbia it was accepted in Columbia so when they heard that her father had passed away they gave her a scholarship wow that's pretty impressive that's Hebrew universe know what you see universe no but yeah so that's what happened so we stayed too much longer because kids wearing universities and and then the boys after Sasha years Sasha died each I left then the year my mother died Josh laughter but luckily we had to finish her my daughter had to finish her PhD in Columbia and when she did now you're here in Jerusalem and still busy so this was the getting to know dr. Jamie Fleischer episode and when we have more time and also she hasn't been feeling well so I don't want to press her voice I'm going to come back and we're gonna get into some of the the more scientific or the professional aspect of your life which I've heard a little bit about from your kids a little bit from you and I find like completely fascinating yeah but a lot of the things other people are doing things I think based on some of your work so it's important for my listeners to understand that else but I want to thank you for taking the time today to tell us a little bit about your life experience which I think not very many people know this background of you shy and and he's very beloved to all of us and I can see here not only where his activism comes from and his love of the land of Israel and love of the Jewish people and also his intelligence and his love of culture I know when I speak to others from the former Soviet Union culture is a completely different level that what some of us from the colonies might consider culture and I and I understand why because that's very much something that you and others who came from the former Soviet Union have added here into Israel the music the science the mathematics and a level of culture that I don't think the country had before so in this incredible in gathering of the exiles that we're having and everybody's bringing their peace I would say that is a huge piece that the million or so people who came from the former Soviet Union have added tremendously to the mosaic of this old new land and it's something that I personally am grateful for to the French for their food and to others for other things but but very much so and I got a little glimpse of that today thank you very much thank you very much and I just want to add for the French that food and fashion for sure and fashion although when as some of my kids have worked as waiters and they say the French don't tip well so there's that other side of it as well you see that there but definitely French and fashion and of course the beautiful language okay so dr. Fleischer thank you so much and I will be back Yves hair or rejuvenation on the Land of Israel Network I hope all of you enjoy and it whetted your appetite for more thank you so much thank you so much for you take care of you Betty goodbye for now [Music] the question is why are the Jews there in the first place the Jewish people have been yearning to return to their ancient homeland for a long time they Yishai fleischer show the voice are the new generation of pro-israel activist and there's only two kinds of minorities in the Middle East armed or unarmed inspiring minds to think differently that jihadism doesn't just attack Jews it attacks Christians and it mostly attacks Muslims inspiration spirituality and politics so first and foremost this country is we're here to defend Jewish people and to live in a sense estriol homeland listen to the Isha Fleischer show every week on the Land of Israel that's worth at the Land of Israel