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An immigrant returns the
kindness his family received.
PHOTO BY G LENN TR I EST
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
Arkady Ginzburg loads
food for Yad Ezra.
rkady Ginzburg recalled the first
night he spent in America more
than four and a half years ago.
It was a cold and snowy night
in January. He, his wife and their
small child opened the door to
their new apartment in ,Oak
Park to find two mattresses, a
kitchen table and warmth.
But most of all, he remem-
bers the refrigerator.
"It was full of food," he said.
`There was milk and eggs. Or-
anges. Many oranges. There
was enough food to eat well for
three days at least."
Now, Arkady Ginzburg is giving back to a
community that helped his young family pros-
per when they knew no one and had nothing.
Last Sunday, like so many days in the past
few months, Mr. Ginzburg climbed into a truck
and drove from synagogue to synagogue, pick-
ing up food donations for the same kosher food
pantry that helped feed his family during their
first months in the United States.
"It is very important to me to give something
back," he said, recalling the times Yad Ezra
workers handed him bags of food with no ques-
tions asked. "It was beautiful. Somebody had
given to us with their heart."
The generosity also took the Ginzburgs by
surprise. Soviet newspapers carried stories that
painted the United States and Detroit in par-
ticular as a violent area. But they decided to
chance it anyway.
Because of the oppression they felt as Jews, the
Ginzburg family left their home in what is now
Belorussia in 1989. They stayed in Austria and
then Italy before they were granted refugee sta-
tus and allowed to come to the United States.
It was at that time that they needed help the
most. The family was not able to support them-
selves at first and relied on the kindness of oth-
PLIAS h
pat-k r
er Jews in the area for a job, an apartment, trans- gust 1993. They moved into a spacious home in
West Bloomfield. She opened a small travel agency
portation and food.
But it wasn't long before they were able to sup- to help other Russian immigrants.
Now Arkady donates what he can, mostly help-
port themselves. Mr. Ginzburg found a job at
Lighting Supply Company in Ferndale, owned by ing with odd jobs or picking up donations of food
Eugene Sherizen who is a volunteer and member for Yad Ezra. He said he feels guilty that he can't
give more of his time to help others.
of the board of directors at Yad Ezra.
"I have to teach my kids that you can take but
Good fortune followed. Nelli Ginzburg gave
birth to their first American child, Daniel, in Au- it is important to give back," he said. D