Cover to

Russian Roots

BEIT

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'h am.

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Info Center & Model
409 S. Center Street
One block west of Main
between 4th & 5th

Open: Monday — Wednesday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Thursday & Friday, 1 p.m.-9 p.m.
Saturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Convenient parking — Parking structure
between 3rd & 4th, west of Main

Lubavitch posting at a Jewish summer
camp in nearby Uruguay, it seemed that
his future was set. Elsztain found a capa-
ble director for a new Chabad commu-
nity center, and Rabbi Berkowitz,
already fluent in Spanish at 23, had a
mentor who understood large-budget
philanthropic projects.
But Elsztain unintentionally unlocked
their partnership by arranging a shidduch
(match) in Israel for his young protege.
Rabbi Berkowitz's new wife, Leah,
shared his sense of wanderlust and had
recently completed a teaching position
at a Hebrew elementary school in
Nikolaev, Ukraine.
Leah Berkowitz briefly lived in
Argentina in September 1999, but her
heart remained in the former Soviet
Union where her mother was raised. She
soon began to feel homesick and pro-
posed moving back to Eastern Europe.
The timing could hardly have been
worse for Rabbi Berkowitz.
"I said, `no way!"' he explained. "I
never thought my playing field would be
in Russia. I had finally mastered a lan-
guage in a place where I had financial
backing."
Rabbi Berkowitz was recruited for his
current position by Rabbi Berel Lazar,
chief rabbi of Russia and a founder of
the federation, and also federation presi-
dent Lev Leviev and CEO of Leviev
Group of Companies.

Family At Beit Yeladim

Daniel Belyak, a 29-year-old native of
Ukraine, and his wife, Leah, are the co-
supervisors of Moscow's Jewish Youth
Home. Because they live on the premis-
es, most of the children accept them as
dedicated surrogate parents.
He is a thin man with a wispy brown
beard and watchful eyes that seem to
harbor a great deal of sadness. His own
qualifications for co-managing the youth
home include psychological training in
the Israeli army and nearly three years of
experience managing a facility in Israel
for children recovering from Chernobyl's
nuclear disaster.
Speaking in Hebrew to Rabbi
Berkowitz, Belyak said the federation
committed to building the home when
Jewish community leaders from
Tatarstan asked for help taking care of
Vita. No Jewish orphanages existed at
the time in Russia and poorer commu-
nities looked to Moscow for leadership.
Recalling the visit to convince Vita's
mother that foster care was best for her
children, his expression grew stony and
he began to take short breaths.
"She lost herself," he said curtly of
Vita's mother. "We barely found the vil-
lage. There were no roads there. The

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2004

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