Weeks Three and Four

Today marks exactly one month since my arrival in Ukraine. The foreignness of local culture has slowly been “normalized” as I acclimate to the city of Dnepropetrovsk. Walking down the main avenue, Karla Marxa, I stop by the stands of local artists who sit on low-set stools, embroidering the white linen squares with red thread. Older men stand leaning against trees close to their tables,  smoking  cigarettes while watching potential buyers look at their paintings, chess sets, or assortment of 5 walking canes. The bustling city is cosmopolitan;  fashionable women in stilletos click-clack down the shop-lined steets. Yet in the architecture and layout of the city, the Soviet presence is still felt.

As the leaves change color and the air becomes crisp, the locals enjoy the last warm days of fall strolling down the avenues, promenade,  open squares, and enormous parks which double as amusement centers.  I took a walk on a weekend afternoon through Globy Park, a large park in the center of the city only 2 blocks from my apartment. The park stretches down the main avenue, and is complete with wide walkways, benches, monuments, a large pond, theme-park rides from the Soviet period, and a small train for children that weaves between the trees. Young families with little children explore the park, buying balloons, taking a ride on the train, or rollerblading on the concrete square. Groups of friends sit on the benches that line the park walkways and drink beers while enjoying the beautiful weather.

Over the last several weeks, I have gradually become more familiar with the language and the city, as I find myself able to get around quite easily and interact with more and more people. My Russian tutor, with whom I meet four times a week, is my most helpful local informant as she advises me about what fish to buy at the public market, how to prepare beets, and how to keep my oven clean (“the oven reflects the homeowner” as she told me two days ago). The Russian lessons are exteremely important since English speakers are virtually non-existent. I see my conversational skills improving in daily interaction, yet it is still difficult to get across what it is I need to say. As the months pass, and my Russian improves, I hope to begin my research for an independent project that will compliment the work that I am currently involved in at the Joint office and Sunday school.

And on another note. Experiencing Yom Kippur this past Sunday and Monday in Dnepropetrovsk was quite interesting as masses of people gathered inside the only synagogue in the city. Neilah, the closing ceremony marking the completion of the holy days, was unlike anything I had experienced in the states or Israel. In the women’s section, people were crammed into the balcony, standing shoulder to shoulder as young children crept between swaying bodies and chatting girls. While most of the service was inaudible due to the bad acoustics, as the Rabbi announced in his Israeli-accented Russian the directions for the final prayer, all grew silent and attentive. The call and response nature of this Shema, a foundational prayer of Judaism that exclaims that God is one, here served to create community solidarity as the congregation cried out after the Rabbi each word of the prayer. Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One. Hundreds of people called out this credo, declaring the Oneness of God, and thus declaring their membership as part of the Jewish nation, and their oneness as a community. Eight times the congragation shouted “The Lord is God” and the Rabbi blew the shofar (ram’s horn) one final time as a symbolic message sent to the heavens. The community was rallied together as  they pronounced their belonging to the Jewish people and witnessed the tradition of blowing the shofar. While this part of the service was drastically different from the rest of the ceremony in that all people became involved in the prayer, the meaning of this five minutes seemed to summarize the experience of these individuals as part of the Jewish community in Dnepropetrovsk. While most people read the transliterated prayers in Russian, or sat talking with their neighbors, here they voiced together as one community the statement that reflects the entire belief system of Judaism. While dispersed throughout the region, here they congregate together as one community, standing strong and declaring themselves members of the Jewish nation.

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~ by mirmood on September 29, 2009.