Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1994-08-25

              THE
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Cotumbus and the Central Ohio'
.   Jewish Community siyice 1922
VOLUME 72
NUMBER 34
AUGUST 25,1994
18 ELUL 5754
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Bonds to expand in U.S.
page 2
Two young adventurers
discover Judaism
page 3
Reform congregations to host
UAHC regional conference
page 6
Foundation sets Memorial Service
page 8
ABOUT THE COVER '.
Sixty-eight-year-old Luba Marcus greets her 11-
year-old granddaughter, Anastasia, on her arrival
in Israel from Kiev on the 11th Chabad Children of
Chernobyl flight carrying young Jewish victims of
the Chernobyl disaster. Anastasia's arrival marked
the completion of the Marcus family's generations
old dream to live in Israel. Photo by Scoop.
EARLY DEADLINE
All copy for the Sept. 8 issue of the
OJC is due,by noon on Wednesday,
Aug. 31.
The OJC office will be closed oh Monday, Sept. $', in
observance oflLabor Day, and on Tuesday, Sept, 6 and.
Wednesday, Sept. .7, in observance of Rosh Hashanah.y '•
liiwwwiwM In The Chronicle ■■ ■■■
At The JCC l"8,19
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Federation.. .......................12
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ISRAEL FEATURE
Chernobyl reunion fulfills jumily dream
BEN GURION AIRPORT—
Luba Marcus' eyes searched
each face as one by one the
children filed off the plane.
Her granddaughter, Anastasia, was on the flight list from
Kiev, but Marcus couldn't believe she would soon be holding her granddaughter in her
arms. Too many disappointments at the hands of petty
Soviet officials now dampened her optimism.
Marcus waited, a leather
purse and; small bouquet of
flowers clutched in her hands,
her face strained from the anxious waiting and the bitter
memories of Jewish life in the
Soviet Union.
Her grandfather had been a
rabbi in Russia, working underground during the dark
years of Soviet oppression. He
was shot one morning,
wrapped in tallis and tfillin,
when the communists discovered his tiny, basement shul.
His execution shattered his
one great hope: to bring his
family to Israel, to raise his
children and grandchildren in
the Holy Land.
His son, Luba's father, carried his father's dream. Though
he scrimped and saved to gather the money for passports and
transportation and the bribes
needed to gain permission to
leave, he never succeeded. But
he did succeed in capturing his
daughter Luba's imagination
with his descriptions of the
Holy Land. Marcus carried
her father's dream; though not
a religious woman,' Israel be
came her obsession.
She worked and saved for
years, applied to the authorities
for permission, and then waited
again. Eighteen months ago, at
the age of 68, she made aliyah.
Marcus was heartbroken to
leave her daughter behind.
Married, with one child, her
daughter and son-in-law were
reluctant to make the great
change that aliyah would require. They knew how to survive difficulties in the former
Soviet Union; they feared the
unknown in Israel:
But today, June 5, she stood
on the tarmac at Ben Gurion
airport, her grandfather's
dream about to come one step
closer to reality. Ironically, this
joyous event would result
from one ofthe worst disasters
in modern history: The 1986
explosion of the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor.
Anastasia was only three
when Chernobyl exploded. She
lived in Kiev", a large city in the
Ukraine whose water supply,
the Pripiyat river, flowed close
to the Chernobyl reactor. Although the full impact on public health was hidden for
years, the Ukrainian newspapers recently reported the burgeoning rate of disease attributed to the contaminated
water supply. This water irri-
gated'the fields and poisoned
the produce; it filled bathtubs
and washing machines, baby
bottles and tea kettles. Ukrai-
- nian doctors say that one of
every five Ukrainians suffers
from the Chernobyl explosion.
Already the incidence of can-,
cer is rising, together with respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease,
suppressed immune systems
and a host of other ailments
that primarily afflict the
young. Anastasia's parents,
with Marcus' encouragement,
decided that they must remove the girl from these dangers. '-•..,.
Chabad was a name familiar
to Marcus and her daughter
from newspaper stories and
word of mouth. When a friend
suggested they apply to the
Chabad Children of Chernobyl program to take Anastasia
to Israel, they were optimistic
but skeptical. After talking to
other families who had sent
their children to Israel on prior Chabad flights, Marcus'
daughter and her- husband
made the difficult decision to
send their only child on the
next flight.
Unknown to them, this was
the Chabad flight that would
carry the 1001st Chernobyl
child to Israel, welcomed by a
huge celebration at Ben Gurion
Airport and telecast around the
world.
Unexpectedly Marcus found
herself shoulder-to-shoulder
with Israel's state-comptroller,
the chief rabbi of Israel, the
deputy minister of defense,
surrounlled by television cam-
eras and photographers,
watched by an audience of 500
people at Ben Gurion and tens
of thousand via satellite.
But all the hub-bub faded
into the background when she
saw Anastasia. Apprehension
turned to pure joy as the 11-
year-old girl hurried off the
plane into her grandmother's
arms. After fiercely clutching
her granddaughter to her heart,
Marcus held her at arm's length
to see the difference a year-
and-a-half had made in the
beaming girl. She kissed and
hugged her and held her in a
tight embrace. She gave her
the small bouquet of flowers,
before leading her across the
tarmac to meet her Chabad
caretakers and to begin her
new life in Israel.
Now, two months later, Anastasia is adjusting to life in
the Chabad Children of Chernobyl girls' dormitory in Kfar
Chabad. She has gone through
a battery of medical exams and
is learning Hebrew and Jewish
history. She often spends Shabbos with her grandmother in
nearby Petach Tikva, and Marcus comes regularly to see her
granddaughter in Kfar Chabad.
Today, Marcus' daughter
and son-in-law in Kiev, impelled by concern for Anastasia's health, are saving their
rubles to make aliyah to Israel.
With what, they know now,
they could never bring their
only child back into the ecological devastation of the Chernobyl area. The couple works for
the day they will reunite with
their daughter in Israel. When
that moment arrives, Marcus
and Anastasia will be standing
on the tarmac waiting for them,
the fulfillment of a grandfather's dream,, a father's hope
and a daughter's faithful determination. '
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