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Yisrael Kugel (left) and Shmuli Raitman are visiting Saskatchewan as part of their studies.
Saskatchewan, Canada — When Shmuli Raitman and Yisrael Kugel found out they were being sent to Saskatchewan for the summer, they didn't have any idea what to expect.
“I had to figure out how to spell it in order to Google it to find out what it was,” said Kugel, who hails from Manhattan.
Dressed in black suits and traditional Jewish hats, the pair are an unusual sight on Regina's city streets. They've come from the rabbinical school in New York in order to visit and enrich the Jewish community in Saskatchewan, they explained.
As part of the Chabad Lubavitch community enrichment program, 300 pairs like them spend the summers between studies going out to smaller Jewish communities “trying to bring in a fresh burst of Judaism,” said Raitman, who's originally from Australia.
The young men — both are 22 years old — arrived in Regina on Monday. They'll spend three weeks in Saskatchewan meeting with members of Jewish communities around the province.
Both are passionate and well-informed in talking about their task here, which, fuelled by a belief in each soul as equal, involves explaining, encouraging and helping with traditional Jewish observances.
“We're like missionaries,” Kugel said. “The difference between us and Christian missionaries is we only focus on Jews. We're not interested in spreading Judaism to non-Jews.”
Technically, the pair belong to an ultra-orthodox Hasidic branch of Judaism that strictly observes Jewish laws — the men brought suitcases full of vacuum-sealed meat in order to observe kosher.
“But we don't like these titles — ultra-orthodox, conservative, reform, modern orthodox, all that stuff,” Kugel explained. “We boil it down to the grassroots, and that is the soul ... Every single person is a person with feelings, and that's how we try to act to another person.”
Brooklyn-based Chabad Lubavitch is one of the largest Jewish movements in the world, with centres in many countries that provide educational and outreach activities for all Jews.
Raitman and Kugel have had opportunities to travel all over the globe, as they've been sent to smaller communities to help with the observance of Jewish holidays. The countries they've collectively visited include Nigeria, Japan, Thailand, Israel, Azerbaijan, Germany, Puerto Rico, and Ukraine.
Although obviously religious and traditional, a dry New York sense of humour definitely comes through, especially talking about less-serious subjects such as their culture shock in Saskatchewan, a place they already say they'll miss when they leave.
“I thought they were still going around on horseback over here,” Kugel said. “That's what I was expecting. But when I saw online there's a rental car place, that was a good sign.”
“He comes from Manhattan, and Manhattan in 10 blocks there's more people than the whole of Saskatchewan,” Raitman countered.
“From Australia, Melbourne is more built up than this. But the people over here are very nice and relaxed, so that reminded me a bit of home in Australia. New York's hectic.”
“You ask someone for directions here, they stop,” Kugel said, picking up the conversation. “Let's say you're at a red light. The guy opens up his window and he starts telling you the best way to get there. Meanwhile the light turns green, and there's a whole bunch of cars behind you, and no one's honking!”
The pair will spend a week and a half in southern Saskatchewan — including a visit to “the last Jew in Estevan,” before finishing their trip in Saskatoon.
Topic: Students on Mission to Jews in Sask (Read 2458 times)