A Grateful Father Repays Jewish Community in Kind

The Maseytzev family's one-room apartment in Ulan-Udeh, Siberia, resembles a theatrical warehouse: the hundred-year-old closet and wardrobe are fitting props for a period piece. But the room is home to a young couple with two little girls.

"It's not because we like old furniture," says the girls' father, Alexi. "We just cannot afford anything new."

Alexi explains that he works in "the poorest sector of this country" – medicine. "My friends are surprised," he says. "I am a professional masseur, so how come I don't earn good money? It's simple: in this poor town it's just impossible to find enough clients to make a stable income."

So while Alexi occasionally treats private clients, he also works at a nearby hospital. "Family needs stability," he explains. "I work full time at the hospital for peanuts, but it's dependable and it's the best I can do in this situation."

Dusty old toys and tattered, worn clothing attest to the family's material needs. "In winter we cannot afford more than valenki," says Alexi of the cheap proletarian felt boots worn today only by the poorest people.

Recently though, the girls, Aksana and Kate, have begun receiving assistance through Steps to Bridge the Gap – a JDC-sponsored pilot program that supplies basic services to children whose families are unable to provide them. Among the aims of the project is to put children whose families are in grave financial need on a more equal footing with their peers.

"Through the program, the people at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) made sure Aksana was ready for school," says the girls' mother. "When she came home the first day she said proudly that her school bag was the same as the others'. She was so happy, and we were too!"

"I am so grateful for the help we receive," says Alexi, who wanted to do something good for the Jewish community in return. "I offered my massage services for free at the center. I can do it for elderly homebound once a week. It is the only thing I have to give in this life – so this will be my repayment." JDC has been instrumental in fostering voluntarism – a practice that did not exist for decades under Communism – among Jews in the former Soviet Union.

"My grandmother and grandfather were 'pure Jews'," Alexi explains, proudly. "My grandmother used to tell us lots of things about Jewish history, and she baked matzot. It's very important to me that Aksana go to weekend Jewish studies and to camps too."

Through Aksana, the entire Maseytzev family is reconnecting with their Judaism – a tradition that was all but lost in the religious repression that blanketed the region during the years of Alexi's young adulthood. "I remember liking my grandmother's stories a lot. It's great when Aksana comes home and tells us what she learned at the JCC; it makes me recall what my grandmother told when I was a boy."