Thanks to to 3 generations of the Inoyatov family we’re celebrating Bukharian Shabbat tonight (the first Shabbat of Spring 2015 at UAlbany, Jan 23rd). I’d like to share three things: (a) a little about Bukhara (2) a Bukharain Chabad melody (3) an inspiration heard at alumni bris this Thursday.
(1) First of all about Bukhara. Hundreds of years ago, probably around 600-900 years ago, but perhaps even earlier, a group of Persian Jews traveled northeast and settled in Bukhara, a city in what is today Uzbekistan. This was along the Silk Road and there were economic trading opportunties. This community lived at a major crossroads, with multiple influences. Persia and Afganistan were to its south, Russia to its north, China on the east. Over the centuries, this Jewish community developed its own culture and heritage, borrowing and adapting from all that passed through it. Simply put, Bukharians are a form of Persian-Russian hybrid. As you can see from the foods tonight, where rice and potatoes are both prominent, the Bukharians found a way to blend and meld and celebrate (most of) that which came their way.
All of us today are also living at a crossroads. We live at a busy junction where many influences converge and connect. We live at the nexus where many things meet, whether its on our screens or in our classrooms, at work or play, and we have the opportunity to make something meaningful and valuable and lasting from all of it.
(2) The second thing is this song called “Atem Shalom” named for the oft-repeated chorus. On Purim 1973 some recently emigrated Bukharian Jews attended the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s farbrengen in New York and the Rebbe asked them to sing a song. Reb Refoel Chudaitov was ninenty one at the time and he sang this “Atem Shalom” song which was adopted by Chabad as one of their own. This Reb Refoel was selflessly dedicated to the spiritual and physical needs of others and he had a deep sense of Jewish values that he cherished regardless of whatever challenges came his way. Some of this you can sense from the lyrics and lines of the song he sang.
(3) The third thing has nothing to do with Bukhara, but everything to do with what we said about Bukhara being at a cultural and ethnic crossroads.
This Thursday we attended a Bris of a newborn son of an alumni couple. Both the mother and father went to UAlbany and were regulars at Shabbos House. The Bris was in an historic Manhattan synagogue, dating back to the times of the Civil War. After a beautiful talk explaining the baby’s name, and the baby’s namesake, the father said he’d like to give the baby a wish, a blessing, by repeating his father’s advice to him just before his UAlbany freshmen move-in around a decade ago.
One thing to know before we continue with this story. The alum’s parents (the newborn baby’s grandparents) are sophisticated and cultured people. They are well-traveled, not just to Europe but to remote parts of Asia and the Middle East, they have a deep appreciation for art and history, for nature and other people’s cultures. Their home is filled with unique, exotic and interesting artifacts from their many travels and experiences.
Back to freshman move-in. Their car was loaded with luggage. I remember they had a Honda Element. The parents were in the front and the son, soon to begin his freshmen year at college, was squished in back in between all the luggage and packages. They were rounding the corner at Indian Quad, waiting on a long line of cars filled with parents and their college-bound children, when the father turns round to his son, and out of the blue, asks him, “Do you know who you are?”
The son answers, “Well, I’m Z. I come from Manhattan, and I’m going to be a freshman…”
“No.” responds the father emphatically. “You are a Jew. Always remember that!”
It stuck with his son throughout his college years, and almost a decade later (in a year when anti-semitic attacks rear their ugly head in France and other places) this is the blessing he wishes to give his newborn son.