Why we opened this campaign
I am a sofer. I write mezuzahs — sacred scrolls that are affixed to doorposts to bring protection to a home. But for almost a year now, I have not had a door of my own on which I could affix one.
For almost ten years, until 2022, I served the Jewish community of Tula: I taught children Torah and Hebrew and led the community as a rabbi.
In 2022, my wife, our daughter, and I made aliyah to Israel. We started from scratch, like so many olims: a rented apartment, a new school for our daughter, and cutting every possible expense. It was very difficult. But we kept going because we had come home.
Then a new chapter began. In August 2025, I lost my job. Two weeks later, my wife lost hers. To earn at least something, I returned to parchment and began writing mezuzahs again.
Then came an unexpected call from Tula. They had never found anyone to replace us, and the head of the community asked us to return. For us, it did not feel like a step backward. It felt like an outstretched hand — a place where we were needed, where we could once again serve the community and support our family.
We began preparing for the move. At the beginning of 2026, I flew to Russia to assess the situation. The community’s lawyer assured us that we could return and that our documents could be restored. We withdrew the last thing we had — our retirement savings — so we could leave without debts. We closed our accounts. We packed our belongings.
Because of the war, we were only able to fly in April — two more months without a single shekel of income. When we arrived in Tula, we were met with unexpected news: the lawyer had been mistaken. Our documents had to be cancelled, and we would have to leave the country and re-enter with work visas. The holidays delayed everything even further, and in June we returned to Israel. But by then, we had nowhere to go.
We rented a “cheap” apartment in Ashkelon for 7,000 ₪ a month, initially for just one month, hoping everything would soon be resolved. We finally received the invitations. We received the visas. And then we discovered an error in my wife’s name on her visa.
Two weeks of correspondence between different authorities ended with one decision: we have to submit everything all over again. That means another two or three months.
We have not been sitting and waiting. We have done everything that depended on us — more than once. But every time we were almost at the door, it seemed to move one step farther away.
We have now been without work for a year. The retirement savings we had put aside for our future are gone. And now it is not only our money that is running out — our strength is, too.
While we wait for the visa issue to be resolved, we need 20,000 ₪ every month to cover rent, food, and the costs of processing the necessary documents.
Please help our family get through these months and regain stability.
We pray to the Creator and turn for help to those who are able to support us. May G-d grant everyone success. Ktiva VeChatima Tova!
