THE TAMIM FROM POLAND IN FAR OFF UZBEKISTAN

R’ Yosef Wineberg thought that his friend, the old Tamim, was killed in the war. A year and a half ago, he was discovered to be living in Tashkent. * The two of them passed away recently and are certainly happy to meet up above and reminisce about the time they spent in Tomchei T’mimim in Otvotzk.

“I know what a Rebbe is. I learned in Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Otvotzk, Poland. When I had yechidus with the Rebbe Rayatz, I saw a great light fill the room. A Rebbe is not something you can explain; to me, a Rebbe is everything. When the Rebbe Rayatz passed away, we said we hoped he would return to us and redeem us. Now too, we pray that the Rebbe redeem us.”

These words, which were written in my shlichus diary on the second of Tammuz 5755, were said by R’ Shmuel Arboz who served as the vice president of the Jewish community in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. R’ Shmuel passed away on Erev Shabbos B’Reishis, 26 Tishrei 5773 at the age of 91. Two bachurim, who were in Tashkent on shlichus for Tishrei, took care of his burial.

For over fifty years, his friend R’ Yosef Wineberg a”h thought he was killed in the war. It was only recently that it was discovered that R’ Shmuel was living in Tashkent.

In order to understand the twists and turns of this “lost Tamim’s” life, let us start at the beginning. R’ Shmuel Arboz (Arbes), who was known as Reb Shmiel, was born on 26 Sivan 5681/1921 in Warsaw, Poland. In his youth, he learned for four years in Tomchei T’mimim in Warsaw and Otvotzk. The historical details of those days are immortalized in the notes of talmidim who survived those years.

During those good years, when he learned Nigleh and Chassidus in the Lubavitcher yeshiva, he was friends with his fellow T’mimim, particularly with noted Chassidim R’ Yosef Wineberg and R’ Itche Mendel Liss a”h. “He knew how to learn well,” said R’ Wineberg.

The Germans invaded Poland in Elul 5699/1939 and many Jews fled to neighboring countries such as Lithuania. Among those who fled were also bachurim from Tomchei T’mimim in Poland, including R’ Shmiel.

R’ Shmiel began his journey over the border at the end of the winter 5700, half a year after the beginning of the war. He was arrested while attempting to cross the border to Lithuania (which had been captured by Russia). His arrest was written about in a letter to the Rebbe Rayatz by the bachurim who managed to cross the border and get to Vilna. They wrote that he and another bachur were afraid they would be sent to Siberia.

In 5701, the many bachurim who learned in Tomchei T’mimim during the outbreak of war or in the years prior to that received visas for the United States. R’ Shmiel’s name was on the list, but he had been sent to Siberia and then drafted into the Russian army. At the end of the war, he went to Kursk in Russia, and from there he went to Tashkent.

The suffering he endured did not enhance his spiritual state, but when the Soviet Union fell apart, the shliach R’ Abba Dovid Gurewitz arrived in Tashkent. R’ Gurewitz met R’ Shmiel and convinced him to attend the Ashkenaz-Chabad shul where a k’hilla was developing. They lacked baalei t’filla. Because of his loud voice and the knowledge he had acquired while in yeshiva, R’ Gurewitz decided to train him as a baal t’filla. With great patience, they learned the practices that baalei t’filla need to know, as well as the Chabad tunes. R’ Shmiel became the regular baal t’filla on Shabbos and Yom Tov. At the same time, he became the assistant to the head of the Ashkenazic community. In this position, he did much on behalf of local Jews while working with the shluchim.

I met him for the first time twenty years ago when I was on shlichus in Tashkent. Our getting to know one another was spread out over a period of years in which I was on shlichus in Tashkent for long and brief periods. I spoke to him a lot and he referred to his learning in Lubavitch numerous times. One of the occasions when he reminisced was during a Gimmel Tammuz farbrengen (the quote with which I began this article).

*

At the beginning of Adar II 5771, R’ Sholom Dovber Levin, director of the Aguch library in New York, sent me two pictures of R’ Shmiel. One was from recent times and the other was from when he began learning in Tomchei T’mimim in Warsaw. R’ Levin wanted to know whether this man lived in Tashkent. He said that his friend, R’ Wineberg, was told that R’ Shmiel had perished in the war and that is what he had believed all along. Then, he had received information that he hadn’t died but lived in Tashkent for years.

R’ Levin wanted a speedy response since he was working on Toldos Chabad b’Poland. I told him that when I left Tashkent over ten years earlier, R’ Shmiel davened at the Chabad shul on a regular basis and was even the baal t’filla. I sent the question on to R’ Abba Dovid Gurewitz who said that R’ Shmiel was still living in Tashkent. R’ Levin informed R’ Wineberg who was very surprised to discover that his friend was still alive.

Due to their advanced age and health, they were not able to meet and R’ Wineberg passed away on 7 Tammuz, 5772. A few months later, R’ Shmiel followed him.

For a long time now, R’ Gurewitz has not been in Tashkent since the government has forbidden him to be there, but he sent two bachurim for Tishrei. These two bachurim, with the help of R’ Eliezer (Leonid) Goldfarb, one of the leaders of the community, organized the funeral which was attended by members of the k’hilla. R’ Gurewitz took it upon himself to recite Kaddish for the year of aveilus.

TISHREI IN TASHKENT

The two bachurim who brought R’ Shmiel to Jewish burial were Dovid Davidov and Boruch Bilov. They learn in Tomchei T’mimim in Kfar Chabad and went to Tashkent at the initiative of R’ Abba Dovid Gurewitz and R’ Simcha Kol-Yaakov. The shlichus was funded by the Congress of Bucharian Jews, which is run by R’ Lev Leviev, and the Ohr Avner organization in the US, which is run by R’ Zalman Zvulonov. The bachurim organized minyanim on the Yomim Nora’im, built sukkos, and enabled many to do the mitzva of Dalet Minim.

They had a hard time importing the Dalet Minim to Tashkent. In the end, the Israeli ambassador in Uzbekistan had Minim brought in via diplomatic pouch. The bachurim sent the Minim to Jewish communities all over Uzbekistan.

The bachurim arranged a Simchas Beis HaShoeiva on one of the days of Chol HaMoed, which was attended by the Jews of Tashkent and members of the Israeli embassy.

The great joy of Simchas Torah concluded the joyous events of Tishrei.