Episode 46: With Chana Salzer, who spreads Yiddishkeit in Russian to millions online - where does she come from and what path did she take to get there?

00:00 Speaker 1 Chana is one of those people I meet and just know that one day we’ll record an episode together. Chances are, if you meet Russian speakers in Israel, they’ll know who Chana Zeltser is. She never stops talking on social media about Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Torah, the mitzvos, and all the beauty of being Jewish. She posts classes and shows everyone Judaism in all its glory. But what fascinated me was how Chana got to this point. She was born in a small town in Ukraine, as a girl who wasn’t Jewish. What was her journey? What did she dream of? How did she meet her husband? And how, throughout it all, does she never stop doing and taking action? Chana is a classic example of shlichus as a way of life. At every stage of her journey, she looks for where she’s needed, what she can give the world, and the opportunities Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives her. Little by little, she brings her journey into focus and fulfills the purpose for which she came into the world. Chana also tells us how, at a time as sensitive as this, she stays in touch with her sister, who lives in the United States and did not convert to Judaism but embraced Islam. What was it like when they met after ten years apart? Let’s get into it. Just a reminder: if you enjoyed the episode, be kind to the people around you and share this wonderful content with them too. My shlichus is to record; your shlichus is to spread it further. And I want to remind you that I share content on my status, and I have a healthy-lifestyle program based on the approach to understanding the soul taught in Chassidus. Anyone interested, or who wants to follow the content, can message me at 050-850-5770. And we’re about to begin. How can we turn

01:38 Speaker 1 our lives into lives of shlichus filled with meaning? This is Chani Moskowitz, a shlucha in Kharkiv, Ukraine, now continuing my shlichus in Karmei Gat, Israel. On this podcast, we’ll meet different women who will share their shlichus in a range of fields and, through their stories, help each of us find and refine our own shlichus in the world. Because living the life we were created to live is the best thing there is. Shlichus as a way of life. We’re starting right now. Hello, and welcome to a new episode of Shlichus as a Way of Life, this time with Chana Zeltser.

02:13 Speaker 2 Hello, hello.

02:14 Speaker 1 How are you?

02:15 Speaker 2 Boruch Hashem. It’s very nice to be here.

02:18 Speaker 1 Yes.

02:19 Speaker 2 Thank you for inviting me. This is my first podcast in Hebrew, so...

02:25 Speaker 1 Well done. I have to say, well done. If someone invited me onto a podcast in Russian, I’m not sure I’d have the courage.

02:32 Speaker 2 We’ll see.

02:32 Speaker 1 But your Hebrew is better than my Russian.

02:35 Speaker 2 Really?

02:35 Speaker 1 I think so.

02:36 Speaker 2 I don’t know.

02:37 Speaker 1 We’re not going to have a test here, but...

02:40 Speaker 2 Right, thank you. Actually, I started learning Hebrew back at school in Odessa, so...

02:45 Speaker 1 There you go. So let’s—

02:46 Speaker 2 Yes, I have an accent. People can tell and ask me, “Are you from Russia? From Ukraine?” But I’m not embarrassed. I just go with it.

02:55 Speaker 1 People in Israel don’t know the difference. Russia, Ukraine, right?

02:57 Speaker 2 Yes, yes. They really don’t. Though now, because of the war, they do distinguish between them.

03:01 Speaker 1 A little more, but even that hasn’t entirely solved the problem.

03:06 Speaker 2 Right.

03:06 Speaker 1 You know, it’s like how, to us, China and Japan all seem kind of the same.

03:09 Speaker 2 Right, exactly.

03:11 Speaker 1 Okay, so let’s go back.

03:12 Speaker 2 Yes.

03:13 Speaker 1 I have so many questions I want to ask you, so I’ll just...

03:16 Speaker 2 Gladly. Yes.

03:17 Speaker 1 Let’s go. Chana, first of all, tell us where you grew up.

03:22 Speaker 2 Yes.

03:22 Speaker 1 A little about your childhood, because I’m interested to hear how a girl who grew up in Odessa...

03:28 Speaker 2 Yes.

03:28 Speaker 1 Or did you come to Odessa later?

03:29 Speaker 2 Yes, I came later. I’ll tell you now.

03:31 Speaker 1 Let’s start at the beginning.

03:32 Speaker 2 So, I was born in Pervomaisk, near Nikolaev, where our Rebbe was born. I was born into a family with four children, and my mother can’t hear at all.

03:47 Speaker 1 Wow.

03:48 Speaker 2 Yes. She and my father divorced when I was five and my little brother was two. So there was my mother, who couldn’t hear, alone in the world with four children. No grandmothers, no one. It was a little difficult.

04:06 Speaker 1 A little?

04:08 Speaker 2 Yes, I say “a little,” because everything we go through in life is ultimately for the good. Later I’ll tell you that because my mother couldn’t hear, I needed to tell her things, to talk to her. Almost every evening I would call out to her. I had this need to talk to her and tell her things, as though I thought she would hear me. That’s why, when I grew up, I felt a need to be a speaker. I feel a need to share, to give another class and another one, so more people can receive it. So I can’t say, “Oh, I grew up in such an awful situation.” No. I grew up in the situation I needed. Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows everything and sends us what we need.

04:59 Speaker 1 Exactly what was right for you.

05:00 Speaker 2 Exactly.

05:01 Speaker 1 You really do speak very clearly, with your lips and your hands too. The way people say you should speak more clearly to someone who doesn’t hear well.

05:11 Speaker 2 Right?

05:12 Speaker 1 You do it naturally. That’s interesting.

05:14 Speaker 2 Right. That’s how I speak to my children too.

05:16 Speaker 1 So how old were you?

05:18 Speaker 2 So I was... When did I move to Odessa? I was born in Pervomaisk. My father is Jewish and my mother wasn’t Jewish. Because my father was Jewish, and boruch Hashem he was observant, he would always tell me, “You’re Jewish. You need to study at a Jewish school. You need to be strong.” From childhood, he told me I was Jewish, though I wasn’t. He would always take me to the shul, to the Lag BaOmer parade.

05:50 Speaker 1 Yes.

05:50 Speaker 2 To the parade. On Lag BaOmer we would travel to Mezhibuzh, here and there. So I grew up with some connection. I knew about Jews.

06:01 Speaker 1 And you thought you were Jewish, then.

06:02 Speaker 2 No. Well, yes and no. Because at the same time, at home, my mother had things connected with idol worship and so on. I didn’t accept it. When my mother took me to a place of idol worship, I couldn’t stay there. I always felt like I couldn’t breathe, and I went outside. My mother would tell me, “There’s a devil inside you; that’s why you can’t be there.” I said, “Okay,” but I just couldn’t be there. So I think that, because of something inside me, I felt Hakadosh Boruch Hu from childhood. Even as a child I would pray and talk to myself, to my thoughts. I would always thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It was hard, too, because the children at school didn’t really understand. My mother couldn’t hear, and they would say things about her. They would tell me, “Your mother doesn’t love you,” and all sorts of things about my mother. That was a little hard. So I always needed Hakadosh Boruch Hu to give me strength. And then, in seventh grade, I remember coming home from school at around three in the afternoon. My father was sitting in our kitchen with my mother, and they were talking. My father said, “We have a train to Odessa tonight at eleven. We’re going to a Jewish school in Odessa.” I said, “What?” Well, my brother and I—my younger brother too—I was twelve, right at bas mitzvah age, and he was nine or ten, something like that. So we moved to Odessa and started studying there. When I arrived, I was wearing pants. I didn’t know anything.

07:55 Speaker 1 You went to a boarding school, then.

07:57 Speaker 2 Yes. I grew up in Odessa, at the Chabad boarding school there.

08:01 Speaker 1 At the orphanage, really.

08:02 Speaker 2 Yes.

08:02 Speaker 1 With the family.

08:04 Speaker 2 Yes.

08:05 Speaker 1 I was there.

08:06 Speaker 2 Wow. Yes, so my brother was [unclear]. I’m truly grateful to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and to our shluchim there, who simply saved me.

08:17 Speaker 1 That’s interesting. You know, you’ve been through so much. I’ve often done podcast episodes with shluchos, including Chaya Wolf, by the way.

08:25 Speaker 2 Wow.

08:26 Speaker 1 And many women would always tell me, “It would be interesting to hear the other side.”

08:30 Speaker 2 Ah.

08:30 Speaker 1 From someone who went through it, who was there, and for whom they were there.

08:35 Speaker 2 Yes.

08:35 Speaker 1 And now, suddenly, you’re telling that story, and—

08:37 Speaker 2 Yes. I always tell it, and I always say thank you—thank you to Rebbetzin Chaya.

08:42 Speaker 1 Wow.

08:43 Speaker 2 And to my mashpios. Really. So I moved there, and it was very hard from the start. Suddenly I was in a new place, and suddenly I was without my brother. We had traveled together, and I thought we’d be together and draw strength from each other, but no. So, yes. And when I arrived in Odessa, you know how there are girls who... How do you say it in Hebrew? “Authoritative”? What’s the word?

09:10 Speaker 1 Oh, like they know they’re...

09:12 Speaker 2 “I’m in charge here.”

09:13 Speaker 1 Yes.

09:13 Speaker 2 “I’m the most important one here, and you’re not.”

09:15 Speaker 1 The queen of the class.

09:15 Speaker 2 Yes, the queen of the class, exactly.

09:17 Speaker 1 By the way, in Hebrew too, they say “authority”—

09:19 Speaker 2 Authority.

09:20 Speaker 1 Yes.

09:20 Speaker 2 So—

09:21 Speaker 1 Whoever knows, anyone who kind of...

09:22 Speaker 2 Yes. So when I arrived at the boarding school, I remember there was a girl who would always bang on my locker and say, “I’m the queen of the class here,” and so on. And right then I realized: that’s it, enough. I wasn’t going to let her do that to me. So I immediately said, “Fine, try it with me. Let’s see.” And suddenly she went quiet. That was it. Then it was, “Come sit next to me,” and that was that. So what was I, twelve years old? And when I got to Odessa, suddenly people asked me, “Would you like to babysit here? Would you like to help out here?” And even though I was scared, I went. You have no idea how much I fell in love with those families. I just... Wow, I have goosebumps.

10:09 Speaker 1 Wow.

10:09 Speaker 2 I would just look at the families, and it was so beautiful. I hadn’t had an example of family life growing up; I didn’t know what it was. And suddenly I was coming to help with the children, and I saw how beautiful it was—the children, the way family members treated one another. I noticed everything. And they would invite us for Shabbos, and I was simply in love. Every evening I would say to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “I want a Jewish family. I want one, I want one, I want one.” It really became my dream. And of course, when I arrived, I wasn’t Jewish. So they told me I needed to convert. What was that? Who was I supposed to go to? So yes, I went ahead with it. In Ukraine, there’s only one rabbi who helps people go through conversion, Rabbi Yosef Brodbeker, and he doesn’t make it easy. So it took me almost five years.

11:03 Speaker 1 You do that in Kyiv?

11:04 Speaker 2 Yes, you travel to Kyiv and take exams. So it took me five years to convert, baruch Hashem.

11:11 Speaker 1 Do you feel you did it because you’d come to Odessa and it was just part of the path you were on? Or was there a point when you said, “I want this. I...”

11:20 Speaker 2 Yes. At first it was kind of part of the path, maybe for the first year or two, because I didn’t know anything. There was a rabbi there, Rabbi [unclear], who invited me from the beginning and explained, “Are you sure you want this?” and so on. I said yes, though I didn’t really know what I was saying yes to. But I did want it. And actually, I know there was a moment when it became clear. I studied at a Jewish school, and it was Pesach. Someone brought a bread roll to school, from a non-Jewish bakery, and everyone went up to the second-floor bathrooms to eat it. I went too, and we were all standing in a circle, laughing: we’re in a Jewish school, and now we’re going to eat a bread roll. And that’s when I felt it. I understood: no, I’m doing something wrong. This can’t be. This isn’t where I belong. So I said, “No, I’m not doing this with you,” and I left. Afterward, everyone said, “What, are you religious? What’s with you?” It was like that a bit at the beginning, but that feeling stayed with me. After boarding school, I even went to a Jewish university. I graduated with a degree in economics and banking, though I don’t work in that field.

12:43 Speaker 3 Right, no.

12:44 Speaker 2 No. The truth is, I dreamed of being a painter.

12:48 Speaker 3 An artist, yes.

12:50 Speaker 2 An artist. I really dreamed of it. And my father said, “No, there’s not much money in that. What kind of work will you find? Go into banking. Then you’ll always be around money.” So, fine, I went.

13:01 Speaker 3 Banking sounded like a worthwhile degree to you? It’s not...

13:03 Speaker 2 Yes. So now it’s fine, it’s quite nice. I have a diploma.

13:09 Speaker 3 On the shelf.

13:09 Speaker 2 Yes, exactly. So that’s that. And when I reached that point, I understood that no, I needed to do things from within, from what I felt inside. Suddenly I was here. I always asked questions. I’ve always been someone who asks questions, always. So I went to classes, and as I said, once I moved to Odessa, I felt my potential developing. At home I couldn’t be myself. I didn’t really understand things, and I wasn’t really given the chance. And suddenly you arrive in Odessa and everyone loves you. Everyone makes you feel that you matter.

13:52 Speaker 3 Wow, that’s moving.

13:53 Speaker 2 Yes. Every time it was, “Chana, can you babysit the children?” “Of course I’ll come. Of course.” And little by little, with attention from here and there, I received love and—

14:05 Speaker 3 A sense of belonging too, I think.

14:07 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely.

14:07 Speaker 3 Especially when you grow up in a home that, as you say, wasn’t really a family that... And suddenly you come to a place where you feel you belong and you’re wanted. It’s—

14:17 Speaker 2 Yes.

14:17 Speaker 3 Wow.

14:18 Speaker 2 Absolutely. And I think, baruch Hashem, it was thanks to the shluchim, thanks to our Rebbe, and first and foremost thanks to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So once I felt that, I began to grow. I understood that you have to be proactive, to put your energy into different things. I started working at thirteen, and by seventeen I was already a coordinator. How do you say it?

14:46 Speaker 3 Yes, in Energy, right?

14:48 Speaker 2 In Energy.

14:48 Speaker 3 A counselor.

14:49 Speaker 2 A counselor in Energy, yes. So life taught me that we have to be like that, putting our energy into doing things. And when, baruch Hashem, I had children, I felt that a mother always needs to be doing something. Always. Because if not, even for a little while... Of course it depends on the woman, but that’s how I feel about myself. Later I’ll tell you how I got started with all of it. So, anyway...

15:17 Speaker 3 When did you actually convert? How old were you?

15:19 Speaker 2 Seventeen, eighteen. Before eighteen—about seventeen and a half.

15:24 Speaker 3 What does that moment feel like, when suddenly you...?

15:28 Speaker 2 Honestly, it’s very frightening. And when you go through it, you’re sort of waiting for something to happen, but everything feels the same.

15:38 Speaker 3 As if a light from above would come down on you.

15:40 Speaker 2 Yes, yes. But everything feels the same. You just carry on with life, though of course you feel more responsible. Before conversion, you weren’t obligated; now you are, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will ask you about it. So it was a little frightening. But when you feel you’re on the right path, it’s wonderful.

16:00 Speaker 3 Wow.

16:01 Speaker 2 My younger brother didn’t convert in the end. He studied there, but when he was fifteen something happened, and he left and said, “I don’t want this.” Still, sometimes before Yom Kippur he tells me, “I fast too,” and asks me all kinds of questions. So I think maybe he just hasn’t gone through his own process. Not everyone has to convert, but perhaps there is something there for him, and he’ll work through it. We’ll see.

16:31 Speaker 3 How is he today? Where is he?

16:32 Speaker 2 He’s in the United States now because of the war, and baruch Hashem, he already has a family.

16:36 Speaker 3 Oh, wow.

16:37 Speaker 2 Children, so yes.

16:39 Speaker 3 And you have two other siblings.

16:40 Speaker 2 No. I have an older brother, an older sister, another brother, then me, and my younger brother.

16:46 Speaker 3 I have to ask you about your sister.

16:48 Speaker 2 Yes, of course. Everyone asks me.

16:50 Speaker 3 Listen, I saw something one day when... When were you there?

16:54 Speaker 2 I was... Well, so everyone knows, my sister is Muslim.

17:00 Speaker 3 It’s just that you chose one direction—

17:02 Speaker 2 Yes.

17:02 Speaker 3 And she chose the opposite. It’s just—

17:04 Speaker 2 Yes.

17:04 Speaker 3 How did that happen?

17:06 Speaker 2 When my daughter was eleven months old, about three years ago—no, yes, almost three years ago—we saw each other for the first time in almost ten years.

17:19 Speaker 3 Wow, wow.

17:20 Speaker 2 I was studying in Odessa, and she got married and moved to the United States, so she couldn’t leave. Now, baruch Hashem, she’s getting her U.S. documents, but until then she couldn’t leave, and I couldn’t go there.

17:33 Speaker 3 Yes.

17:34 Speaker 2 Yes. So we hadn’t seen each other in ten years. At the time I was a counselor with CBA Young. You might know it—it’s like Stars, for young adults from eighteen to thirty. I taught classes there, and they took me with the group to the United States, to the Rebbe. So I took my daughter and we went, and of course I wanted to see my sister. We were at the Ohel, and suddenly—listen—I came out with my group, none of whom knew my sister was Muslim. And she was wearing a burqa.

18:09 Speaker 3 Wait, you already knew she was Muslim?

18:10 Speaker 2 Of course.

18:11 Speaker 3 Was that since she got married, or...?

18:13 Speaker 2 Yes, yes, of course. Right when I moved to Odessa, she left—she married him. So listen, we’re coming out of the Ohel with the group, and suddenly there’s my sister, dressed as a Muslim woman, and I hug her and start crying.

18:28 Speaker 3 Wow.

18:28 Speaker 2 You should have seen everyone’s faces!

18:31 Speaker 3 Oh my goodness, I can imagine.

18:33 Speaker 2 Some people just ran away.

18:35 Speaker 3 That’s incredible. Wow. She knew you were there and came to meet you?

18:39 Speaker 2 What?

18:39 Speaker 3 She came to meet you there?

18:40 Speaker 2 Yes, sweetheart. You have no idea—I’ll tell you now.

18:44 Speaker 3 What’s her name?

18:44 Speaker 2 Nastya. Anastasia.

18:47 Speaker 3 Wow.

18:47 Speaker 2 Yes. So when I started studying in Odessa, that was just when she married him. He’s Muslim, from Jordan.

18:56 Speaker 3 Jordan.

18:57 Speaker 2 Jordan. So when she married him, she wasn’t observing anything, and then she started learning and realized she wanted to observe everything. And okay, that’s her path. But I was really embarrassed by her. I was like, girl, come on, what do you want from me? I was really embarrassed, and honestly, when I met her at the Ohel, I was still a little embarrassed. Almost three more years went by. Then last summer, in August, our whole family flew to the Rebbe and to the United States for a month. We spent almost a month at my mother’s, and my sister and her husband live really close by. That’s when I understood how much we accept each other. The first time I went to the Rebbe with my daughter, I stayed at my sister’s place, and her husband left the house for two weeks so I could stay there.

19:59 Speaker 3 Wow, that’s so moving.

20:00 Speaker 2 Yes, you have no idea. She bought everything kosher in advance, and she bought dairy products, which were cholov stam, and I said, “No, no, definitely not.” She took such care that everything would be okay, including Shabbos and everything. Maybe it was because she treated me with such acceptance. There was no jealousy, nothing negative from her or her husband or his family, who are also from there, more or less. That made me feel, wow. But I hadn’t told anyone she was my sister. Maybe a few friends knew. Then when we got there that summer, I felt so proud of it. I’m so grateful to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Wow. She chose her path, and I chose mine, but we’re sisters regardless. I accepted that, and I decided we would make a video.

20:59 Speaker 4 Right.

21:00 Speaker 2 I’d post it on Instagram, because I’m a vlogger. And for everyone it was like, wow. You have no idea what a huge story it was.

21:08 Speaker 4 Boom.

21:08 Speaker 2 Yes. Even now, I have to pull myself together before doing something like that again. But because of the situation, with what’s happening now in Israel and the war—

21:18 Speaker 4 It’s more sensitive.

21:19 Speaker 2 Yes, it’s more sensitive, and I don’t want to hurt anyone, including her, with everything going on. But yes, boruch Hashem, we’ve accepted each other.

21:31 Speaker 4 You know, it’s special, too, because you weren’t in touch for ten years. Even if she had been Muslim, the very fact that she—

21:39 Speaker 2 But we were always in touch.

21:40 Speaker 4 That’s a story in itself.

21:42 Speaker 2 But we were always in touch online. Always. When her son was born, she mailed me that bracelet from the hospital—you know the one?

21:50 Speaker 4 Always.

21:51 Speaker 2 She sent it to me.

21:52 Speaker 4 Wow.

21:52 Speaker 2 So we were always in touch. Always. She gave me a new phone.

21:57 Speaker 4 Oh, that’s really inspiring—a relationship between sisters.

21:59 Speaker 2 Yes.

22:00 Speaker 4 Really.

22:00 Speaker 2 Really. Now, honestly, because of the situation, we talk less. It hurts her, too, because she only knows the other side, and I know everything from the inside. We don’t talk about it. But it really is hard. And when everything started on October 7, she was the first to call. She said, “Please, come to the United States. Come—we’ll help. We’ll rent you a house. We’ll do everything.”

22:28 Speaker 4 Wow.

22:28 Speaker 2 Really. She was the first, boruch Hashem.

22:31 Speaker 4 Oh, Chana, that alone could be a podcast of its own.

22:34 Speaker 2 We’ve only just started.

22:37 Speaker 4 Tell me, I’m curious: when did you decide your name would be Chana, and why Chana specifically? It’s a beautiful name, I have to say.

22:43 Speaker 2 Thank you. Honestly, I dreamed of the name Sheina. I don’t know why. I was like, wow, Sheina. But my original name is Anya. Anna.

22:55 Speaker 4 Oh, that’s similar.

22:56 Speaker 2 Yes, but I didn’t want Chana. I wanted Sheina, but there was a girl at camp named Sheina whom I didn’t like very much. So I said, “I won’t be Sheina.” But right there at the mikvah, after wanting Sheina, Sheina until the very last moment, suddenly I said, “Chana.”

23:18 Speaker 4 Wow.

23:18 Speaker 2 At the very last moment.

23:19 Speaker 4 At the last second. That’s really—

23:20 Speaker 2 Yes, really. That’s why I say Hakadosh Boruch Hu sends these things.

23:24 Speaker 4 You know what they say: when you have to choose names for your children—and in this case, a name for yourself—you discover how many people you don’t like. It’s not, it’s not, it’s not—

23:33 Speaker 2 Right, right. It’s all in our heads. Right.

23:36 Speaker 4 Wow. So how do we get from Chana, who has just converted in Odessa, to a Jewish wedding?

23:44 Speaker 2 Oh, that’s a great story, too.

23:45 Speaker 4 How did that come about?

23:47 Speaker 2 Yes, I’ll tell you now. It’s a great story. Honestly, when I finished university in Odessa, I really wanted to grow spiritually. I wanted to go somewhere that would nourish my soul a little. I decided to move to New York, to Machon L’Yahadus. Boruch Hashem, I had lots of interviews with Rabbi [unclear], with all the rabbis, and they accepted me.

24:15 Speaker 4 Machon Chana?

24:16 Speaker 2 Yes, there’s Machon Chana there, and there’s also Machon L’Yahadus. I’m not sure now—maybe it’s the same place, but at first it was Machon L’Yahadus. Yes, Machon Chana. So they accepted me, and that was it. I knew I was going to the United States, boruch Hashem. My whole family knew, and my sister wanted to help with the payments if I needed it. During the interview, I told them, “I’m a student, so I don’t have much money, but I’m willing to work.” They accepted me and said, “You’ll be responsible for this and this.” Gladly! That’s Chana—gladly. That’s what I have to do. So I knew I was going to the United States. Then, suddenly, I was helping the Kfar Citrin school. We were running a seminar in Moscow for parents, to enroll their children in Naaleh and so on. I was helping run everything and telling the parents how much fun it was. So I went to Moscow, and listen to this hashgachah pratis: I’d only just landed. I got off the plane, sorted out my SIM card, turned on my phone, and got a message from [unclear]. She’s a shadchan.

25:30 Speaker 4 Right.

25:30 Speaker 2 And she knew me from various seminars. I’d studied in Moscow many times. I’d been there maybe thirty times, really.

25:37 Speaker 4 Wow.

25:37 Speaker 2 I used to study there at GEM to become a counselor, and I’d fly there four or five times a year. So almost every two months.

25:46 Speaker 4 Back when there were still flights to Moscow.

25:48 Speaker 2 Yes. Back when—yes, when there were flights. So I was there all the time, and she knew me. Suddenly she messages me, “Chana, how are you?” And I’m like, “How do you know—do you know I’m here in Moscow?” She says, “You’re in Moscow? That’s hashgachah pratis.” I’m like, “Okay.” I remember that because of my work, we couldn’t meet for two days, and then another day passed before I saw her. She said, “Listen, there’s someone from Israel who I really think might be right for you, and you have to meet him.” I told her, “I don’t need this. I’m flying to the United States, so no.” “No, you don’t understand. I’ve seen him,” and so on. And I said, “No, I don’t need this.” She said, “Please, I’m asking you.” Like, “What’s the matter? Just go on a shidduch date and see. If it’s yes, it’s yes; if it’s no, it’s no. You’re not committing to anything.” So I said, “Okay, I’ll go.” Honestly, it was my first shidduch. I was afraid to ask for a picture of him. I was embarrassed right up to the end, wondering whether it was okay to ask. Then, just as we’d finished talking, I said, “Could I see a picture of him?” She said, “Oh, yes,” and showed me. I thought, oh, I wish I hadn’t asked. It was a picture taken from far away, of someone with a beard—you could hardly see him. I thought, what is this? Who is he? Okay. And my husband had—

27:10 Speaker 4 And you agreed anyway.

27:11 Speaker 2 Yes. Everything comes from Above, so okay, I’d go. I’ll tell you a little about my husband. He was also born in Ukraine, in Vinnytsia, and moved to the United States thirteen years ago. So he was already settled, you know. And when he was in the army, he—he also converted. But his story is amazing.

27:36 Speaker 4 In the army in Israel?

27:37 Speaker 2 Yes, in Israel.

27:38 Speaker 4 After the United States, he came to Israel.

27:40 Speaker 2 Yes, yes. He was in Ukraine, he lived—then he moved to Italy. He lived in Italy for two years, which is why he speaks Italian so beautifully.

27:49 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

27:50 Speaker 2 After that he moved to Eretz Yisroel because his father was here. So he moved to Eretz Yisroel and served in the army. He’d dreamed of being in the army. And on his father’s side, all his ancestors were Jewish, including great rabbis. His grandmother’s name was Chana, and his grandfather’s name was Gavriel. My name is Chana, and my husband’s name is Gavriel.

28:19 Speaker 4 Wow.

28:20 Speaker 2 It was just unbelievable. And my husband’s mother always told him that his grandmother used to cry and sing to him in Yiddish, crying that he should be Jewish.

28:32 Speaker 4 Wow.

28:32 Speaker 2 And yes, for us, it really is. Sometimes it’s just our parents’ prayers, you know.

28:37 Speaker 4 Truly, the merit of our ancestors.

28:38 Speaker 2 The merit of our ancestors. I really, really feel that it is. I don’t know who’s praying for us, but thank you. Truly. So he moved to Israel, to the Holy Land, and started his army service. There he heard all kinds of stories, and there were classes on conversion. He was interested, so he started going a little and asking questions. When he converted, it was funny: he would make Kiddush at home, then drive to karaoke and have a barbecue with everyone. When he first started, he didn’t understand anything. So, yes. Later, the rabbi of a synagogue for Russian speakers had just moved to Ashdod. My husband would go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, and suddenly he met this Russian-speaking rabbi. The rabbi had just begun looking for people, and when he saw my husband, he thought, “I have to get him. He’s the one.”

29:38 Speaker 4 He saw his potential.

29:39 Speaker 2 Yes.

29:40 Speaker 4 Wow.

29:40 Speaker 2 And his friends, because they were also, you know, a bit like a mafia. Even now, look, my husband looks a little like a mafia guy. He isn’t one, but he looks the part. So the rabbi saw them and thought, “Wow, I need them. They’ll help me.” And he really did start giving classes and saying, “Guys, come to a class,” and things got going. And baruch Hashem, my husband was the gabbai of the synagogue for eight years.

30:06 Speaker 4 Wow.

30:06 Speaker 2 Really. And then a few years passed. He started helping out, baruch Hashem, and he converted there. A few years later, he felt, “I need a wife.” He says he looked for a wife for two years. He kept going on shidduch dates, and nothing worked out. He even went to Odessa once, and it didn’t work out.

30:31 Speaker 4 Too bad you weren’t there.

30:32 Speaker 2 Yes. No, listen: at our vort, this girl came up to me and said, “I went on a shidduch date with him.” I was like, “Okay, and why do I need to know that?” Anyway.

30:42 Speaker 4 Oh my!

30:44 Speaker 2 Yes, so he went through lots of matchmakers and wasn’t happy. When someone told him about a matchmaker in Moscow, she said, “I won’t work with you unless I see you.” That was it. He was stunned. But he thought, “Well, if she’s that serious, it’s worth it.” So he went to—he didn’t move. He traveled to Moscow for three days. As soon as she saw him, she said, “I have a woman for you in Odessa.” She immediately thought of me. And what did he say? “No, I’ve already come all this way. Set me up with someone here.” She said, “No, the women here aren’t right for you.” Because in Moscow there are also, how can I put it nicely, people who are a bit snobbish for him. She felt he wouldn’t like it. But he went on a date, and it wasn’t right for him. So he said, “Okay, I’ll go to Odessa too.” He went back to Israel, and she asked me, “Would you like to?” I said yes. I had already returned to Odessa, and he came to see me. Honestly, I looked at him and thought, “He’s handsome! He doesn’t look like his picture.” Then we had our first date. He was in Odessa for three days, so we had three meetings—four. And the truth is, I felt something. He was going back to the Holy Land. I remember it was Thursday, and she said to me, “Think about whether you want me to give him your number. Let me know by Sunday.” I said, “Okay, fine.” On Friday she called me: “Well, have you thought about it?” I said, “Come on, you gave me until Sunday!” She said, “He’s already called me six times to ask.”

32:30 Speaker 5 Oh, wow, wow, wow.

32:33 Speaker 2 Yes. So I said, “Okay, give him my number.” We were in touch for two weeks. After we’d been in touch for a week, he asked me, “Would you like me to come to Odessa?” I said, “Okay.” He came two weeks later, and after about two and a half or three weeks, he asked me, “Would you like us to build a Jewish home together?” I remember it was like a dream. We were by the sea, and...

32:59 Speaker 5 Oh, that gives me chills.

33:00 Speaker 2 Yes.

33:01 Speaker 5 Your dream.

33:02 Speaker 2 Yes.

33:03 Speaker 5 To build a Jewish home, and...

33:04 Speaker 2 Yes, and it was his dream too. Listen, the matchmaker really saw what he wanted and what I wanted. And when a couple wants the same thing, you can move forward together. You have no idea. I thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu every second for my husband. There’s simply no one like him for me.

33:23 Speaker 5 Really?

33:23 Speaker 2 Yes. So I remember him asking me, “Do you want to build a Jewish home?” And I was like, “What?” Later he told me, “It was hard for me to say it.” So he said, “Would you like us to build a Jewish home together?” And I said, “Yes.” Suddenly I looked at the water and saw drops falling into it, though it wasn’t raining. I looked, and he was crying. At that moment I understood that I’d made the right decision.

33:48 Speaker 5 Wow.

33:49 Speaker 2 Yes. And honestly, that was the easy part, because none of my family knew I’d been going on shidduch dates. It had all happened so fast. Suddenly I was in Moscow, suddenly I was going on dates, and suddenly, two weeks later, we were talking about a Jewish home. I was in shock, and now I had to fly to the United States. It was hard. My mother took it okay. My father was like, “Be quiet!” We were driving and calling everyone to tell them—but only after we’d written to the Rebbe. We didn’t tell anyone until Friday morning, because Rabbi Wolf wasn’t in Odessa and we couldn’t write to the Rebbe. So we waited all night. I couldn’t sleep.

34:32 Speaker 5 Oh, wow.

34:33 Speaker 2 We waited all night to write to the Rebbe and tell everyone. You have no idea. We were driving and calling his mother, my mother, and everyone was completely fine. Then we called my father. We were on speakerphone, and I told my husband, “Let’s take it off speaker.” He said, “No, leave it on.” I said, “Dad, hello. Sit down, I want to tell you some news,” and so on. Then I said, “I’m getting married this year.” He said, “What? Who is he?” Gavriel said, “Hello, my name is Gavriel.” And my father said, “Be quiet!”

35:02 Speaker 5 Oh my!

35:03 Speaker 2 “I’m not talking to you.” Oh my, I thought that was it. And our vort was only three days away, so...

35:09 Speaker 5 He was frightened because...

35:11 Speaker 2 Yes.

35:11 Speaker 5 His daughter was marrying someone he didn’t...

35:13 Speaker 2 Yes. He didn’t understand who this person was or where he’d come from. I was supposed to fly to the United States, and suddenly—who was this man? He simply didn’t know, and I understand him.

35:22 Speaker 5 His daughter had lost her mind.

35:23 Speaker 2 Yes. But baruch Hashem, after Shabbos we drove to Pervomaisk to see my family. It was the day before the vort, so they could at least meet him. My father was standing outside the house with flowers and a smile, and I said to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “Wow, thank You.” He welcomed us. At first he was in shock, but afterward he accepted it well, really, really—

35:52 Speaker 5 And it sounds like his shock came from being worried about you.

35:55 Speaker 2 Yes, yes.

35:56 Speaker 5 Like, “Wait a second. Give me a chance to approve this. Let me...”

35:59 Speaker 2 Yes.

36:00 Speaker 5 Was the wedding in Odessa?

36:01 Speaker 2 No, in Ashdod.

36:02 Speaker 5 Oh, wow, you’d already arrived in Israel.

36:04 Speaker 2 Yes. Listen, I arrived eight days before the wedding. And listen, we’d only seen each other maybe five times, I don’t know. For the two months before the wedding, I was in Odessa and he was in Israel, and we didn’t see each other. When he met me at the airport, I’d come to move there for good. I was walking with him and thinking, “Wow, I don’t know him at all.”

36:29 Speaker 5 Oh my!

36:30 Speaker 2 So yes, I did have that feeling. Wow, it’s hard to explain.

36:33 Speaker 5 You’d moved to another country too.

36:34 Speaker 2 Yes. Listen, my first year in Israel was really not easy. In Odessa, I was Chana, the one who helped everyone.

36:43 Speaker 5 The queen.

36:43 Speaker 2 With their studies, yes. I would get up at six to go running in Shevchenko Park, then hurry to daven, then go here and there. I had a good life. Suddenly I was here, and my husband was working from morning until evening as a contractor. He had to be on-site no matter what, until seven. And listen, I was alone. Baruch Hashem, I got pregnant quickly. So there I was, pregnant, in a new place, not understanding anything. Almost from the beginning, though, I started giving classes at our synagogue for Russian speakers. I taught classes for CBY, as I mentioned, which is like STARS—classes for people aged eighteen to thirty.

37:21 Speaker 5 Students, basically.

37:21 Speaker 2 Yes. And on Monday evenings I started a kind of bas mitzvah club for girls aged twelve to fifteen.

37:31 Speaker 5 You can’t sit still.

37:33 Speaker 2 Yes, exactly. But even that was missing for me afterward, because when our first son was born, baruch Hashem, one day my husband came home from work and found me sitting on the floor crying. I was home every day, and I’m not someone who can be home every day. I always need to be doing something. It comes from inside; that’s who I am. So I told my husband I couldn’t do it anymore. We took a sheet of paper, and I wrote down everything I love doing, everything I can do, everything I’d done in my life, and what I could possibly earn money from. We wrote it all down, and I realized that I love giving classes. I love working, I love learning, and I love meeting people. So we decided to start a YouTube blog, videos about Judaism, and we wrote to the Rebbe. You won’t believe it: we received a letter. I have a screenshot somewhere. It was a very short letter saying that we needed to share it with the public, basically.

38:51 Speaker 5 Wow.

38:51 Speaker 2 It was saying that we should do it, so that was it—we had to do it. Baruch Hashem, I started making videos. I made maybe two videos for YouTube and posted them on Facebook and Instagram too. Suddenly I noticed some rabbi liking my posts on Facebook, and I was stunned. Then I got a voice message. I waited all day for my husband to come home so we could listen to it together.

39:19 Speaker 5 Together.

39:19 Speaker 2 Yes, together. We listened, and he said, “Wow, well done! Keep going. We have a project with 190,000 followers, and I’d really like you to give classes with us.” And I was like, “Yes!” So that was it, with Hashem’s help. I started giving a live class once or twice a week. I’d prepare the classes and give them, and do other things here and there. Baruch Hashem, that’s how I started, and I really went with it. Whenever I felt something wasn’t right and wrote to the Rebbe, the answer was always, “Keep going, keep going, keep going.” Baruch Hashem. Then, maybe two years ago, my husband suddenly came home and said, “We have a debt of a hundred thousand shekels.”

40:18 Speaker 5 Hundreds of thousands of shekels.

40:19 Speaker 2 Yes, hundreds of thousands of shekels. He had a warehouse and dealt in furniture—wardrobes, sofas, everything from Ukraine.

40:31 Speaker 5 Oh, furniture, furniture.

40:32 Speaker 2 Furniture. He had a warehouse and would sell it for, I don’t know, a few thousand shekels, and they’d ship it from Ukraine by sea. Then suddenly orders were canceled here, money wasn’t refunded there, one thing after another, and suddenly we owed money everywhere.

40:52 Speaker 5 Oh no.

40:53 Speaker 2 My husband couldn’t even get up from the couch. He cried every day; he was afraid to pick up the phone. Listen, it was really frightening. Baruch Hashem, I can talk about it easily now. But at the time, we had two children—my daughter was one and my son was two years and two months old. I mean…

41:13 Speaker 5 Oh no.

41:13 Speaker 2 So yes, it was a lot. I didn’t know what to do, and I started thinking about how I could help. Then I thought, “Wow, how can I help? I’ll go to work.” I wrote to lots of places. I thought I could work here or there. Then one day, when I brought my daughter to daycare, the director came out—not my director, the daycare director—and asked, “Listen, we’re looking for an assistant. Maybe you know someone? It’s a paid position.” I said, “Yes, me! Yes, me!” It was convenient; my children were there. At the time, two years ago, we were paying almost five thousand shekels for the two children.

41:56 Speaker 5 Right.

41:57 Speaker 2 And I knew that if both parents worked, there was some kind of discount. So I started working there, and you won’t believe it: I would clean a toilet and come out saying thank you to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. I felt so sure I was where I needed to be, because I was learning how to be with children, how to manage nap times, how to handle things when they hit each other. Every month they trained the teachers in how to deal with children. I really saw it as Hakadosh Boruch Hu deliberately sending this to our family so I could learn a little about being a mother.

42:37 Speaker 5 Wow.

42:37 Speaker 2 I’m telling you, I felt such a sense of trust. Around that time, when I wrote to the Rebbe, the Rebbe’s answer said to study Chovos Halevavos. Because of that, I started studying Chovos Halevavos and giving classes on it too. You can’t imagine how much trust I still live with because of that book—Chovos Halevavos by Rabbeinu Bachya. Wow, baruch Hashem, through everything we went through. So I’d been working at the daycare for half a year, and the school year was coming to an end. The director wanted me to become a teacher, and I didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, I wanted to be a speaker and a blogger, and here I was, a teacher. It takes a lot out of you. I’d get up at five to have time to daven, I had to be at the daycare by seven, and in the evening I’d sometimes travel to Jerusalem to give a class for women. It was really stressful. So I didn’t know. On the one hand, working with children means you’re in the front row to greet Moshiach, but on the other hand, maybe it wasn’t what I really wanted. I wrote to the Rebbe and received an answer saying that a person who bakes bread and feeds lots of people is doing something very good. But if, during that time, he wants to make diamonds and is capable of making diamonds, then he’s doing something wrong.

44:12 Speaker 5 Right.

44:13 Speaker 2 So I realized, wow, even though working with children is good, if I want to do something else, I don’t have to stay. Baruch Hashem, I left, and you won’t believe it: in the first month, I earned as much as I had earned working there, and by the third month, even more. In the third month after I left that job, the Rega Shel Chochmah project invited me to be their creative director.

44:41 Speaker 5 Wow.

44:41 Speaker 2 So I was the creative director at Rega Shel Chochmah for almost another year. Baruch Hashem for that opportunity. I got to work on the on-camera side, the research, everything.

44:52 Speaker 5 Sounds interesting.

44:53 Speaker 2 Yes.

44:53 Speaker 5 Interesting work.

44:54 Speaker 2 I really loved my job. But why did we decide to leave? I decided to leave after almost a year because it was stressful. It was hard. Sometimes I wouldn’t get home until twelve at night.

45:11 Speaker 5 Wow.

45:12 Speaker 2 We could do an interview with a shochet, for example, and the director would review it and say, “Wow, excellent! These questions—amazing!” Then we’d post it on YouTube and suddenly it wouldn’t get that many views. And right away I’d hear, “Why aren’t there views? Chana, what did we do? This, that…” You’re always under pressure about views, views, views. “I need views!” It was hard. I was also responsible for Rega Shel Chochmah in Russian. For Rega Shel Chochmah in Hebrew, there were twenty or thirty people, each responsible for a different part of it. But for Rega Shel Chochmah in Russian, it was just me and my director.

45:58 Speaker 5 Wow, responsible for everything.

45:59 Speaker 2 Everything. You can’t imagine. Once, around a holiday, we brought together all the people who worked at Rega Shel Chochmah. Suddenly I was there with everyone else, and I asked one woman, “What do you do?” “I’m a researcher.” That was all she did—research. “And what do you do?” “I make videos.” “And you?” “I just write the scripts.” I was stunned. What? One person does—

46:33 Speaker 5 The work of thirty people.

46:35 Speaker 2 Yes! I was in shock. I had to plan three months ahead, find people, contact them, and be responsible for the editing—what’s the word?

46:48 Speaker 5 Editing.

46:48 Speaker 2 Editing the videos, writing new videos, writing scripts, and staying in touch with everyone. You can’t imagine how much that is for one person.

46:56 Speaker 5 Who’s a mother of young children.

46:57 Speaker 2 Yes.

46:57 Speaker 5 By the way.

46:58 Speaker 2 Exactly. You can’t imagine. So I was always like that. Then, that summer, we flew to the United States, and baruch Hashem, we were fortunate. It was the first time in the last five years—the first time ever—that my husband and I traveled together without the children. We went to Miami for three days, and I also gave a class there in Russian for forty women, baruch Hashem.

47:27 Speaker 5 You have to give a class everywhere you go.

47:29 Speaker 2 Why am I flying there? Baruch Hashem, I had that opportunity. And when we got there—listen, we’re in Miami, everything’s fun and comfortable—and suddenly I look at my husband, and he seems to be thinking about something. So I say, “What, do you want to talk?” And he says, “Yes, but let’s talk. Please take this the right way. I don’t want to hurt you or do anything bad. I want to tell you something for our good, okay?” So I’m like, “Okay.” And he says, “Have you noticed that lately you’ve been really irritable? I don’t know you like this.”

48:05 Speaker 5 Good thing he gave that introduction.

48:07 Speaker 2 Yes, really. He’s smart about that. He knows how to say things, and baruch Hashem, he says them instead of keeping them in. He teaches me that too: “Don’t stay quiet. Say it, every time.” Baruch Hashem. Then he said, “Look, this can’t go on. You’re such a good mother. You’re the best with the children, and I always enjoy watching you with them. But lately, all of a sudden, you don’t realize...” And around that very time, I’d left my job, which wasn’t easy either. My manager’s family and ours are close, so I was afraid that would be it—no more holidays together. It was hard, but baruch Hashem, Hakadosh Boruch Hu hears prayers. We’re still in touch and still spend holidays together, baruch Hashem. So there he was, really pressing the point. He said, “I’m asking you: don’t work for six months, a year, even two years. Please, be with us.” He really meant it. And as the Rebbe says, the most important thing isn’t whether a woman works or not; it’s that her energy should be at home, not somewhere else. Even if a woman doesn’t work and is at home, if she’s dreaming about where she could be, her energy is already somewhere else. And a woman could work three jobs, but her energy is with her children and her husband. So I really took that in. Wow, it was hard. I cried. Of course it was hard, but I decided to do it. Baruch Hashem, we came back, and family really came first. And of course I still manage to give classes here and there. Baruch Hashem, I was traveling to Rishon LeZion to give classes at the Chabad House there, but lately I can see that it affects the family too. Sometimes I travel on Shabbos, or something like that. And I give

50:10 Speaker 2 classes at home and online. At the beginning of the day, I also give private classes in Judaism. For example, I have a woman from—how do you say it—Romania?

50:28 Speaker 5 Romania, yes.

50:29 Speaker 2 From Romania. I have a woman from Romania who wants to convert, so we have classes together three times a week.

50:35 Speaker 5 In Russian?

50:36 Speaker 2 Yes.

50:37 Speaker 5 So she’s from Ukraine.

50:38 Speaker 2 Yes, yes. And there’s a woman from Belarus who, a few years ago, was suddenly told she had a tumor in her brain.

50:52 Speaker 5 A tumor?

50:53 Speaker 2 Yes, a three-centimeter brain tumor, and she had surgery. At first she couldn’t hold a pen or walk, and so on. Through all that, she came closer to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and realized that her place was in the synagogue. Now she wants to know everything. She asks for classes. And listen, my students—I always say, baruch Hashem that Hakadosh Boruch Hu sent them to me. I’m learning more. You understand?

51:17 Speaker 5 Wow.

51:18 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem.

51:19 Speaker 5 Listen, it’s amazing! It’s amazing.

51:21 Speaker 2 Thank you. If it’s okay, I’ll sit like this.

51:23 Speaker 5 Who’s your audience? You have a lot of Instagram followers who are interested in Judaism.

51:30 Speaker 2 Yes.

51:31 Speaker 5 And they’re Russian speakers.

51:32 Speaker 2 Yes.

51:33 Speaker 5 Do you think most of them are Jewish?

51:36 Speaker 2 Listen, good question.

51:37 Speaker 5 I’m curious because...

51:39 Speaker 2 Yes.

51:39 Speaker 5 Because you present Judaism in such a fascinating way. You talk about mitzvos. Sometimes I watch you and think, nobody does this in Hebrew.

51:48 Speaker 2 Wow.

51:49 Speaker 5 But I’m curious who’s interested in it.

51:52 Speaker 2 Wow. Yes. Actually, I’ve thought about doing it in Hebrew too. Because I’ve started studying acting.

52:00 Speaker 5 Oh, nice.

52:00 Speaker 2 Yes. I love it.

52:02 Speaker 5 I don’t think you need to study it. You’ve already got it.

52:04 Speaker 2 I’ve got it, but honestly, I do need to study. And now I’m convinced everyone should study acting.

52:11 Speaker 5 Yes.

52:11 Speaker 2 Because we all think acting is just bringing out emotions, but sometimes that’s so hard. There was one exercise where I had to bring out a strong emotion. My father passed away a year ago, boruch dayan ha’emes. So I brought up the feelings I had when I got that news. And after I brought them up, I couldn’t deal with them for another two days. I wasn’t ready. For almost three days, I was stuck in that state and couldn’t get myself back on my feet. When you study acting, you learn how to bring something out and then shift out of it, and suddenly you get to know yourself.

52:59 Speaker 5 That’s something.

52:59 Speaker 2 And you feel more in touch with yourself.

53:01 Speaker 5 How, for example?

53:02 Speaker 2 Yes.

53:02 Speaker 5 What do you do, for example? All kinds of exercises?

53:04 Speaker 2 Yes, of course. All kinds of exercises. At the beginning, for example, there was even an exercise where you simply touch yourself. Just that. It sounds so simple, but you’re there, doing it. And there are always breathing exercises: “Close your eyes and imagine you’re—I don’t know—an animal. Now you’re fifteen percent animal. How would you show that? Fifteen percent animal, ninety percent animal—how would you show it?”

53:29 Speaker 5 That’s something.

53:30 Speaker 2 Yes, really.

53:31 Speaker 5 There’s much more to it than it sounds. Studying acting is really about getting to know yourself first.

53:35 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely. I’m sure of it. I study in Yad Binyamin, where the women and men study separately. And listen, we have such amazing women. There’s one woman who’s thirty—sixty-three. She has ten children, she’s from Kfar Chabad, and for about nine years she’s worked with emotions and with... what do you call it? Dependency. If someone smokes, she helps them quit. If someone has—

54:04 Speaker 5 Addictions.

54:04 Speaker 2 Addictions, she helps them. So she came to study acting to get in touch with herself. The women there...

54:10 Speaker 5 Wow.

54:10 Speaker 2 Really, you have no idea how many amazing women we have. So I started studying there, and... what was I saying?

54:20 Speaker 5 Incredible.

54:20 Speaker 2 What? Oh, yes, you asked who follows me. So listen, on Instagram, most of them are Jewish and religious. I have lots of friends and lots of women who come to my classes. I’m sure most of my Instagram followers are religious or interested in Judaism. More than half are religious, and there are definitely Jews who want to hear about it, and fewer non-Jews. But on TikTok, for example, I now have sixty thousand followers.

54:57 Speaker 5 Wow.

54:58 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem. And of course, I think fewer of them are Jewish. I always get messages there asking, “How can I convert?” Or one man wrote, “Wow, after this video I’m going to put on a kippah.”

55:13 Speaker 5 Wow.

55:14 Speaker 2 So you don’t realize how you’re influencing people here and there...

55:17 Speaker 5 You present Judaism in a really intriguing way, I think. That’s why I thought maybe lots of non-Jews come across you and say to themselves, “What’s this? This is Judaism? Let’s see.” You know how they usually imagine Judaism?

55:33 Speaker 2 Exactly.

55:33 Speaker 5 A bit black-and-white.

55:34 Speaker 2 Exactly.

55:35 Speaker 5 And you show it as something very colorful.

55:37 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem, because that’s life. That’s how I live; that’s our life. In Russian, my logo—the words I use when I promote...

55:48 Speaker 5 Slogan.

55:48 Speaker 2 Slogan, yes: “Judaism is beautiful.” I share the beauty of Judaism, and I truly believe in it. There are girls, for example, whose pictures show them in shorts; you wouldn’t think they were religious at all. And one says, “Just because of your family, I know I’ll marry a Jew.”

56:13 Speaker 5 Wow.

56:13 Speaker 2 “Even though I’m not religious, I want to marry a Jew. It’s so important to me.” So on Instagram, most are Jewish. On Facebook and TikTok, I think fewer are; people are simply interested. But so many are from Israel. You have no idea: I go to IKEA, and someone says, “Oh, you’re Chana Seltzer.” I go somewhere else: “Hi, Chana Seltzer.” Once I was out with my children at a playground, and a girl who looked about seven said, “I know you from TikTok. My mother and I used to make challah from your...” I was like, wow. It was Shabbos, and she said, “Can I take a picture with you?” And I said, “Sorry, sweetheart, I’m sorry, no.” So you have no idea. Suddenly, someone on the street says, “Hey, I know you.”

57:04 Speaker 5 It’s just amazing. I don’t think you realize it.

57:07 Speaker 2 Yes, I don’t.

57:08 Speaker 5 Like, how far it reaches.

57:10 Speaker 2 Yes.

57:10 Speaker 5 One person—

57:12 Speaker 2 Yes.

57:13 Speaker 5 Who’s been on a journey—

57:15 Speaker 2 Yes.

57:15 Speaker 5 And you say, “I have a gift, and I want to send it out to everyone, so everyone—

57:20 Speaker 2 Yes.

57:20 Speaker 5 Everyone can receive it.”

57:22 Speaker 2 Yes, I really believe that. And baruch Hashem, my husband deserves a lot of credit for this. He really believes in me so much. He’s always saying, “Yes, keep going, and I’ll help you with this and that.” And, for example, a week ago—

57:37 Speaker 5 He’s also a bit of an actor in your videos sometimes...

57:40 Speaker 2 Yes, I’ve made videos with him. A few videos about Judaism, and people really love them. So we need to keep going.

57:47 Speaker 5 Do you know why? Because what were you telling us? That you saw families.

57:51 Speaker 2 Oh, right.

57:52 Speaker 5 What did that do for you?

57:53 Speaker 2 Right.

57:53 Speaker 5 Suddenly—and when people see the two of you, okay, you’re speaking, and that’s lovely, but suddenly they see a family—

57:59 Speaker 2 A family. Right.

58:01 Speaker 5 That’s something else.

58:02 Speaker 2 Right, exactly, exactly. So I have scripts now; we need to film them. Just a week ago, I was invited to Vienna, Austria, to give a talk. So I’m sitting in a restaurant, and suddenly a woman says, “Wow, I know you.” Then somewhere else, “Oh, hello, hello.” And suddenly I’m like... And my husband too—wherever he goes, it’s, “I know what you did last night.” You know.

58:31 Speaker 5 He gets greetings from people.

58:31 Speaker 2 Yes, he’s always getting greetings. But I remember when I started on TikTok, my husband said, “No, it’s only kids on there. Are you sure?” And so on. I said yes, I’m just going to give lessons about Judaism in a distinctive way, a funny way, that kind of way. And yes, they took off. I have videos there with four million views, three million views, one—

59:00 Speaker 5 Not like the video about the shochet.

59:02 Speaker 2 Exactly.

59:04 Speaker 5 You have a good memory, but you really do have that ability. Making videos—I know what it’s like, because I also... It has to come from you, and you’re the one acting it out, so you can picture what it’ll look like, what you’ll say and how you’ll say it, and—

59:18 Speaker 2 Right.

59:18 Speaker 5 See the finished product.

59:20 Speaker 2 Yes, exactly.

59:22 Speaker 5 It’s amazing, it’s amazing.

59:22 Speaker 2 Exactly. Most of my videos happen quickly, right there and then. I get an idea, and I write it down immediately. I don’t overthink it. Afterward, it takes time. So as soon as you get an idea, you have to catch it.

59:38 Speaker 5 Wow, listen, that’s amazing. Thank you. How many years have you been in Israel now?

59:42 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem, almost six years. In July it’ll be six years, baruch Hashem. I’ve been fortunate.

59:47 Speaker 5 And your Hebrew? Actually, you said you’d already studied in Odessa, but still, that’s not...

59:52 Speaker 2 No, honestly, what I learned in Odessa was “Hello, how are you?”

59:54 Speaker 5 Just a little bit like that.

59:55 Speaker 2 Yes. And that’s how it was here. When I moved here, I had to go to the Interior Ministry by myself. My husband was at work; he couldn’t take time off just for the Interior Ministry, and I could explain a little. Because I had to go alone, I wasn’t afraid to speak. And then here and there, standing in line, learning as I went—and baruch Hashem.

1:00:18 Speaker 5 What’s it like being a new immigrant in general?

1:00:20 Speaker 2 Being a new immigrant—I don’t even remember anymore.

1:00:21 Speaker 5 In Israel.

1:00:23 Speaker 2 Um.

1:00:24 Speaker 5 You don’t feel like a new immigrant anymore.

1:00:26 Speaker 2 Yes. Honestly, there are just so many Russians in Ashdod. So many. That’s why we have work to do.

1:00:31 Speaker 5 All over the country.

1:00:32 Speaker 2 Yes, because... Right.

1:00:34 Speaker 5 Like when I went to Ukraine, for example, I’d walk into a store and speak, you know, Russian that wasn’t quite native, with an accent, and right away they’d ask, “Oh, where are you from? Are you Chabad?” And so on.

1:00:46 Speaker 2 Right.

1:00:46 Speaker 5 It seemed strange to them, but here there are so many Russian speakers.

1:00:49 Speaker 2 No, sometimes people actually ask me in a store, “Where are you from? Are you Russian? Are you Sephardic?”

1:00:57 Speaker 5 Sephardic? Where do they get that from?

1:00:58 Speaker 2 I don’t know.

1:00:59 Speaker 5 How funny.

1:01:00 Speaker 2 Yes, baruch Hashem.

1:01:02 Speaker 5 Wow. Listen, Chana, you’re truly an inspiration for shlichus.

1:01:05 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem, I’ve been fortunate. I say I’m the Rebbe’s shlucha online.

1:01:09 Speaker 5 Right, right. That’s really, really true.

1:01:10 Speaker 2 Baruch Hashem.

1:01:11 Speaker 5 Think about it: you could give in-person talks from now until tomorrow. How many people would hear you?

1:01:16 Speaker 2 Yes.

1:01:16 Speaker 5 How many?

1:01:17 Speaker 2 Right.

1:01:17 Speaker 5 But the Rebbe said that everything created in the world was created for Hakadosh Boruch Hu.

1:01:21 Speaker 2 Right.

1:01:21 Speaker 5 And if technology exists—

1:01:23 Speaker 2 Right.

1:01:23 Speaker 5 We need to use it.

1:01:25 Speaker 2 Right.

1:01:25 Speaker 5 You can reach, how many did you say? Millions.

1:01:28 Speaker 2 Yes. Some people write to me, “How can a religious woman be on TikTok and Instagram? How can you do that?” And I say it depends how you use it. Is a knife good or bad? It depends what you do with it.

1:01:41 Speaker 5 Wow, absolutely, absolutely.

1:01:41 Speaker 2 If you’re cutting a salad for your family, that’s good. If not, it isn’t. So it depends how I use my phone. Honestly, when you’re a blogger and you make videos, it can be a little hard to maintain boundaries. Suddenly I don’t even notice that I’m wasting time.

1:01:58 Speaker 5 Time, yes.

1:01:58 Speaker 2 And then suddenly I say, “That’s it. No, no, no, no. That’s it,” and get out of there. So...

1:02:03 Speaker 5 It takes work.

1:02:04 Speaker 2 Yes, it really takes work. I set a timer for myself, so when it goes off, that’s it—I leave the app.

1:02:10 Speaker 5 Good.

1:02:11 Speaker 2 You post something and that’s that. Honestly, lately I haven’t managed to answer people, because so many write to me. How many can I answer? Nine? Ten? And that’s it; I don’t have time.

1:02:22 Speaker 5 That’s when you need a secretary.

1:02:24 Speaker 2 Yes, honestly, I’ve wanted one, but I’m still a little afraid. And the people who write to me need me.

1:02:31 Speaker 5 Right, right.

1:02:32 Speaker 2 I can’t keep up. So it’s a little hard, but we’ll manage.

1:02:36 Speaker 5 Little by little. Those are good problems to have.

1:02:38 Speaker 2 Right.

1:02:39 Speaker 5 It means you’re reaching people.

1:02:41 Speaker 2 Right.

1:02:41 Speaker 5 Wow, Chana, listen. I hear your whole story, and you describe how Hakadosh Boruch Hu was with you. You always felt Him.

1:02:51 Speaker 2 Always.

1:02:52 Speaker 5 And you discovered Him, because ultimately you chose Him. Everyone born Jewish has to choose that anew at every moment, I think.

1:03:01 Speaker 2 Right.

1:03:01 Speaker 5 But you did it in such a tangible way. You actively chose, and it shows. As you tell your story, at every point along the way you say, “That was hashgacha pratis. Hakadosh Boruch Hu was with me, and I saw Hashem’s hand.” And I say, I wish we could all always live like that—to make a place for Hakadosh Boruch Hu.

1:03:24 Speaker 2 Bezras Hashem.

1:03:24 Speaker 5 To give Him a place and see Him, because He’s there. Sometimes we just need to say, “Hey, hello, You’re with me.” That can add so much to our lives and help us move forward through those doubts and the choices we have to make: Should I do this or that? Should I leave my job or stay?

1:03:41 Speaker 2 Yes, exactly.

1:03:42 Speaker 5 And to say, “Hakadosh Boruch Hu, I want to hear what You have to say. I want to see the opportunities You’re giving me.”

1:03:46 Speaker 2 Yes, you don’t understand. I need time for myself and Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Like a kind of Jewish meditation, where I just feel His love. I need that. And with our children, every night when we go to bed, we try to thank Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “What are you thankful for?” You don’t understand—the children sometimes say things I never could have predicted. I think, what? He thought about this and that, and suddenly he’s thanking Hashem for it, and I’m amazed. Wow. Really.

1:04:18 Speaker 5 What a gift for life.

1:04:19 Speaker 2 Yes.

1:04:19 Speaker 5 For you.

1:04:20 Speaker 2 It really is, baruch Hashem. And I’m so grateful to Hakadosh Boruch Hu that our children are Jewish and growing up in our family. I pray that they’ll follow our path too, and...

1:04:31 Speaker 5 Amen.

1:04:32 Speaker 2 Help bring Moshiach closer, because our greatest wish is to make a dwelling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu in this world. Bezras Hashem.

1:04:39 Speaker 5 Listen, with parents like you, I don’t think there’s—

1:04:42 Speaker 2 Bezras Hashem. It’s work every day, you know what I mean.

1:04:44 Speaker 5 Right, right, right, right.

1:04:45 Speaker 2 Every day, you have to work at it.

1:04:46 Speaker 5 But when—as you say—that’s what you want, and when our goal is clear and we think about it every day, that goal guides us. It carries us along, and we go with it. We need to know what we actually want.

1:04:59 Speaker 2 Right.

1:05:00 Speaker 5 And say it out loud, and bezras Hashem.

1:05:02 Speaker 2 Right? Bezras Hashem, exactly. And now, baruch Hashem, as I told you, we’re moving to a big house—a huge one.

1:05:08 Speaker 5 Mazel tov.

1:05:09 Speaker 2 Mazel tov, and we—

1:05:11 Speaker 5 In Ashdod.

1:05:12 Speaker 2 Yes, in Ashdod, so we can hold classes there too. Right now there’s no room in our apartment. Twenty women come to my classes, and there just isn’t room even to get started. There’s no room. So baruch Hashem, when I told my husband, “Listen, we need a big house,” he was completely on board. “Right, how did I not think of that? And you need your own office.” I’ve been telling him for ages that I need my own office. Because—

1:05:38 Speaker 5 You were probably only hinting at it.

1:05:40 Speaker 2 Right, right, because when a woman works from home, it’s hard. You know.

1:05:43 Speaker 5 Very, very.

1:05:44 Speaker 2 You need to clean here, and suddenly you find yourself doing that. But when you have an office, it’s easier.

1:05:50 Speaker 5 Right.

1:05:50 Speaker 2 So baruch Hashem, he’s on board too. My husband really is my partner in everything I want to do. Baruch Hashem.

1:05:56 Speaker 5 Baruch Hashem. That really isn’t something to take for granted.

1:05:58 Speaker 2 Thank you.

1:05:59 Speaker 5 And a big house will also give you, you know...

1:06:01 Speaker 2 Yes.

1:06:01 Speaker 5 Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to give a blessing. There has to be somewhere for it to go.

1:06:03 Speaker 2 Right. Right. Exactly, exactly.

1:06:06 Speaker 5 Wow.

1:06:06 Speaker 2 Boruch Hashem.

1:06:07 Speaker 5 Chana, you’re so moving. Thank you so, so much for coming.

1:06:09 Speaker 2 Thank you so much for inviting me.

1:06:11 Speaker 5 And I hope every woman takes these messages into her everyday life, because you’re truly such an inspiration, also in your shlichus. I really think you have such a strong sense of how fortunate you are.

1:06:23 Speaker 2 Yes, I really am so fortunate.

1:06:24 Speaker 5 Because you can see right before your eyes where you could have ended up.

1:06:27 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely.

1:06:28 Speaker 5 And where you are today.

1:06:29 Speaker 2 Sometimes I’ll be driving from one place to another, and I can just start crying.

1:06:35 Speaker 5 Wow, wow.

1:06:35 Speaker 2 Just because I feel how fortunate I am. I just start crying, and then I laugh because I’m not crying out of sadness. I’m crying because of the joy and this feeling that just—

1:06:46 Speaker 5 That’s incredible.

1:06:47 Speaker 2 Fills me.

1:06:47 Speaker 5 It’s incredible. I hope we always feel how fortunate we are like that.

1:06:50 Speaker 2 Amen.

1:06:50 Speaker 5 That we were truly fortunate to be born into this.

1:06:54 Speaker 2 Right.

1:06:54 Speaker 5 Most of us were born into this place, with this gift in our hands.

1:06:57 Speaker 2 Right.

1:06:58 Speaker 5 And to pass it on. As you know, the Rebbe said that whoever knows alef should teach alef.

1:07:01 Speaker 2 Right.

1:07:02 Speaker 5 Whoever knows—then learn beis and teach beis. Every woman has something to give the world, and we just shouldn’t be afraid. We need to know that this is—

1:07:08 Speaker 2 Don’t be afraid.

1:07:09 Speaker 5 This is why we came down into the world. We have a mission.

1:07:11 Speaker 2 Exactly.

1:07:11 Speaker 5 And seeing you is like seeing that model right before my eyes.

1:07:15 Speaker 2 Thank you so much.

1:07:15 Speaker 5 Thank you, Chana.

1:07:16 Speaker 2 Thank you.