The very cold winter hit hard the poor. In addition to the difficulty go get food and some work to earn money, they return to bitter cold homes. A committee was founded a few years ago to deliver some wood to the poor to heat their houses.

However that is not enough. The committee leaders – Eliyahu Varhaftig and Shaul Khvat – convinced the cantor Noakh Shlodkovski to lead a small Yom Kippur prayer in the big synagogue and whoever attended the prayer was to donate 15 K' to the committee. Approximately 100 rubels were collected, since the 'liberals and educated' did not participate in this act of tzedaka…

He is first of the first in the theater
But last of the last in the Beit Midrash

The 1st of January was disastrous to many of our brothers here in town. Three o'clock in the afternoon an explosion was heard and we saw fire and some bursting from the quarter of town in risk of disasters. I was among the first to reach the place to see the terrible sight. A stone building containing 4 shops was demolished to rubble. We heard cries for help. After a few minutes many people – policemen and fire brigade – arrived and pulled out of the rubbles 5 dead people and many wounded. 5 of the wounded have been taken to the Jewish hospital and the doctors give most of them no chance. The windows of many of the neighboring houses broke and there is great damage to many of the shops. Miraculously, they pulled from under the rubbles 3 small children, uninjured.

There are various speculations about the causes of this disaster. However, there is no doubt that explosive powder was involved… When will our brothers stop trading in dangerous explosives?

Our gaon Rabbi has a holy responsibility to strictly forbid trading in such material to prevent destroying innocent people and to prevent our enemies from holding this against us.