Neighbors again: Another Subbotnik Jew comes home
We recently shared about the Mashchenko family, Subbotnik Jews who recently came on aliyah. We’re happy to say that Lyubov Konchakova is another Subbotnik Jew who just arrived in Israel a few weeks ago, settling in Nof Hagalil.
In fact, back in Vysoky, Russia, Konchakova was actually a neighbor of the Mashchenko family and also others who are now living nearby, so for all of them the transition to Nof Hagalil is relatively convenient. There are many familiar people, close relatives, distant ones and neighbors from the village. In the meantime, Konchakova lives with her relatives, who also happen to be very close friends of hers – and who were also neighbors of hers in Vysoky.
The Subbotnik Jews were peasants in southern Russia who embraced Jewish practice and converted to Judaism more than 200 years ago under the Czarist regime. They were referred to by the term “Subbotniks” because of their love of the Subbota, which is Russian for Sabbath. There are still an estimated 15,000 Subbotnik Jews living primarily in southern Russia and in Siberia, most of whom wish to return to the traditions of their ancestors and emigrate to Israel.
It’s been a long process but Lyubov Konchakova is happy to now be Home!
Lטubov Konchakova (left) together with grandmother Maria Buchernikova.