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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:	BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:	1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:	SMURF::FENSTER

Created:	Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:	Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1524
Total number of notes:	18709

1203.0. "Financial aid for Jews in ex-USSR" by NAC::OFSEVIT (card-carrying member) Tue Apr 07 1992 22:24

    	My wife still has relatives living in Kiev.  Recently we inquired
    about their welfare in the economic climate in the ex-USSR, and we
    found that they, like many people, are barely surviving.  The local
    currency is almost worthless, and a family of 4 can feed themselves for
    a month on $50 hard currency.  My wife immediately mobilized her
    extended family to collect enough money to help them through the
    current circumstances.  In the process, we've learned several things
    that I'd like to share here.

    	The banking system there has collapsed, so that it is not possible
    to wire funds or send checks.  Cash is required.  The powers that be
    don't seem to object to hard currency being carried in.

    	Sending cash through the mail seems to be pointless; the mail
    system is totally insecure and cash is likely to disappear.

    	There doesn't seem to be much action (yet) by the established
    Jewish welfare organizations to address the specific needs.  I guess
    they would need to set up a network of in-country couriers to deliver
    aid, and that would take a great amount of time and effort to set up. 
    I don't know whether any such activity is underway.

    	Fortunately, there is a significant amount of traffic of visitors
    to and from the ex-USSR these days, and they are willing to take cash
    along.  (How much they are comfortable carrying is another matter, to
    be negotiated with each person.)  It helps is they are going to the
    city where help is needed, since otherwise the people there have to
    travel to meet them.  (For example:  We have found a person who is
    going directly to Kiev.  Our alternate person would be going to Moscow,
    a significiant distance from Kiev.)

    	I'd like to use this note for several purposes:

    1.  Sharing experiences, as I've done here, to help learn the best way
    to get this aid sent.

    2.  Sharing information on people who are going to this area, to take
    advantage of trips where possible and know who is willing to do it.

    3.  Learning about any activities being undertaken by organized Jewish
    welfare organizations to expedite this aid.

    4.  Knowing how providing this aid could backfire ("Those Jews only
    help their own kind...") and how to best avoid such problems.

    	Let's discuss.  The need is great, and it doesn't seem very
    efficient to do it on a family-by-family basis.

    		David

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1203.1	Some tips on how to help	CXCAD::BERZON		`Wed Apr 08 1992 07:13`	29
	I still have some close relatives stuck (hopefully for not too much longer) in that hell of a country. They are also in Kiev. My father is constantly coming up with new ways of getting food to them. There is a company that advertises in Novoye Russkoye Slovo, that will deliver alot of food to your relatives in a few large cities (including Kiev) for around $20. Also King Soopers (a subsidiary of Kroger foods operating in Colorado) had a list that you could put names on, and they would than deliver food (to people in the former USSR) at no charge. A friend of mine in San Francisco said that he could not find any Jewish efforts to send food over there, but he found a Russian Orthodox Church that took donations to send food to people needing help (no particular names.) But all of the above efforts provide only non-kosher food - not that it matters for 99.99% of Jews in Russia. However, if it does matter, the only way I know of sending kosher food over there is by hooking up with some orhodox Jewish tourists, who will almost always let it be well known (within the community) that they are soon to visit the former Soviet Union, and will volunteer to take kosher food to your relatives. By the way if you want to wire money directly to your relatives I know that it is very possible. The only problem is that they may not be able to access that money. (Oh well!) Alternatively you could find transfers of $1 here for 100 or so Rubles over there on the black market. I hear that you can exchange the two currencies freely at the banks over there at widely ranging exchange rates, but beware the rules of this game change at least daily. Jake
1203.2	I can personally help a little...	TAV02::FEINBERG	Don Feinberg	`Wed Apr 08 1992 18:14`	13
	I travel to Poland at least twice a month - I can bring money to relatives there (I have already done this once). In Poland, the situation is not as bad as in USSR-zt"l, but $100 is about the average monthly salary, and amounts like $20 can really significantly help people out. I will probably be travelling to Moscow and other places in Russia starting next month, and would be willing to make the same offer. (We're also travelling to Bulgaria, if that's of interest...) don feinberg
1203.3	Cash delivered in Moscow ...	DSSDEV::TENENBAUM		`Wed Apr 08 1992 21:21`	6
	Probably, I can help. I have a friend who frequently travels to Russia And we used to use these trips to deliver cash to our friends and relatives. If somebody has relatives in area of Moscow - let me know : Boris Tenenbaum, DTN 381-2299, e-mail DSSDEV::TENENBAUM
1203.4	Caveat canem...	TAVIS::JUAN		`Thu Apr 09 1992 14:38`	15
	I don't know what the legal status of bringing cash money to Russia is now. There are countries where you have to declare any amount of money you bring in and report how you spent it, where all transfers of money to local residents _must_ go thru official banks and/or channels. If there is a chance that bringing cash with you may not be "Kosher" according to the local country regulations, I would like to suggest you should be careful on where and how you write about it. Regards, Juan-Carlos
1203.5	Poland - yes; Russia - <tbd>	TAV02::FEINBERG	Don Feinberg	`Thu Apr 09 1992 17:35`	21
	> I don't know what the legal status of bringing cash money to Russia > is now. > > There are countries where you have to declare any amount of money you > bring in and report how you spent it, where all transfers of money > to local residents _must_ go thru official banks and/or channels. In Poland, they officially don't care. You fill in a foreign currency form at the airport listing how much of what you're bringing in, and they stamp it. My observation is that amounts less than a few thousand dollars are greeted by little more than a snore, as the clerk wakes up long enough to stamp the form. In Russia, I don't know, but I will be finding out (officially). I have observed large quantities of dollars going across the Polish-Russian border without interference; the practical answer may be that illegal or legal, the Russian government is clearly not doing anything about it.
1203.6	Russia is "OK" 2...	CXCAD::BERZON		`Fri Apr 10 1992 04:47`	18
	I was in Russia three (long) years ago. At that time they cared very much about what you did with the $ you brought into the country - you could not spend it anywhere other than the one or two official hard currency stores, or you could exchange them $1 to 0.65 Rubles at the "bank". You had to keep receipts and so on. There were the declaration forms on entry and exit from the country. However even back then they didn't check the accuracy of your declarations (for reasonably small accounts.) Now that the country has collapsed, they are starving for hard currency. The government does not care how it gets $. They even made it legal for citizens to buy stuff in the hard currency stores, that where previously restricted only to the foreign nationals and Soviet citizens able to explain where they got the $ (Wow, what a concept!) They do change rules all the time and all the place, but I wouldn't worry too much about bringing in an extra $100. (You could fill out an entry form saying you have $100 less, if that makes you feel safer... So, you are not so good at counting money, that's why you are (not) a millionaire.)