It was a cold Russian morning in early September,1964 and the American Rav Braunstein was in Kiev once again. By 1964, Jewish communities in Russia barely resembled the vibrant Jewish life which had characterized Russia for so many centuries.
Communist Russia was a dangerous place where Jews were persecuted and killed and where Judaism was almost completely stifled. One sad example, thousands of miles of railroad tracks of the Russian railroad were literally laid down on the bodies of Jewish slave laborers who died in its construction.
Over the years, Rav Braunstein made several dangerous trips to Communist Russia, in order to perform bris milahs and to spread Yiddishkeit among the oppressed Russian Jews. Most of his work was done under fear of his life.
Several times the evil Russian police caught and beat Rav Braunstein. One time, after a particularly bad beating, when Rav Braunstein was near death, the Russians sent him to England on a special medical plane, in order that he not die in Russia. Thankfully, Rav Braunstein survived that beating and lived to return to Russia to continue his holy work.
One of the most memorable Rosh Hashanas that Rav Braunstein remembers is the Rosh Hashana he spent in Kiev, Russia in 1964. After the morning prayers on Erev Rosh Hashana, a Skverer Chassid approached Rav Braunstein and asked him if he would like to pray on Rosh Hashana with a special minyan of Jews in Kiev. (It is important to note that by this time after so many years of Russian persecution, Russian Jews for the most part lacked almost all external trappings of Judaism, although their hearts still beat strongly for Hashem.)
Rav Braunstein was intrigued by the offer of the Skverer Chassid and therefore he quickly agreed to join the minyan. Rav Braunstein was instructed to look for two men who would walk by his hotel the next morning at 7 a.m. The evil KGB was always lurking in the area, so the utmost care had to be taken to avoid detection. So, the Skverer Chassid instructed Rav Braunstein to carefully follow the two men, at such a pace so that nobody would notice that Rav Braunstein was following the men. It was only early September, but it was still very cold in Kiev, so Rav Braunstein was instructed to bundle up well.
Sure enough, the next morning at 7 a.m., as Rav Braunstein waited in the hotel lobby, two men walked by the entrance very quickly. As instructed, Rav Braunstein walked at a healthy distance behind the men.
