EUGENE REZNIK
TECHNICIAN (RETIRED)
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND AND YOUR FAMILY.
I come from Odessa, where I grew up. After graduating from college, I began working as a refrigeration and heating equipment mechanic. I worked at the same company for 45 years! I have a wonderful daughter who currently lives in Los Angeles. I have three grandsons, two great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter. So I am a rich man! I come from a traditional Jewish family. My father was a Cohen, at home we spoke Yiddish, my parents ate only kosher, and my eldest brother studied in a Jewish school. In Odessa, our life was connected with two synagogues. One of them is a big one where my father and I went on major holidays (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover). Before Passover they baked matzah, which we always bought together with other Jews of the city. Now on the walls of this synagogue there are memorial tablets with the names of my parents. But the big synagogue was far away from our house, and over the years it became increasingly challenging for my father to walk there. So we began to walk to a closer, smaller synagogue (a shteebl as they were called) located in the house of a wealthy Odessa family. On Sukkot, in the closed courtyard of the prayer house, the Sukkah was built every year, an we always went there. I studied in a regular secondary school, but in the evenings after school, my father would take me and my brother with him to pray at this small synagogue. There was always a minyan in the house of this man - about 15 to 20 people gathered. Growing up, I did not have the opportunity to go to Jewish classes, but here, in Toronto, thanks to Rabbi Yoseph Zaltzman, I wake up at 5:00 am because at 6:00 we begin the lesson, followed by prayer.
HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THE WAR?
During the bombings, we hid in large trenches, but the echoes of the battles on the outskirts of Odessa were well heard. Fortunately, two weeks before the arrival of the Germans, we managed to sail away on the last steamer leaving the port of Odessa. At first we got to Novorossiysk, and from there we traveled by train to the capital of Kazakhstan, Alma Ata. There we were taken in by a Russian family, and after the war we returned to Odessa.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING IN ONTARIO AND IN YOUR AREA? AND WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PARTICULAR AREA OF TORONTO?
In 1995 I had to leave Odessa to Canada, and we ended up in Toronto. Toronto is a wonderful city. We settled in the North York area, and we are surrounded by good people - members of the Jewish community.
WHEN DID YOU START PARTICIPATING IN JRCC PROGRAMS?
Upon arriving in Toronto, I immediately began attending the JRCC synagogue, and have been going there for 23 years. For me, this is very important. All these years, I enjoy interacting with people who come to pray at our synagogue at 18 Rockford Rd. In the classes that take place before the prayer, we study the book “Tanya”, where we learn the basics of the philosophy of Chassidus. The wisdom of the book "Tanya" is immense, it gives us a profound understanding of life. It continues to amaze me how much there is to learn, how broad and vast Judaism is, especially when studying with an experienced Torah scholar like our Rabbi Zaltzman. It amazes me how the Torah contains all the knowledge of the world within it. No wonder it says that it is never too late to learn, even at my age – thank God I am already 87 years old! The main thing is to desire to learn and to be open to it – but age is not an obstacle. When learning Jewish wisdom, I want to say to myself: “Pray and live life like a fairy tale!”
IF YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE A “L’CHAIM” WITH SOME FAMOUS PERSON, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
I would really like to say “L’chaim” with my fellow countryman, satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky. I once met him in the Odessa train on the way to Arcadia. Then he was about 30 years old. I remember well that during the whole trip we told each other jokes. I love the work of Zhvanetsky very much, I never miss his series “Duty Man of the Country”, and I follow his work on the Internet.
WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR FREE TIME? DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES?
My wife and I spend time at home - she is the boss, and I pray that everyone will be fine. I like to play billiards. Every day, I walk with my wife in the park. The days are flying by, we are staying young, trying to outpace old age.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
Continue to participate in the wonderful programs of the JRCC, improve our life in exile by making it beautiful and interesting.
