Vladimir Khayutin
My Jewish name is Zev. Living in the Soviet Union, in our assimilated Jewish environment, I did not have a Bar Mitzvah, and so I chose my Jewish name myself later.
What city were you born in?
I was born and raised in Leningrad, and am the second generation of native Leningraders. The third and last generation was my son, who moved to Canada with us.
What is your profession?
I am a gynecologist. In Canada, as a doctor, I had to retire at a fairly young age, since, as I think everyone knows, it is almost impossible for a doctor from the FSU to get a license in this country. My wife, a general practitioner, also had to retire. And then my wife and I decided to open our own security business.
Please tell us about your roots, where your family comes from.
My grandfather on my father's side was born in 1908, his name was Israel Grigorievich...
I can imagine how comfortable it was for a person with such a name to live in the Soviet Union...
In this regard, I remember an incident from my grandfather's life. He had a friend, also a Jew, who was around the same age as my grandfather – that is, he was born before the war. This friend's name was Adolf Petrovich. And so in the 70s, when hysteria with the "Israeli militarism" began in the Union, Adolf Petrovich asked my grandfather: "How are you living in our country with the name Israel?" Smiling, my grandfather answered his question with another question, in Hebrew: "And how are you, dear Adolf, living with your name?"
When my grandfather came to visit us, he always brought me and my brother books as gifts, not toys. At the end of the year, he would give us spinning tops, and in the spring he would bring us some unleavened biscuits, which didn’t seem very tasty to us at the time. And only later did we realize that the spinning tops were Chanukah dreidels, and the biscuits were matzahs for Passover. My grandfather always wore a skullcap on his head - it was forbidden to wear a kippah back then since a kippah was an attribute of “damned Zionism,” while a skullcap embodied Soviet internationalism. My father, Aleksandr Israilevich Khayutin, was a career officer in the Soviet Army. In the 1950s, my father’s unit was sent to Hungary. At that time, an armed uprising against the proSoviet Stalinist regime had begun there. The population was unhappy with the one-party regime and the presence of Soviet troops in the country. My father’s unit, among others, was sent to Hungary to suppress this uprising. When they had already approached the border, and my father learned about the task assigned to his unit, he decided to leave the army, because he did not want to be part of the violence.
I want to tell you about one lesson in integrity that I learned from communicating with my father. Once, when I was little, we were walking down the street. We met my father's friend who said: "Hello, Israilevich! Your name is so difficult, I just can't pronounce it. Let me call you Ivanovich." To which my father replied: "If you have trouble pronouncing my name, don't talk to me!" - and we left. I will remember this for the rest of my life. When I moved to Canada, I planned to go to Hamilton, where my brother already lived by that time. Before leaving, I decided to go to the synagogue to receive the rabbi's blessing. Having arrived at our famous, very beautiful Leningrad synagogue, I approached the rabbi. I didn't tell him that I was going to Canada - you know our Soviet habit of keeping important life decisions secret. I said that I was going to America. He replied: "That's very right, Jews should not stay in the Soviet Union." Then he took a pen and paper and wrote a short letter in Hebrew. Handing me the folded piece of paper, the rabbi said: "In America there is a country called Canada, and in that country there is a small town called Hamilton. My cousin heads the Chabad organization there. Please give him this letter."
Can you imagine?! He didn't know that I was going to Hamilton!
Wow, such amazing Divine providence!
I arrived in Hamilton, and my brother and I went to the Chabad House together. We gave the letter to the rabbi, he read it and asked: "Do you know what is written here?" I answered: "First of all, I don't have the habit of reading other people's letters, and secondly, I don't read Hebrew." The rabbi says: "The letter says: "I am sending you this young Jew. If you can, help him." Such is mysticism.
How are Jewish traditions observed in your family?
My wife Yulia and I got married in Leningrad. It was clear that at that time, for us, assimilated Jews of the Soviet Union, Jewish traditions were out of the question. But here, we began to observe Shabbat, all the holidays, and the traditions of Torah kashrut. And two years ago we made a Chuppah.
What are your plans for the future?
Judaism and family are very important to me, and I want to pass on to the next generation the love for our traditions.
