Interviewing Joseph Alishaev

Since ancient times, Jews have been giving their children the names of their great biblical ancestors, apparently in the hope of not only preserving history through the centuries, but also in a hidden dream of replication somehow experiences of the outstanding ancestors. By those distant standards, the biblical Joseph, who, having gone through the torments of torture and essentially becoming the de facto ruler of Egypt, which was a superpower of that era, is an enviable character in the Jewish mind, and his name and deeds are most revered and attractive in human memory.

Joseph is one of the three Alishaev brothers, the second after the elder Simcha. The youngest among them is Uri. Sister, Shirin, is the eldest of the four children of the Gavriel and Mira, blessed be their memory. The history of this family is a clear evidence and a key to understanding the secrets of a person's social success in the modern world which is overburdened with stress and relentlessly oncoming unforeseen circumstances. Like hundreds of our fellow tribesmen who began paving the way to the West in the early 70s of the last century, they eventually achieved impressive results in the business world and in charitable activities, generously sponsoring public projects. These two intersecting lines of life –business and virtue – are often inseparable from each other. The turning point that put the Alishaev’s into a new orbit was the idea of creating a cultural and religious center Beth Gavriel with the synagogue of the same name.

It all began over 30 years ago with a seemingly inconspicuous family conversation between Mother Mira and her three young sons on a Shabbat night after their meal. A clear, persistent thought had long grabbed Mira's thoughts, suddenly became voiced: “A lot of time has passed since the day your father left us. In honor of his good name and blessed memory, I would very much like you to found a synagogue called Beth Gavriel in our neighborhood. Thanks to the efforts of your father, who laid the foundation for our family business, you have managed to firmly stand on your feet and are engaged in active charity work, which serves to increase your authority among the people. I think the time has come to take this especially important step for the benefit of our expanding community.”

After those words, the brothers' faces blushed like a rose, as if their mother had penetrated the deepest fibers of their beings, touched upon something very intimate, significant, and responsible. Simply put, her words infused something that had been haunting them for a long time, was right on the tips of their tongues, and at any moment could break loose and thus turn their dreams into really tangible and long-awaited actions.

The good and the benefactor are not capable of developing separately. Not only they, like a boomerang, return in the most varied forms to those who launched them, but also look for their own kind, multiplying, reincarnating, infecting more and more their kind of people with their irrepressible energy. Just on the eve of that conversation, the Alishaev brothers had a long meeting with the Koptiev family. For many years they had remarkably close and friendly relations, the beginning of which was laid by their parents. Is it possible to forget the episode when the eldest of the Koptiev brothers, Joseph, put all his business commitments aside and together with Mira flew to Israel in January 1988 to accompany the ashes of Gavriel Alishaev, who had suddenly passed away? Due to the lack of the necessary documents, the Alishaev brothers could not leave the United States.

The common grief brought the two families closer together, especially mothers, Yafa Koptieva and Mira Alishaeva, not to mention the children. It soon became clear that Yafa’s mind was preoccupied with the similar thoughts – a dream of founding a synagogue named after her untimely departed husband. Everything was going more than favorable for them: at the end of August 1997, 23 years ago, thanks to the energetic actions of the two families, the Beth Gavriel Synagogue, immortalizing the memory of Gavriel Koptiev and Gavriel Alishaev, began to fill the pages of Bukharian-Jewish history on American soil.

This path was not easy, things did happen. At first, they rented a room from a certain American Jewish religious organization for conducting Saturday minyans, but, as the  saying runs, they were there on sufferance. Sometimes, under far-fetched pretexts, the owners, violating the provisions of the lease agreement, forced people to wait at closed doors for hours. Meanwhile, the community was multiplying, its authority was steadily increasing, a range of educational and upbringing programs it offered expanded, as a result of which the Beth Gavriel turned into a genuine second sweet home for its congregants.

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then, but a lot of good deeds have been accomplished over the years. Most importantly, a beautiful mikvah was put into operation, bearing the name of the two mothers who stood at the origins of the Beth Gavriel Center – Yafa Koptieva and Mira Alishaeva. May their memory live forever and they rest in peace. From a technical point of view, its design turned out to be quite complex, requiring not only major financial investments and engineering skill, but also the labor of love from those who led the construction process.

Today on the agenda is the commissioning of the new synagogue building. One cannot fail to notice that over the past year, the project has been on the upswing and reached the stage of finishing works. During this year, the management, organizational issues, and control over the construction progress, with the approval of the Center’s Board of Directors, passed into the hands of Joseph Alishaev. It should be especially emphasized that this is his first public duty of such caliber, the success of which largely determines the authority of our Center in the Jewish world and the degree of its readiness to confidently respond to the challenges of today's difficult times.

In preparing this material for publication, I obviously turned to Joseph with a request to clarify the reasons for this particularly important leadership reshuffle. Indeed, for more than 20 years, the brunt of all this multifaceted and complex work that requires a lot of time, dedication, nervous strain, and professionalism, fell on the shoulders of the vice-president of the Beth Gavriel Center Simcha Alishaev.

“It is the absolute truth,” says Joseph, with his usual deliberateness, introducing me to the issue. “From the very first moment of the emergence of our Center, Simcha did not ignore a single problem related to the daily life of the organization. It is no coincidence that our friend Ilya Koptiev, the president of the community, once publicly remarked that “Simcha is the engine, the heart of Beth Gabriel.”

“Each of us,” continues Joseph, “knows that Simcha is by nature a very scrupulous and punctual person, who painfully worries about the results of his work. He always took special care of the financial matters, always emphasized that every member of the community has the full right to get familiarized with and peruse the organization's financial statements, because every cent that came in and got spent belongs to the people and requires complete transparency.

“Over the years,” says Joseph further, “the volume of managerial work in the Center tended to only increase. Simcha began to feel that he was unable to keep pace with the growing problems. He lacked time to finish the job. The business demanded his increasingly undivided attention. It required his incessant business trips, at least up to 150 days a year. His family commitments, growing up the children and grandchildren demanded their own substantial share..."

Veliyam Kandinov. By the way, even metal tends to "get tired" and become unsuitable for further handling in order to avoid trouble. This is a strictly scientific notion and it should never be neglected.

Then Joseph told the story about Simcha’s request to replace him in fulfilling leadership duties over the final stage of the synagogue construction. That not only required choosing a trusted person with relevant experience in this area, but also with the ability to fully surrender to the proposed work. The choice fell on Joseph Alishaev, an energetic and purposeful person, who for several decades worked in the family business with his brothers, who, as known, are not newcomers in matters of construction and have established contacts in this area.

V.K. How do you assess your efforts in the new field?

J.A. First of all, I should note that, having headed this job at the request of the community leadership a year ago, I did not feel alone for a single day. Ilyusha Koptiev, Simcha Alishaev, Rafik Koptiev, Uri Alishaev, and David Koptiev have always been in touch with me at any time of the day, ready to advise, support or help resolve one or another issue that arose. Of course, we should especially highlight a large group of activists of our Center, who literally give their everyday versatile attention to the progress of construction, as well as numerous outside sponsors. (The list is attached at the end of this article.)

During this year, we managed not only to update and approve the revised design and estimate documentation, but also to implement the project to the level of the raised frame, i.e. to come close to finishing works which, as you know, are very time consuming and, of course, expensive. Currently, there is an active process of ordering and accumulating the accessories (windows, doors, chairs, stained-glass artwork, an elevator, electrical equipment, various components), which are necessary for the final work and for putting the facility into operation. The main advantage of the renovated project, already implemented in the frame, is due to the fact that we managed to increase the height of each floor, giving the future building a greater impressiveness and beauty. After all, such projects happen only once in a lifetime and to last for centuries, therefore it would be unforgivable to miss this opportunity.

V.K. A peculiarity of the Western market is the multiple excess of supply over demand, as a result of which huge fluctuations in prices for services and goods are obvious. You can buy a same screw for one dollar or ten dollars. Do you take these points into account in your current activities?

J.A. This is the main rule of our work. I remember well that Simcha and Ilyusha, when finally defining the construction campaign for attracting contractors to the order for the mikvah, and then for the synagogue, as well as for the bulk of other everyday issues, never rushed to the final decision. After all, each time it was a question of the likely saving of big bucks, especially those earned by hard work of the people. This is a rule, but for me it is a law, which I am obliged to coordinate with the leaders of the community and its activists.

V.K. This significantly testifies to the fact that the final stage of our synagogue construction is in good hands, first of all, the hands that value the worth of every people's penny. Judging by how rapidly the floors have soared up over the past few months, things are moving fast.

J.A. In addition, I want to remind you that during the same time the main hall of the current synagogue was given a substantial restoration, thus the hall has become noticeably renewed for the current fall holidays.

V.K. All this gives us reason to assume that the long-awaited housewarming is not far off for hundreds of congregants of the Beth Gavriel Synagogue, who are looking forward to that wonderful day. We all fully rely, dear Joseph, on your energy and ardent desire to make full use of your abilities in the name of the long-term dream of our people.

You always give the impression of a man of few words, a person outwardly restrained in emotions. Psychologists are convinced that people of this kind are usually highly active and successful in their efforts.

Introducing you today to our vast readership, we would like on our readers’ behalf to wish you a successful completion of the mission entrusted to you. Considering that our conversation is taking place on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, let me wish you and your wonderful family happiness and prosperity.

1. Kandinov

ON THOSE WHO ARE NEXT TO US!

Among them, first of all, the Koptiev and Alishaev families, Communities Center of Jamaica, Dima Daniyarov, Simon Gerov, Yakov Khaimov (Miami), Joseph Isakov, Joseph Malakov, Leon Nektalov, David and Nisan Meirovs, Efraim Shamaev, Rami Borukhov, Ruven Borukhov, Borukh Khiyaev, Shalom Rakhminov, Ruven Yusupov, Slavik Aronbaev, Iliyas Suleymanov, Moshe Pinkhasov and others.

Many thanks and appreciation to you, dear friends, for your sincerity and heartfelt warmth, awareness of the importance of the great work that the Beth Gavriel Center is currently implementing for our people.