Leonid Gumanovsky grew up forbidden from saying the words, "I am Jewish." He was born in the Soviet Union in 1941, exactly one week before the Nazis invaded. His family was forced to flee. Even after the Holocaust, however, he was not allowed to practice Judaism. He could not become a Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish rite of passage signifying adulthood, under Soviet rule.
All of that is pretext for the joyous moment when Tanya Livshitz, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, and a handful of other volunteers knocked on Gumanovsky's door Friday morning, on the second day of Hanukkah. They brought latkes (potato pancakes eaten during Hanukkah) and a menorah. They said Hebrew blessings and sang Hanukkah songs — unabashed displays of Jewishness.
Gumanovsky, who is known for his smile that rivals the brightness of a fully lit menorah, was brought to tears. The presence of the Jewish Family Service (JFS) representatives, dressed in scarves decorated with the Star of David and hats that read OY to the World, was a welcome sight, and they brought with them a glossy photo album about his life.
"To feel that I am free, I am proud, I can tell people what I feel," said Gumanovsky in Russian, which was translated by Livshitz.
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The JFS Holocaust Survivor Program is bringing Hanukkah on Wheels to low-income Holocaust survivors in San Diego this Hanukkah. In doing so, they combat stereotypes about Jewish wealth and provide company for aging survivors.
Among Jewish adults in San Diego age 75 and older, 9% are Holocaust survivors, according to a study conducted by five local Jewish organizations, including JFS and the Jewish Federation of San Diego. Also according to that survey, 19-22% of Jewish households in San Diego County qualify as low-income, and 15% said they cannot make ends meet or are just managing to do so.
"We’re talking about their lives and making them happy because the majority of them are lonely, unfortunately," Livshitz said.
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In the spirit of Hanukkah, which is a holiday about survival and rebuilding as much as miracles or light, conversations are not merely about Gumanovsky's experience during the Holocaust, but the full life he has lived in the intervening 80 years. He is a father and grandfather. As a doctor, he traveled through the tundra to provide medical care for communities that had limited access to treatment. He once helped rescue a trapped polar bear cub.
"The Holocaust was one piece of their lives, nor is it who they are as a person, right?” said Maiya Haberman, with Jewish Family Service.
As they celebrate the holiday and strive to immortalize tales of survival and full lives, the people surrounding Gumanovsky Friday morning toast, "l'chaim," or "to life."
