This was a very sad but also very beautiful clip. I love it how this old man was leaving this world in a company of his wife, his friends and his russian descendants and relatives Makshanoff; the Russian Makshanov surname (Moksha; is also an ancient Sanskrit term which means "Liberation", similar to it was Slavic goddess Mokosh, mother Earth; who "weaved" the future of each human, from his birth to his death) , friends who sang songs and melodies which were written and sang already by his distant Russian ancestors long time ago. Melodies which did not change too much more than 1000 years. He went into the hands of God(Bog), and joined his other family in the Heaven (Rai; Ray)... Dosvidanya; Do (to)-Vidanya (see); "to see"(meet)(us) (again).
thank you! and in answer to your questions: yes and yes. though relatively small, it's very much a thriving community. my grandmother (babunya in russian-phonetically speaking) is in her 100th year and still going strong!
Anastasia Fite thanks for the answer! yes, i heard you saying babunya in this video. that's all you saying and filming is very interesting. despite the fact i live in ukraine and have nothing in common with molokans, i read about them and i know that they used to live in south of ukraine back to 19th century. they were forced to settle there by russian imperia oficials. i'm just wondering what makes people to keep their traditions for so long even though they was born and raised in another country. and also i'm wondering are there something in common with modern russians and russian culture. maybe any connections with molokan communities in russian or just some connection with modern russian immigrants?
thank you for the kind words, much appreciated as it's close to my heart. my grandparents come from the base of the caucasus, near the border of armenia. the molokans left en masse between 1907-1912, because that's what their prophet said they should do, and also largely because they were pacifists that were constantly being conscripted to fight wars (they're good workers ;). the few modern day russians here in LA to whom i've recited molokan prayers are shocked at how archaic my (lil bits) of russsian are. i think about 6,000 came here during that time, there are probably about 2k left in this area. those stats may be waaaaay inaccurate, being that they're gathered from my babunya's memories and the molokan phonebook of members and local churches :)... so don't quote me on that! they are a bit like the amish in terms of 'no pictures' (AKA 'that's not worship'), hence the lack of information about them in general (if it weren't about my immediate family, my beloved babunya and deda, i'm sure i'd never have gotten away with making this lil film). in my experience, the molokans live here as if it were still russia in the late 19th century, and little has changed in that regard, which to me is part of what make them so beautiful. thanks for your interest! Best, Anastasia
Anastasia Fite thank you for taking your time to answer my questions! all that you said is really interesting to me, and i can imagine reaction of modern day russians to how archaic russian sounds since it's differ from the way russian is spoken now:) but i like it a lot! it's just wonderful how people care about their community and traditions even though so many time has passed. i just remembered i was reading russian writers Ilf and Petrov who wrote the book 'One-Story America' about their travel thru USA in mid 30s and there was a moment they had been to San-Francisco and were introduced to molokan community. yeah, i read that molokans were really good workers since they didn't drink and always had high moral principles and it's apealling to me. i want to thank you for making this film, and, as you said,especially when there's a lack of information about molokans it opens eyes. after watching it I felt myself as if I touched your culture. can't imagine how that could be possible in years where there were no internet and cultural borders was so strong. so thank you for breaking that borders and making connection all over the world! Спасибо!) Ivan
This is so beautiful! What lovely people. Thank you for sharing.
This was a very sad but also very beautiful clip. I love it how this old man was leaving this world in a company of his wife, his friends and his russian descendants and relatives Makshanoff; the Russian Makshanov surname (Moksha; is also an ancient Sanskrit term which means "Liberation", similar to it was Slavic goddess Mokosh, mother Earth; who "weaved" the future of each human, from his birth to his death) , friends who sang songs and melodies which were written and sang already by his distant Russian ancestors long time ago. Melodies which did not change too much more than 1000 years. He went into the hands of God(Bog), and joined his other family in the Heaven (Rai; Ray)... Dosvidanya; Do (to)-Vidanya (see); "to see"(meet)(us) (again).
Good video! Tell more about molokans that live in USA. Do they still speak Russian? Do young molokan-americans support the culture of their fathers?
thank you! and in answer to your questions: yes and yes. though relatively small, it's very much a thriving community. my grandmother (babunya in russian-phonetically speaking) is in her 100th year and still going strong!
Anastasia Fite thanks for the answer! yes, i heard you saying babunya in this video. that's all you saying and filming is very interesting. despite the fact i live in ukraine and have nothing in common with molokans, i read about them and i know that they used to live in south of ukraine back to 19th century. they were forced to settle there by russian imperia oficials. i'm just wondering what makes people to keep their traditions for so long even though they was born and raised in another country. and also i'm wondering are there something in common with modern russians and russian culture. maybe any connections with molokan communities in russian or just some connection with modern russian immigrants?
thank you for the kind words, much appreciated as it's close to my heart. my grandparents come from the base of the caucasus, near the border of armenia. the molokans left en masse between 1907-1912, because that's what their prophet said they should do, and also largely because they were pacifists that were constantly being conscripted to fight wars (they're good workers ;). the few modern day russians here in LA to whom i've recited molokan prayers are shocked at how archaic my (lil bits) of russsian are. i think about 6,000 came here during that time, there are probably about 2k left in this area. those stats may be waaaaay inaccurate, being that they're gathered from my babunya's memories and the molokan phonebook of members and local churches :)... so don't quote me on that! they are a bit like the amish in terms of 'no pictures' (AKA 'that's not worship'), hence the lack of information about them in general (if it weren't about my immediate family, my beloved babunya and deda, i'm sure i'd never have gotten away with making this lil film). in my experience, the molokans live here as if it were still russia in the late 19th century, and little has changed in that regard, which to me is part of what make them so beautiful. thanks for your interest! Best, Anastasia
Anastasia Fite thank you for taking your time to answer my questions! all that you said is really interesting to me, and i can imagine reaction of modern day russians to how archaic russian sounds since it's differ from the way russian is spoken now:) but i like it a lot! it's just wonderful how people care about their community and traditions even though so many time has passed. i just remembered i was reading russian writers Ilf and Petrov who wrote the book 'One-Story America' about their travel thru USA in mid 30s and there was a moment they had been to San-Francisco and were introduced to molokan community. yeah, i read that molokans were really good workers since they didn't drink and always had high moral principles and it's apealling to me. i want to thank you for making this film, and, as you said,especially when there's a lack of information about molokans it opens eyes. after watching it I felt myself as if I touched your culture. can't imagine how that could be possible in years where there were no internet and cultural borders was so strong. so thank you for breaking that borders and making connection all over the world! Спасибо!) Ivan
What song number was the song at the end. I forget.