Judaism in Tomsk

So after almost 7 weeks in Russia, I wanted to write a short entry about Jewish life in this country. I started of sampling Russian Judaica when I was in Petersburg for Shabbat. Appearantly Chabad has really taken over the shul there. At first it obviously was not a big deal at all to me but quickly into my Shabbat activities there I realized that the moshichistim there had really gotten a strong hand as during services the people actually circles the bimah singing this and that about the Rebbe wearing their moshiachist kippot. Ergh. Shabbat came and went and I was quickly off to Moscow to spend the chag at the Choral Shul. The best description would be somewhere between Modern Orthodox and Haredi. There was a huge meal on the first night of the chag....and after an all night learning session which took place right after I had been out drinking all night. Needless to say I was not awake by the time Shacharit came around. Two days in Moscow...all in all a good time.