
Meet Aliza
“I discovered that I was a Jew at age thirteen, and I was heartbroken,” said Aliza. “I had negative preconceived notions about Jews, and it didn’t help that my classmates …

Meet Babushka
“My origins are a mystery,” she begins, “though I know I’ve always held an important role.” Meet Babushka. “Why do they call me Babushka? It isn’t because of my age. …

Meet Boruch
“Have you ever read Sholom Aleichem?” Boruch asked. “That’s how this neighborhood looked when I was a kid. There were hundreds of Jews living here, and they all looked like …

Meet Natasha
“My mother was a traditional Jew,” said Natasha. “She’d fast on Yom Kippur, wouldn’t allow bread into our home on Passover, and would pray often. But as a young girl, …

Meet Alexander
“The saddest day of my life was the day I buried my mother. It was also my 45th birthday.” Meet Alexander Bermus, Professor of Pedagogical Sciences at The Southern Federal …

Meet Polina
“It was my first Jewish experience,” said Paulina. “I still don’t understand how my parents, who considered themselves atheists, agreed to send me to the local Jewish summer camp, Gan …

Meet Chaya
“These were my ancestors,” Chaya said, holding an old, sepia-toned photo. “The Nazis brutally murdered them here seventy-five years ago. They filled this mass-grave with 27,000 Russian Jews in just …

Meet Hershel
My wife died this past September. We were married for 59 years. I survived three heart attacks, but losing Alla was unbearable. I laid my feet down, never intending to …

Meet Leora
“My story started before I can remember,” Leora began. “I was born during difficult times. My parents were struggling to make ends meet when a friend of my mom suggested …

Meet Dovid
“When I arrived from Serbia three years ago, I didn’t speak Russian, but the Jewish school welcomed me with love. The language wasn’t the only thing unfamiliar. I remember the …

Meet Daniella
“I was born in Israel, but for whatever reason, at the age of three my family moved back,” said Daniella. “I guess you can say that my journey was a …

Meet Esti
“I spend more time here than I do at home,” said Esti. “It feels like I’ve been here forever. It’s hard to believe that the first time I walked into …

Meet Michail Yeffimovich Nevoroshkin
“I was fifty-years-old the first time I picked up a Chumash in the synagogue and began reading it backward–not knowing that Hebrew reads right to left.” Meet Michail Yeffimovich Nevoroshkin. …

Meet Adina
“Adina is studying music at the College of the Arts in Rostov,” says Galina, proudly watching her granddaughter bring the violin’s strings to life. “I’m sorry that I didn’t send …

Meet Uri
“My family has been living in Rostov for four generations.” Meet Uri. “During the first World War, many refugees moved to Rostov. Among them, as you probably know, were the …

Meet Boruch
“After spending years exploring every other religion, I came to a realization that it was time to learn about my own, true nationality.” Meet Boruch. “Twelve years ago, I walked …

Meet Yuri Bermant
“’What’s your name?’ they asked me as I walked into the synagogue for the first time in the 1980s.” “‘Bermant,’ I said.” “They didn’t seem satisfied.” “’We don’t know a …

Meet Maxim
“The first time I felt my soul was when I was ten,” said Maxim. “I was vacationing in the Czech Republic with my family, and we stopped into a jewelry …

Meet Galina
“I started working at the Kosher store four years ago,” said Galina. “I live just a few blocks away from the synagogue, but this job was my first encounter with …

Meet Yoisef
“Hello, my friend,” Yoisef tells me, with a huge smile on his face. He always seems so happy to see me when I visit. “How are things in New York?” …

Meet Professor Menachem Stolyar
“Yanky, can I ask you for a favor? I wrote a book on mathematics, and I’d like to get a copy to my old professor. He lives in New York …

Meet Ilya
“Great,” he says. “We have a date. I’ll be waiting for you at my home on Wednesday at 7 pm. “You might want to take a cab,” he adds. Meet …

Meet Miriam
“I thought I heard a helicopter approaching,” she began, “but helicopters weren’t common in Lugansk. The sound kept getting louder and louder, as the chopper hovered over my building.” Meet …

Meet Vova
“I’ve been working for the Jewish community for 15 years,” said Vova. “Every week I go to the market and buy 30 kilos of fresh fish for the Shabbos Kiddush. …

Meet Oleg
“I was seven when Stalin died,” said Oleg, a retired sports trainer. “I was never able to receive a Jewish education, but my mother made sure I knew that I …

Meet Miriam
“I have lived through some of the darkest times,” said Miriam. “I witnessed firsthand the atrocities of the Holocaust and the oppression of communism.” “But tonight, as I quietly light …

Meet Alex
“Tell me, Yanky. Where were you for Chanukah in ’91?” he asked. Meet Alex. “I was 14,” Alex continued. “Chanukah was approaching, and we were super excited. We got on …

Meet Avi
“I knew I had some Jewish blood,” he said, “because I remembered hearing my grandma speaking Yiddish whenever she was angry. But it seemed pretty irrelevant to me – the …

Meet Ilana
“I love the Jewish school,” Ilana said. “It’s more pleasant than my old school and the classes are much smaller.” “Isn’t it boring when there are fewer kids?” I asked. …

Meet Sholom Ber Nezhni
“They say that the mind becomes less sharp when you stop working, so I decided that retirement is not for me. My work: Studying the Tanya, reading Tehillim, praying daily …

Friends: Shaindel and Ilana
Friends: Shaindel (left) and Ilana. “Meet my friend, Ilana,” Shaindel said. “We found each other recently – here in the Jewish community. Honestly, she isn’t just a friend. Ever since …

Friends: Shimon and Mendel
Friends: Shimon (left) and Mendel “Shimon is my best friend and partner in crime,” says Mendel. “We know each other since I moved here. I was only three. His name …

Meet Abram Benyaminovitch Norman.
“That’s grandpa and me,” said Marina, pointing to an old photograph. Meet Abram Benyaminovitch Norman. “Grandpa spoke proudly of a special privilege that he had. It was before World War …

Friends: Chana and Miriam
“I came back to my hometown to visit old friends,” says Chana (left). “But Miriam and I are really more than friends. We are like family.” “We go way back,” …

Meet Yuri.
“My name is Yuri Zuzin,” he began, “but you can just call me George.” “Did you always know that you were Jewish?” I asked. “When I was 14 years old, …

Meet Miriam.
“It was around the time of the first world war,” she began, “when a group of evil bandits came to town. Pogroms were quite common in Zaporozhe, Ukraine during those …

Meet Elina, the Mountain Jewess.
“Mountain Jewess?” I asked. “Yes, I was born and raised in the Caucasus (Kavkaz) mountains. We have very strong family values and have kept our Jewish traditions for centuries …

Meet Shaindel.
“Would you like to take off your coat?” I asked. “I think it will look nicer.” “What use is it?” she responds. “How old do you think I am?” Meet …

Meet Boruch (Boris) Shub.
“The first time I stepped into this Shul was on Simchas Torah, 1948. I was seven years old. My father died before I was old enough to remember him, so …

Meet Igor Schmidt.
“Last May, I joined the EuroStars youth club in our community for a Jewish heritage trip to Spain. We attended weekly classes all year in order to earn it. It …

Meet Sholom Ber.
Simchas Torah, 2016. “Nu, Yanky,” he said with a mischievous smile. “Are you ready for Kiddush?” Meet Sholom Ber Nezhni. “Be warned, though. This is not your regular vodka. It’s …

Meet Gershon.
“I was born just after the war. Two years later, my father left us. “I can still remember the first time I came to this synagogue. It was Yom Kippur, …

Meet Ludmila Davidovna.
“Being Jewish wasn’t easy during communism. As a young woman, I once applied for a job. The interview went well and it seemed like they were going to hire me. …