The Egypt of My Childhood
It’s been 30 years since my family left the former Soviet Union and arrived in the United States, leaving a world that felt familiar and
What Mikhail Gorbachev Taught Me When I Asked for His Autograph
On Sept. 18, 2008, I was sitting on the lawn of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, watching Mikhail Gorbachev being awarded the highest honor,
Free Will and My Uneaten Banana in the Soviet Union
“I am who I am today because of the choices I made yesterday.” — Eleanor Roosevelt Born in Saratov, Russia, during the Communist regime, I knew
Tightrope of Life
In the days of communism’s fierce grip on the Soviet Union, there lived a chassidic Jew named Reb Mendel Futerfas. Reb Mendel repeatedly put his
A 9/11 Miracle and the Power of ‘Mezuzah’
This story was shared with me in confidence. The author asked that her name not be used. Yet the miracle of these events needs to
Why I Choose to Recommit Myself to a Torah Way of Life
I chose the path of Torah life when I was still a teenager. My family emigrated from the former Soviet Union when I was 12