Sharansky was freed from Soviet captivity in February of 1986. Jewish unity helped to bring about his release — and he says it remains key today. In this interview, Sharansky reflects on his own family’s practice of marking the occasion, which may hold a lesson for many of us.
From Treblinka to Stalingrad: The Many Truths of Vasily Grossman
How a Soviet-Jewish reporter became one of the 20th century’s most essential truth-tellers.
Who Is the Empty Chair at the Passover Seder Intended for?
Along with the ancient tradition of leaving an empty chair on the Seder Night for Elijah the Prophet, a modern Zionist tradition has developed in which we leave an empty chair for our loved ones who have not yet returned from captivity. In the 1970s-80s, these were the “Prisoners of Zion”. Today these are the hostages of October 7. “Let my people go,” Moses commanded Pharaoh in the name of God, and thousands of years later the same call is carried in Passover celebrations around the world, and with it we leave an empty chair and a glass of wine waiting for every single one of them to return
Deep Dive: Bringing Jewish Cemeteries to Life
British author and academic Dr. Rachel Lichtenstein spent the past year working with seven different communities across Europe to bring old Jewish cemeteries alive through new and exciting initiatives, encouraging a phenomenal revival of Jewish history
The Man Who Tried to Redefine Ukrainian Jewish History
For Ilya Galant, the myths of eternal hatred between Ukrainians and Jews were just that, myths
Remembering Babi Yar When Others Didn’t
For two decades, one of the worst massacres of the Holocaust was all but forgotten
What Was This Russian Operative Doing at a Tiny American College?
The son of a famous performer, Kirill Chenkin fought in the Spanish Civil War and was recruited by Soviet intelligence prior to joining the faculty of Black Mountain College. He later became a ‘refusenik’ spokesman…
How Did This Jewish Scholar Defend the Cossacks and Survive the Soviets?
The complicated and all-but-forgotten legacy of Saul Borovoi
Crotchety Old Academic Reflects on the Great Russian ‘Wave’
As a young grad student 30 years ago, Prof. Brian Horowitz was an active witness to history
The Housewives Who Took on the USSR to Help Soviet Jewry
How a women’s protest group made a difference by raising the cause of Soviet Jewish political prisoners during the Cold War
