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refusenik

From Russia, with love

Jill Cooper Lefferman doesn’t like surprises, and especially not at her daughter Maia’s bat mitzvah, where she planned every detail, from Maia’s reading from the 100-year-old Cooper family Torah to the handcrafted, color-coordinated, Maia-inspired, donatable centerpieces.

Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich: Soviet gulag survivor’s courage

It was standing room only at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance, as a crowd packed the Hertz Theatre to hear Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, the celebrated Russian refusenik and author, stress the importance of standing up for one’s principles.

Defending Identity

Natan Sharansky\’s previous book, \”The Case for Democracy,\” changed the world. It inspired a generation of U.S. policymakers and influenced President George\nW. Bush in his decision to go to war against Saddam Hussein. So when Sharansky\’s second book, \”Defending Identity,\” came out this month, I thought I\’d better read it, quick

Refuseniks in the Ranks

The \”officers\’ letter\” came out on Jan. 25 in Yediot Aharonot, Israel\’s largest newspaper — 52 reserve army officers declared that they would not serve in the West Bank or Gaza for moral and political reasons.

Lighten Up

With the demise of the former Soviet Union and the fall of communism in the early \’90s, the story of Soviet Jewry\’s battle for survival appears to be ancient history. Yet one of the truly remarkable books of our time is the autobiography of one of the famous refuseniks, Yosef Mendelevitch, who struggled valiantly for his right to be Jewish in Communist Russia. Mendelevitch titled his autobiography \”Mevzah Hatunah,\” which translates from Hebrew as \”Operation Wedding.\”

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