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The ESP of the Jewish Way of Life  Roll your mouse over each circle to find the questions. Click on circles for more about Jewish ESP!
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A Triumph of Jewish Generosity and the Human Spirit by Deborah Levin Stillman |
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Did you ever wonder where your donation to Federation
goes? Here is just one example of a life
changed as a result of Jewish Tzedekah. When Sonya Nutov was a little girl growing up in Kishinev, the sounds of her grandparents’Yiddish held little meaning for her. In the Former Soviet Union, outward expressions of religion held potentially grave penalties, so Sonya and her family had little connection to their heritage. But the fall of the communist regime in Moldova allowed once-stifled ethnic communities to return to outward observance of their traditions. And so, at 17, Sonya entered a world previously unknown to her — a world filled with Jewish activities. Sonya began writing for a Jewish newspaper and enrolled in all the activities offered by the Jewish community. She both attended and later worked as a counselor at a summer camp sponsored by JAFI, the Jewish Agency for Israel, an organization funded primarily through donations.* It was here that Sonya was first introduced to Israeli folk dancing. Already an accomplished ballet dancer, Sonya felt something magical when she danced the traditional Jewish dances. She felt as though when she danced as a Jew something linked her both to her past and to her future. She loved it so much that she organized a Moldova-Israeli folk dance troupe named "Lilach," also funded by JAFI. But at age 21, Sonya felt so strongly that she belonged in Israel she decided to make aliyah on her own, leaving her parents and family behind. Her first home in Israel was the Kibbutz at Na’an. Upon completion of the ulpan program, Sonya was accepted to the Rubin Academy School of Arts and Music in Jerusalem, and was granted a scholarship sponsored by JAFI. Like many new immigrants, Sonya was encouraged to continue her Hebrew studies by attending summer classes at the University. On August 21, 1999, Sonya boarded a local Jerusalem bus filled with students just like herself. Minutes later her life was changed forever when the bus and its passengers became the victims of a terrorist who blew up the bus and all those on board. When Sonya awoke in the hospital, the doctors told her she would never dance again. She was so depressed by the news that she became despondent. On the third day of her hospitalization,Sonya awoke to what she thought was a dream.Standing before her was her father, wearing his normal Kishinevian clothes and carrying a jar of jam made from her grandmother’s recipe. He soothed her and told her he knew she would be okay and that he loved her. And almost as soon as he appeared, he left. But truth can be more amazing than fiction. When JAFI heard the news of the attack, they had gone to Sonya’s childhood home and told her parents what had happened. They then airlifted her father from Kishinev on their next transport and rushed him to her bedside in Jerusalem. He brought the jam as a reminder of home that was meant to last longer than he could stay in Israel. Tremendous determination and inner strength allowed Sonya to overcome her injuries, and she is once again dancing. She belongs to a dance troupe in Israel and returns each year to the Former Soviet Union to help with the summer camp that so inspired her by teaching Israeli dancing. Sonya’s parents have since joined her, their only child, in Israel. Today they all live proudly in Jerusalem, where they freely identify with their Jewish heritage. Sonya is currently working in the Special Pluralistic Judaic Studies Institute under the auspices of JAFI. While Sonya has already lived a lifetime’s worth of experiences, she is now just 26 years old!
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Being
a more ETHICAL person.
