CHAPTER TWO Active Living Активная жизнь

from Neshama: Inspiration for Such a Time as This: A Collection of Stories, Recipes, Poems and Other

INTRODUCTION

VICTIM OF MY OWN PASSION

Yelena Zaslavskaya, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

This ridiculous story happened to me in the big city of Dallas, Texas. As a multi-faceted city, it has many special attributes because it combines cultured society and cowboy customs. Tall, architecturally unique modern buildings sometimes adjoin low, old-fashioned ones. Streets are beautified with fountains and bronze sculptures, some depicting groups of cows and horses. To see them displayed on the streets of a big city like Dallas is a bit surprising. Recently, I became interested in photographing landscapes and unusual building and have found many places of interest in this city.

One significant place is the Philharmonic Hall with its original and imposing architecture. Despite its massive size it appears light, possibly because of its round shape and many glassy surfaces. Inside, Hall is beautifully decorated as well. Of note are the lobby and music hall finishes—elegantly restrained and not overindulged.

The small public garden serves as a buffer between the Philharmonic Hall and the noisy streets. One side of this garden is fenced by a low stone wall. Trickling water runs down the wall into a rather shallow ditch. On the neighboring streets, there are some museums located within the elegant old-fashioned buildings. Bronze sculpted figures on the sidewalks pose as passers-by … taking part in the everyday life of the street scene.

The famous Dallas Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra is well known across America and Europe. Andrew Litton, the symphony’s emotional director, was taught by the brilliant musician Mstislav Rostropovich. While visiting Dallas, I had the pleasure attending some concerts directed by Litton.

Once, in the month of October, my relatives invited me to a daytime concert there. The weather was cool, which is unusual in sunny Dallas. I took this opportunity to capture some pictures before the concert.

Typically, as soon as I recognize an object of beauty, I start looking for the best perspective and distance to achieve the most impressive picture. On that occasion, I intended to take a picture of a building that had caught my eye. Walking along a ditch, I was looking through the camera lens to find the best angle. It was a defining creative moment, so I was not paying attention to my steps. Suddenly, I found myself in a moat full of cold water! It was so difficult to get out! At last, I was on the ground, shivering from the cold. I was like the ‘trembling figure’ in the famous Ivanov painting “The Appearance of Christ before the People.” The new camera that I was so proud of was drowning in the dull water and it was so difficult to fish it out!

After this accidental bath I looked awful, felt numb and water was streaming from my clothes. In spite of these sad circumstances, I could not control my nervous laughter. I entered Philharmonic Hall with only one thought in mind: to dry out. I did not consider returning home immediately to change clothing, although in hindsight it might have been more reasonable path.

My long, elegant black skirt had turned into mini; it had become shorter than I would ever permit myself to wear at my age. My legs grew numb in the soggy pantyhose. Something gurgled inside the camera, but I paid no attention to it. I made my way toward the restroom and became deeply disappointed when I discovered that there were no dryers, only paper towels instead— a bitter misfortune! I had imagined that under the current of the hot air my skin would get warm and return to its natural color and my clothes would dry. Alas, I had no choice now. I contented myself with wringing out the water and putting back on my clothes. They were wet and misshapen. I could not bring myself to look at the mirror.

Two elderly ladies who were primping before the mirror watched all my manipulations. They thoroughly enjoyed my trials and tribulations.

The bell rang and the concert was about to begin. I quickly drank a cup of tasteless coffee to warm myself and entered the music hall. I put my wet jacket on the nearest vacant seat and settled in to enjoy the music. As usual, the Chopin sounded splendid. But because of the cold compress I was wearing on the lower part of my body, I was unable to get lost in the wonderful music. I tried to insulate myself from my wet, cold skirt at the waist with my palms. Still, I tried to relax and enjoy the concert.

When intermission began and the lights were turned on, I found myself in an embarrassing situation. The streams of water from my jacket drained under the preceding row. The people sitting there peered at me doubtfully. They did not ask any questions. And what could I have said if they had?

When the concert was over, I again met the ladies who had laughed watching the struggle with the wet clothing. They began to laugh again, although they did not forget to ask me if I was okay. I thought it showed the politeness of the American style…

I discovered later that my plunge into the fountain was noted. The ill-fated moat was subsequently fenced in and a new, thick chain appeared there to protect absent-minded pedestrians. I confirmed this while visiting the Philharmonic Hall one year later. Perhaps I should be proud of my special contribution to the Dallas Philharmonic Hall?

Аctive Living Активная жизнь

Anastasia Bui, Assateague Island

Yakov Cherkasskiy, My Small Garden

Aleksandr Freydina, Photography

Iosif Krasnyy, Exercises for the Brain

Yevgeniy Krichevskiy, Family Tree

Anna Litvak, Love for Yorkshire Terriers

Sima Markova, Creative Pursuits

Michael Meyerson, Photography

Nora Morton, Fun with Photography Apps

Assateague Island Camping

Anastasia Bui, JSSA Care Manager

I am excited to share a little bit about one of my favorite places in the US. I have been going to Assateague Island National Seashore every fall since 2012. The island is between Maryland’s Chincoteague Bay and the Atlantic Ocean; and is unique for its wild horses and seclusion. My family and I enjoy everything the island has to offer. It is peaceful and has so much for us, especially since we live an active, healthy lifestyle. Below are a few pictures I took over the years.

Assateague Island National Seashore

Pабота в моем маленьком саду

Яков Черкасский, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

Я бы хотел рассказать о моей жизни в США.

У меня есть маленький дворик и там я сделал минисадик. Я выращиваю (конечно в маленьком количестве) овощи и фрукты: помидоры, огурцы, малину, чернику, клубнику, виноград и крыжовник. Я все время летом занят этим делом – мне это очень нравится.

My Small Garden

Yakov Cherkasskiy, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

My name is Yakov Cherkasskiy and I was born in Bar, in the providence of Vinnitsa, in central Ukraine.

However, I would like to talk about my favorite hobby in the US. I have a small backyard, and there I keep a mini garden. In it I grow fruits and vegetables (of course, in small quantities): tomatoes, cucumbers, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, and gooseberries. In the summer, I spend all my time working on my garden—and I love it!

For maximum growth, I use this plant food.

Photography

Aleksandra Freydina, Holocaust survivor from Russia

Упражнения для мозга

Иосиф Красный, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

В условиях сложившихся ограничений в передвижении и общении,связанных с пандемией,для людей пожилого возраста и пенсионеров возникает проблема “как убить время”,чем занять себя.Конечно же,Интернет,конечно,литература и музыка,конечно,политика и новости.Я для себя решаю эту проблему двумя способами: играю в шахматы и решаю кроссворды.Оба эти занятия дают умственную нагрузку и повышают интеллект.И то,и другое в нашем возрасте представляется особенно важным.

Если кого-то заинтересует,хочу поделиться ссылками на источники получения материалов. Кроссворды (на русском языке) я нахожу в Google,в сайте absite.ru. Здесь море кроссвордов. Все они средней сложности и доступны большинству людей.Кроме того,есть много кроссвордов в журналах “Интересно”и “Теленеделя”. В шахматы я играю в сайте chessgames. com Оба эти занятия требуют умственного напряжения,что доставляет мне удовольствие.

Спасибо

Иосиф Красный,83 года

Exercises for the Brain

Iosif Krasnyy, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

Given that we live in a socially isolated environment due to the pandemic, the retired and elderly now face the problem of how to kill time. How shall we occupy ourselves? Of course, there is the internet. And literature, music, politics, and the news. I occupy myself in two ways—playing chess and solving crosswords. Both activities exercise your brain and improve your intelligence, which are very important endeavors in old age (I am 83).

If you are interested, here are some links and resources to find these materials:

I find Russian-language crosswords on Google, through the site absite.ru. Here you will find a sea of crosswords that are moderately difficult and accessible to most people. There are also many crosswords in the magazines Interesno and Telenedelya. I play chess on the site chessgames.com

These two activities are a mental workout, which is fun to me.

Thank you, Iosif Krasnyy, 83 yr

Я знаю историю своего рода.

Евгений Кричевский, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

Блестящие достижения современной науки нам замечательный и весьма достоверный источник информации о прошлом нашего рода за тысячи лет - ДНК тесты. Мы заказали свои ДНК тесты в Американской фирме СОNNECTMYDNA. Результаты поступили к нам по электронной почте через три недели после почтовой отправки контейнера с материалом для исследования. Тесты показали национальность автора и его дочери с высокой степени достоверности еврейкая национальность (ашкеназы) 89,90 % , cефарды – 2.5% а также небольшой процент ряда других азиатских европейских и южноамериканских национальностей - 7.6%. Где же оказались наши предки на протяжении трех тысячелетий как долго они находились в каждой точке мира и что сними происходило? Вот вопросы которые мы поставили перед собой и развернутые ответы мы получили на них.

Оказалось что наши предки прожили в 16ти странах Ближнего Востока Европы Южной Америки и Африки на территориях нынешних государств Сирия, Оман, Кувейт, Афганистан, Иран, Турция, Израель, Ирак, Египит, Южная Аравия, Тунис, Морокко, Катар, Ливия, Польшa, Россия - эти страны расположены в порядке убывающей вероятности нахождения в них наших предков. Сирия во время прихода туда наших предков называлась Арамейский Дамаск. Она названа первой среди других стран потому, что в этой стране проживало наибольшее число предков и жили они там дольше, чем в других названных выше странах. Cкорее всего родоначальники нашего рода сначала жили в Израиле хотя он занимает седьмую позицию в общем списке.

Для исследования прошлого нашего рода мы имели результаты ДНК теста и Всемирную историю еврейского народа. Накладывая эти сведения друг на друга, мы смогли с большой вероятностью воссоздать пути миграции предков, примерное время их прeбывания в каждой стране, условия жизни, родзанятий и т.д. Где же оказались наши предки на протяжении тысячелетий как долго долго они находились в каждой точке мира и что ними происходило? Вот вопросы, которые мы посвили перед собой и какие ответы мы получили.

Многие наши родственники в конце ХХ и начале ХХI веков покинули пределы бывшего Советского Союза и Росийской Федерации и перебрались на ПМЖ в другие страны. Наши дети. внуки и, тем более наши правнуки уже не будут знать друг друга через несколько десятилетий и тем более своих предков. Это обстоятельство было одно из причин, заставивших нас взяться за поисковую работу и анализ полученных данных. Я написал трех тысячелетнюю историю нашего рода.

Получился двухтомник большого формата с вложенным генеалогическим древом нашего рода начиная с 1835 года, когда родился наш прадед Мордехай Кричевский. Генеалогическое Древо было составлено на базе сведений, полученных от родственников, представлявших все ветви нашего гениалогического древа. В него включены персоны, которых мы знаем по именам и о которых мы имеем достаточно подробные сведения. К сожалению, многие из этих людей уже ушли из жизни, но они оставили о себе добрую память.

Желающие могут получить эти книги в электронном виде.

Доктор философии Евгений Кричевский. Приложение: Генетическое древо рода Мордехая Кричевского.

History of My Family Tree

Yevgeniy Krichevskiy, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

The brilliant achievements of modern science are a wonderful and very reliable source of information about the past of our family for thousands of years—DNA tests.

We ordered our DNA tests from an American company CONNECTMYDNA. The results came back to us by email, three weeks after mailing the container with the collected sample for the assessment.

Tests have shown the ethniciy of the author and his daughter with a high degree of certainty (Ashkenazi Jewish) 89,90 %, Sephardim – 2.5% as well as a small percentage of several other Asian, European, and South American nationalities - 7.6%.

Where did our ancestors end up for three millennia? How long were they in every part of the

world? And what was happening during that time? These were the questions we set out to answer, and the detailed answers we received.

It turns out that our ancestors lived in 16 countries of the Middle East, Europe, South America and Africa in the territories of the current states of Syria, Oman, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Egypt, South, Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Qatar, Libya, Poland , Russia - these countries are located in order of decreasing probability of connection.

Syria after the arrival of our ancestors was called Aramaic Damascus. It is named the first among other countries because the largest number of ancestors lived in this country and they lived there for the longest period. Of course, most likely the founders of our family first lived in Israel, although it occupies the seventh position in the general list. To study the past of our kind, we had the results of a DNA test and the World History of the Jewish People. By cross referencing and comparing this information, we were able to recreate the migration routes of our ancestors with high level of accuracy and uncover the approximate time of their stay in each country, the living conditions, occupations, etc.

Many of our relatives in the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries left the former Soviet Union and the Russian Federation and moved to permanent residence in other countries.

Our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will no longer know each other in a not so distant future, and even more so their ancestors. This circumstance was one of the reasons we made the commitment to seek out to uncover and explore the available information and analyze the obtained set of data.

I have documented a three-thousand-year history of our family tree. In total, I compiled a two-volume large-format book with an embedded family tree of our birthplace beginning in 1835; when our great-grandfather Mordechai Krichevsky was born. The family tree was collected based on information received from our relatives representing all branches of our genealogical tree. It includes persons whom we know by their names and have access to detailed information.

Unfortunately, many of these people have already passed, but they have left us all a great memory of themselves.

Those interested can receive these books in electronic format.

Doctor of Philosophy, Yevgeniy Krichevskiy Attached: Family Tree of Mordechai Krichevskiy

Любовь к Йоркширским Терьерам Аня Литвак, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

У меня есть две маленькие собачки породы Йоркшир терьер, Микки и Джеки. Микки - очень хитрая , а Джеки очень умная. Их любимая игра - прятки. Микки прячется за портьерой, но хвост всегда торчит наружу. Джеки делает вид, что не может ее найти и бегает вокруг. Наконец-то Микки надоедает прятаться, и она выскакивает навстречу Джеки. Собачки все делают вместе: едят, спят и играют. Но, всегда не могут поделить, кто будет сидеть у меня на коленях. Иногда одна или другая выманивают свою соперницу с моих коленей и быстро прыгает на освободившееся место. Разбалованы они ужасно и, иногда едят только с рук или когда я бросаю им мячики. Они ласковые, веселые и всегда рядом со мной. Верно ждут меня, когда я не могу заснуть и нервничают, когда гуляют без меня. Джеки даже умеет говорить мое имя Аня. Не верите? Честное слово. Джеки и Микки мои бесценные сокровища. Хорошо, когда есть собачки.

Love for Yorkshire Terriers

Anna Litvak, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

I have two little Yorkshire Terriers, Mickie, and Jackie. Mickie is very conniving, and Jackie is very smart. Hide and seek is their favorite game. Mickie hides behind a curtain, but her tail always sticks out. Jackie pretends that she cannot find Mickie and runs around. Finally, Mickie gets tired of hiding and she jumps out on Jackie. The dogs do everything together—eat, sleep and play. But they never can share my lap. Now and again, one baits the other from my lap and quickly jumps in her place. They are spoiled rotten and often eat only off my hands or when I toss balls for them. They are friendly, upbeat, and always beside me. They diligently wait for me when I cannot fall asleep and get nervous when somebody else walks them. Jackie can even say my name Anya. Don’t believe me? Honest! Jackie and Mickie are my priceless treasures. It is so good to have

them. Anna Litvak

Творческие занятия Сима Маркова, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

Хобби: Вышиваю картины лентами вяжу, делаю картины diamond painting, делаю украшения для волос их лент сшила более 50 масок для лица и раздала людям из соседних домов, для пожилых людей. Люблю разгадывать кроссворды и сканворды. Собрала коллекцию маленьких кувшинчиков, более 300. Играла в rumikube.

Дальневосточный

Это очень вкусный торт, без яиц.

100г маргарина, 100г сметаны, 2-3 ложки столовые крахмала ¼ чайной ложки соды, ¾ стакана сахара, муки для среднего теста. Выпечь 4 коржа.

Крем – Вскипятить 1 стакан воды и 1 стакан сахара. Заварить 1/3 стакана воды и 1 стакан крахмала. Дать слегка остыть.

150г сливочного масла растереть добела, постепенно добавляя заваренный крахмал. Взбить до тех пор, пока получится густой крем. Смазать все коржи. Торт должен хорошо пропитаться.

Creative Pursuits

Sima Markova, Holocaust survivor from Ukraine

Hobbies that keep me busy: I embroider pictures with ribbons, knit, create diamond paintings, craft hair ornaments with ribbons. I also recently sewed more than 50 face masks and distributed them to people from neighboring houses, for the elderly. I love to solve crosswords and wordfinds. I have a collection of small jugs, more than 300. Best of all, I like to play rumikube with friends.

Cake Recipe: Far Eastern

This is a delicious cake, no eggs.

100g margarine, 100g sour cream, 2-3 tablespoons of starch, ¼ teaspoon of soda, ¾ glass of sugar, flour for medium dough. Bake 4 layers.

Cream: Boil 1 glass of water and 1 glass of sugar. Brew 1/3 cup of water and 1 cup of starch. Let cool slightly.

Blend 150 g of butter until it is white, gradually adding the brewed starch. Beat until thick cream is obtained. Spread cream on all the cakes. The cake should be covered well. Stack the layers.

Photography

Michael Meyerson, Holocaust survivor from Russia

Fun with Photography Apps

Nora Morton, JSSA Volunteer Coordinator

Every day I take a lot of photos on my phone. The lens allows me to pause and appreciate what I have in front on me—the morning sun rays reflecting off the Potomac river, the way a houseplant cascades down our wall, a blooming thistle that grows tall on a gravel path, the amber glow at sunset turning rooftops golden, or the simple amusement of our two cats, Ziggy and Ashly. To relax, I enjoy reviewing these photos and creating new works with the help of apps that I would like to share with you. Please note I am not a skilled photographer, or have the photo editing skills of an Instagramer, but I do have fun with a few user-friendly apps.

Basic edits on color tone and sizing, I use the phone’s software.

Mixgram App: Collage Maker. I use this app the most! It combines several photos into one frame. Photos below were taken at a flea market then collaged together with Mixgram.