While on a CTeen trip to Poland and Israel, Atlanta high school student Yakov Vinnik, right, encouranged an archeologist from Russia who he met at Auschwitz to put on tefillin.“I am not sure what took me over at that moment, but for the first time in my life, I asked a complete stranger if he would join me in putting on tefillin,” says Viinik, who was joined by (from left) rabbinical students Mendel Backman, Levi Harlig, and the archeologist.
A Young Dancer From Atlanta Embraces His Jewish Pride at Auschwitz
“Am I a dancer who is Jewish or a Jew who dances?” The question played on 16-year-old Yakov Vinnik’s conscience. The child of Jews from the former Soviet Union, Vinnik grew up watching his mother, Maria, light the Shabbat candles, while his dad, Boris, spoke fluent Hebrew.
