On Friday, March 3, students at the Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy were treated to a rare opportunity to hear directly from a modern-day Jewish hero.

Described by RTMA Principal Rabbi Ami Neuman as “a man who stands here as a symbol of everything we can aspire and grow to as human beings,” the school gathered in the JEC’s main shul to welcome and hear from renowned Soviet Refusnik Rabbi Yosef Mendelovitch.

Remembered for his failed attempt at hijacking a Russian airliner in an attempt to draw international attention to the plight of Soviet Jews, especially those who were intent on maintaining their Jewish identity and practice. Rabbi Mendelovitch opened his presentation by humbly stating. “I am a regular Jew. What I did anyone can do. And that’s why I’m here. And what I did, you boys can do even better, because you have a Torah education, which I did not have.”

Students and faculty were riveted by Rabbi Mendelovitch’s account of his attempted hijacking and even more so by the reasoning behind it. Rabbi Mendelovitch shared how he felt an inexplicable inner drive to raise the banner of Judaism and fight for the right to practice his religion, even at the risk of death, which he faced more than once.

He spoke of the dangers of assimilation, calling it “a soft Holocaust” with results that are devastating in terms of loss of Jews. He reminded the audience that Torah luminaries such as the Chofetz Chaim, the Vilna Gaon, The Baal HaTanya and Rav Kook were Russian Jews, yet when we think of Russian Jews today, they are generally assimilated or ignorant of their Torah roots and our traditions. “How did this happen?” he questioned.

Rabbi Mendelovitch went on to outline the stages of assimilation and asserted that it begins when Jews start to forget the value of being Jewish. “Sometimes people don’t feel like they are in danger,” he said. “In Russia in my time, we didn’t feel. It was step by step. Before we knew it, people just started assimilating and then they were lost.”

In closing, Rabbi Mendelovitch stated, “Miracles happened. It was an actual Exodus. Yetzias Mitzrayim. We are living in a time of prophecy and it is my job to bring evidence of not just what happened to me but what can happen to you, pirsumei nisah.”

The event was sponsored by RTMA’s Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Chaim Marcus, Rav of Springfield’s Congregation Israel l’zecher mishmat Leah Bat Aharon, a”h.