Jews Establish Connections In Unusual Places

Posted on 08/04/2015 by Guest Blogger in Beliefs and Practices

By Robin Silver-Zwiren

I flew Aeroflot to Israel (which is an experience in itself). Sitting on a plane with about 500 other passengers, lots of Russians and Armenians, I mentioned to the gentleman sitting next to me how I wonder about the number of languages being spoken on board. He informed me he speaks seven. We got to chatting about how this was common with pre- WWII Europeans who were so used to their home countries being overthrown and borders changing that they learned to speak the languages of neighboring ones. He gave me a bit of Russian history — that when the entire land mass was the USSR, people learned to speak more than one language. He speaks both Russian and Ukrainian, as well as some common European languages and English. With the job he did, he certainly needed many. It was a long flight with lots of opportunities to chat.

Then the six degrees were forgotten when he asked me if I was Jewish. It is not something I readily discuss on flights, especially one flying to Russia. I do not cover my hair and, in fact, was wearing pants, so it was not as if I looked like the typical Orthodox Jew. Yet he knew. How? Because he is Jewish too. In fact his grandfather was a rabbi. He admits it did not help him when working for the Soviet government but is proud of his heritage.

We are flying the Arctic route which means straight north from LA and over Canada. I mentioned that I am from Montreal. He told me he visited relatives there once. Suddenly it clicks: I know his Montreal relatives. He shows me his passport and very Jewish sounding name. The last name is different than the original one he first mentioned, because that was his maternal side. No worries: I know the paternal cousins too. I joke that if we go any further, we may even be related. Actually, I think a distant cousin’s wife is related to them. I will have to ask my father, who I know will be very happy to share everything he knows about Lev’s Montreal relatives. Forget the six degrees of separation, because we live in a small (Jewish) world after all.

Bon Voyage

Reprinted with permission from KosherOC.

Six Degrees” is what we are led to believe is the separation between peoples. If you meet someone at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and start to chat, eventually you will find someone you both know. Six degrees is fine for the mass population, but somehow it never seems to take that long for Jews to connect — sometimes in places you would never believe possible.

Read more: Jews Establish Connections in Unusual Places | Kosher OC Magazine http://kosheroc.com/2015/06/25/jews-establish-connections-in-unusual-places Follow us: @kosheroc on Twitter | kosheroc on Facebook

“Six Degrees” is what we are led to believe is the separation between peoples. If you meet someone at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and start to chat, eventually you will find someone you both know. Six degrees is fine for the mass population, but somehow it never seems to take that long for Jews to connect — sometimes in places you would never believe possible. I flew Aeroflot to Israel (which is an experience in itself). Sitting on a plane with about 500 other passengers, lots of Russians and Armenians, I mentioned to the gentleman sitting next to me how I wonder about the number of languages being spoken on board. He informed me he speaks seven. We got to chatting about how this was common with pre- WWII Europeans who were so used to their home countries being overthrown and borders changing that they learned to speak the languages of neighboring ones. He gave me a bit of Russian history — that when the entire land mass was the USSR, people learned to speak more than one language. He speaks both Russian and Ukrainian, as well as some common European languages and English. With the job he did, he certainly needed many. It was a long flight with lots of opportunities to chat. Then the six degrees were forgotten when he asked me if I was Jewish. It is not something I readily discuss on flights, especially one flying to Russia. I do not cover my hair and, in fact, was wearing pants, so it was not as if I looked like the typical Orthodox Jew. Yet he knew. How? Because he is Jewish too. In fact his grandfather was a rabbi. He admits it did not help him when working for the Soviet government but is proud of his heritage. We are flying the Arctic route which means straight north from LA and over Canada. I mentioned that I am from Montreal. He told me he visited relatives there once. Suddenly it clicks: I know his Montreal relatives. He shows me his passport and very Jewish sounding name. The last name is different than the original one he first mentioned, because that was his maternal side. No worries: I know the paternal cousins too. I joke that if we go any further, we may even be related. Actually, I think a distant cousin’s wife is related to them. I will have to ask my father, who I know will be very happy to share everything he knows about Lev’s Montreal relatives. Forget the six degrees of separation, because we live in a small (Jewish) world after all. Bon Voyage

Read more: Jews Establish Connections in Unusual Places | Kosher OC Magazine http://kosheroc.com/2015/06/25/jews-establish-connections-in-unusual-places Follow us: @kosheroc on Twitter | kosheroc on Facebook