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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
August 8, 2005
/ 3 Av, 5765
New-look Russia inspires a double take
By
Mitch Albom
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I sat on a concrete wall by the riverbank, drinking a Diet Coke I had purchased from a nearby vendor. Behind me was a boat launch for tourists. Disco music played over the loudspeakers. Women in halter tops and tight white pants paraded by me, holding hands with boyfriends whose matted haircuts looked like the rock singer Beck.
It was a hot afternoon, in a busy city with zooming traffic, and if someone had taken a snapshot, you might have thought I was sipping my soda in Chicago or Miami.
Not Russia.
But it was Russia, St. Petersburg, to be exact. This was a few weeks ago, although time is a funny thing in what used to be called the Soviet Union. For example, here I was, across the street from the Hermitage Museum, which once was the winter palace of Catherine the Great, whose love of art in the 1700s led to one of the largest collections in the world a collection that now is so overwhelming it is being shared with a new museum in Amsterdam, which, in case you haven't noticed, isn't in Russia.
Such is life in this strangely transitional country. Communism has collapsed. Some sort of grab-bag society has emerged. You see statues of former czars, and a few blocks away, you see pirated DVDs of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." I'm not kidding. I saw one in a record shop. It cost 120 rubles, or about $4. Had Johnny Depp's picture on the cover.
Once, American movies were forbidden.
Now they're selling bootlegs.
And that's hardly the biggest change. The last time I was in Russia, during the '80s, people were afraid to talk. Their eyes shot left and right. Everything and everyone was suspicious. Once, on a bus ride, a translator nodded to a man reading a newspaper, then whispered in my ear, "KGB."
In those days, they went through your bags at the airport. Any Western literature might be confiscated. Same for Western music.
Now, here I was, passing bookshops that sold the Russian-language versions of John Grisham books, and browsing through a record shop that sold the Black Eyed Peas.
On my last Russian trip, if you ate out, you ate in an officially sanctioned place, which might might have had a sign out front with the word "Restaurant" in block letters.
This time we ate in a vegetarian spot called The Idiot, which celebrated Dostoyevsky.
The menus were in English.
Do you remember when going to Russia would have been like going to the moon? Do you remember, not so long ago, when we thought all Russians wanted us dead?
I find myself thinking about that more and more these days. I think about how Israel, in a few weeks, is planning to pull out of the Gaza Strip, perhaps beginning the blueprint of a new country on its borders. I think about how Iraq, under a dictator's thumb a few years ago, is now writing its own constitution.
I think about how quickly the world changes. And how angry and vigilant we get about "us" and "them," yet how relatively quickly "us" and "them" can transform, how quickly enemies once as foreign as space creatures remember "Commies" or "pinkos" or "Russkies"? can be watching Adam Sandler in "The Longest Yard" in a theater on Nevsky Street.
I think about sitting on that riverbank in St. Petersburg, which used to be called Leningrad, after the father of the Russian Revolution. His name is gone now. So are a lot of other things. The truth is, the world is an ever-changing place, and whatever hateful beliefs we might have about this country or that, you never know when you might find yourself sipping a diet soda across from one of their palaces.
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© 2005, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
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