Alek Dernovoy

My parents grew up in the Soviet Union.  After the Russian revolution, my family appeared outwardly as Christians to get by, but actually clung to Judaism.  My mother’s father's family was originally from Iraq, his great-grandfather fought for Ottomon Empire.  He ended up as prisoner of war in Russia, and sat in the gulag in Kumchoka, almost in Arctic Circle, for 5 years, for being religious.  When he was in the gulag, the state wanted to take all 8 of his kids and put them up for adoption, but the Jewish community acted quickly and all the kids were sent to different friends and relatives before the government officials arrived.

I was born in Germany as my parents left the USSR, which was collapsing at the time.  We eventually immigrated to New York, and then to Portland to be close to family.

In America, my parents struggled with freedom.  The community around them wasn’t observant of Judaism, so my upbringing was kind of inbetween Christianity and Judaism.  To me, Christianity didn’t make sense, so it wasn’t an issue to dive into Judaism.

I had none.  I went to public school.

Last August I went to Israel for the first time with Birthright.  The experience helped me with my Jewish identity, and afterwards I was more comfortable with who I am.  I realized my story wasn’t unique, that many my age are struggling with Jewish identity.

Back at home, I moved forward: I tried visiting shul every Shabbos.  Around the same time I discovered Podcast Fellowship on my Instagram.

Honestly, not really.  It was nice to have, but the biggest reason for me to get involved was because my family was forced to live in the remote northeast of Russia,and we hadn't had exposure to Jewish culture for decades.

So far, it's been absolutely wonderful.  I've been able to learn a lot and discover a lot of new topics.  I definitely feel like I’ve grown spiritually, in my understanding of Judaism, and what it means to be Jewish.

I'm a sophomore in Belleville College near Seattle, studying robotics and artificial intelligence.

Rabbi Moshe Druckman in Eugene, Oregon.  He's always helpful and knowledgeable.  Whenever we discuss a podcast, he always takes his time to show me the written source from the Talmud or other resources-- he will look it up on Sefaria.org for me.

Yes, even though Eugene is about four hours away from where I'm in school, I've gone there for Shabbos.

The Oral Torah, because it explains so much.

I'm going this summer on a 6-week tech intership with The Sha'ar/Olami, that combines Jewish learning with professional experience.