At age twenty-two, Yosef Mendelevich participated in an attempt to hijack a plane to the West an act designed to raise awareness about the desperate plight of Soviet Jews. He was arrested before the plane ever left the ground and served twelve years in the Soviet gulag. His is the story of one man’s resistance against tyranny and his daily struggle to retain his Jewishness and his humanity in a system built to extinguish both.
Rabbi Mendelevich’s book, Unbroken Spirit: A Heroic Story Of Faith, Courage and Survival, can be purchased on amazon.com.
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.