88
ReviewsThe Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
by Eugene Yelchin
in: Biography Nonfiction
Yasha's Amazin' Bar Mitzvah
His parents are chasing their American Dream, but to Yasha, moving to the suburbs is more like a nightmare. What’s a Brighton kid gotta do to fit in around here?
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What the Book is About
Jewish Content and Values
Content Advisory
What the Book is About
It's 1986, and thirteen-year-old Yasha Reznik doesn’t understand why his parents made their family move from the Russian community of Brighton Beach to the New Jersey suburbs. Yasha’s dreams are to get through his bar mitzvah, see the Mets make it to the playoffs, and fit in at his new school. But that’s not easy, even when he starts calling himself Jake instead of Yasha. The only person he really connects with is Bernie, a man from the senior citizen home where Yasha is doing community service for his bar mitzvah project. When Bernie says his dream is to see the Mets win the World Series, Yasha knows he’ll do whatever it takes to get those tickets.
Jewish Content and Values
- Yasha and his parents are Soviet Jews who fled the USSR. His father spent time in a gulag for having prayer shawls (tallitot). The family had to light Shabbat candles in secret at home in Russia. Yasha twins with a Soviet Jewish boy who can't have a bar mitzvah behind the Iron Curtain.
- Yasha prepares for his bar mitzvah throughout the book. He chants from the Torah and gives a d'var Torah (a short talk on the week’s Torah portion) at his bar mitzvah. Alex’s d’var Torah talks about God's laws and how the world would be a better place if we all respected each other. Rabbi Fred is a minor but kind character.
- The family celebrates Jewish festivals including Yom Kippur and they light Shabbat candles.
Content Advisory
None
What the Book is About
What the Book is About
It's 1986, and thirteen-year-old Yasha Reznik doesn’t understand why his parents made their family move from the Russian community of Brighton Beach to the New Jersey suburbs. Yasha’s dreams are to get through his bar mitzvah, see the Mets make it to the playoffs, and fit in at his new school. But that’s not easy, even when he starts calling himself Jake instead of Yasha. The only person he really connects with is Bernie, a man from the senior citizen home where Yasha is doing community service for his bar mitzvah project. When Bernie says his dream is to see the Mets win the World Series, Yasha knows he’ll do whatever it takes to get those tickets.
Jewish Content and Values
Jewish Content and Values
- Yasha and his parents are Soviet Jews who fled the USSR. His father spent time in a gulag for having prayer shawls (tallitot). The family had to light Shabbat candles in secret at home in Russia. Yasha twins with a Soviet Jewish boy who can't have a bar mitzvah behind the Iron Curtain.
- Yasha prepares for his bar mitzvah throughout the book. He chants from the Torah and gives a d'var Torah (a short talk on the week’s Torah portion) at his bar mitzvah. Alex’s d’var Torah talks about God's laws and how the world would be a better place if we all respected each other. Rabbi Fred is a minor but kind character.
- The family celebrates Jewish festivals including Yom Kippur and they light Shabbat candles.
Content Advisory
Content Advisory
None
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