off to the FSU in search of my family roots

Leaving in 15 minutes for JFK Airport with Tanya, then Aerosvit to Kiev, a visit to Tanya's mother, and then to Rostov-na-Donu, to research the side of my father's family that left there for N.Y. in 1891 and 1895, then to Moscow and then a day driving around the wilds of western Belarus to visit birthplace of my great-great-great grandfather Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spektor, the illustrious Gaon fo Kovno. Then we head for Lithuania, Vilnius and Kaunus, to do research on the great rabbi and his family, including my great-grandfather on the other side of my father's family, Iosif Rabinovich, Spektor's grandson, who emigrated to NY in 1875 or thereabouts. In Kaunus we expect to visit his house, grave and other sites. Maybe we will find the store owned by Iosif's father, Reb Chaim, just as in Rostov, we hope to locate the tavern once owned by the family there, the Tubovitz's. Actually, it is a long shot we will find either, but doljin probitze...

Why am I spending several thousand dollars and blowing valuable vacation time which might be more pleasurably spent on the beaches of Crimea for this family search? Well, its about experiencing a powerful connection with a kind of immortality, a deep insight into who I am, and where and what I came from. So, its ultimately 'all about me', as my whole life has been, though I am writing the family history which I will pass down to my son Gene and hopefully, later generations. Already, in this research I have unearthed names and identities of great-great grandparents on both sides, who would otherwise have been completely lost to history.

Oh, and one more thing; the next time any of my Jewish landsmen (compatriots), whether American or Russian Jews, accuses me of being a liberal, lefty, pinko, self-hating degenerate universalist, who always supports the Palestinians over my own people, I'll just say, "Nu, hevreh, I am the great-great-great grandson of the estimable Kovno Gaon, Isaac Elchanan Spektor, the greatest rabbi of late 19th Century Russian Empire. Nye plocha, eh? It appears that I am more kosher even than you. So put that in your pipe and smoke it. As for me, I'll go and smoke some choice anasha in my pipe and then gain many new insights into the Kovno Gaon and all of his world.

OK, must run. I'll send ya'all some reports as we hurtle through the FSU, insearch of the meaning of life.

Whimsically, Walter