A personal and powerful story on Yom HaShoah

A reminder of Jewish endurance and resilience

10 Gold Rubles minted in 1899, converted into a ring for my 40th birthday thanks to my wonderful parents 

A few months ago, in my capacity as Founder and Executive Director of Allied Voices for Israel (AVI), I was asked to participate in a panel at Osgoode Hall Law School for International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The keynote speaker was Holocaust survivor Sol Nayman, a brilliant Canadian businessman who escaped his small village in Poland in 1939, right before the war.

Sol gave a meaningful presentation on surviving the Shoah. His family fled Poland and travelled east, ending up in a Soviet labor camp. 

As Sol gave his presentation using PowerPoint, an image came up of a gold coin that he explained was used as a bribe. It was the sole reason the Russians finally let him and his family leave for Canada. 

Holocaust Survivor Sol Nayman speaking at the Holocaust Remembrance Day event hosted by the Osgoode Hall Jewish Law Students Association 

Sitting in the audience, I stared at the coin and was struck in silence – as I was wearing the very same coin as a ring. It was only my third time wearing it since my parents had gifted it to me for my 40th birthday.

You see, when my family escaped Soviet Union for Israel in the mid 1970s, my grandfather brought with him a collection of gold rubles.

Before he died, he gave these coins to his five children and instructed that they pass them onto the next generation. In some cases, the coins were used to make beautiful gold rings, like the one my father has worn ever since I was a child.

With Sol, my fellow panelists, and Osgoode JLSA members

To wear this 24k gold coin minted in 1899 was already at that point an out-of-body experience. I mean, here is a coin that my Bobosh (Bukharian for ‘Grandfather’), brought with him from Andizhan to Israel, that was produced some 126 years ago and has been in my family for generations. Not to mention that it looks great on me.

But to see Sol discuss the significance of the coin to him and HIS family was on another level entirely. As he concluded and I was called up to speak on the panel, I rose and said, “Stop everything!!!” I walked up to Sol and showed him my ring. 

My ring and my father's ring side by side 

I told Sol how my grandfather Ben-Tzion z”l brought this coin with him from the Soviet Union to Israel. I told him how the ring is a reminder of our endurance as Jewish people and that wearing the coin was a symbol of the hardships we have endured – and how we've overcome them all.

Sol was shocked. He said he hadn't seen the coin again since he left the Soviet Union all those years ago. Here we were, two Jews whose families had completely different Diaspora experiences, uniting over 10 gold rubles because of how it affected us. We embraced and then I participated in the panel.

A few weeks later, I got an email from Sol saying he “still can't get over the gold coin on your ring and how it ties in the coin in my story” and that he hoped our paths would cross again soon.

I suggested how about crossing our paths again for a coffee? We met shortly after. 

Meeting with Sol for a coffee a little while after our event

Tonight is Erev YomHaShoah. It is a time we remember the six million Jews who were murdered and the others who lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis. It is a time we remember stories from survivors such as Sol who survived despite the odds. And it is a time we remember Jewish ENDURANCE. 

Look how many times the evil naysayers of this world have tried to annihilate and demonize us. But here we are – still kicking and still strong.

This gold coin is a symbol that the evil Nazis of yesterday and the evil Nazis of today simply cannot defeat us.

Throw all your shit at us. Call us despicable names. Do your worst. You will never bring us down. We are the Jewish People. And we will NEVER BE DEFEATED.