Lydia Usha's family has been a part of Congregation Rodfei Zedek since 2002. Before then, Lydia 
(born in 1957) left the former Soviet Union in 1990 and eventually immigrated to the United
States. Around the time her son, Benjamin, was born in 1996, her parents Rebecca Fradkin
Z”L (born in 1925) and Anatoliy Usha Z”L (born in 1927) arrived to reunite as one family.

In 2006, Lydia and her family worked with a filmmaker to create a documentary about their family history as they lived through global events across multiple generations. In the movie, Rebecca and Anatoliy talk in Russian to 10-year-old Benjamin about their lives and the stories of their ancestors. The movie includes old photos brought from the former Soviet Union and archival footage.

Rebecca  and Anatoliy never had a chance to experience Judaism in the former Soviet Union. Rebecca fell in love with it after preparing for Benjamin’s Bar Mitzvah at Rodfei Zedek in 2009. Since then and until her passing, she hardly missed any Shabbat service. Rebecca recited the blessing during the Torah reading with so much pride and joy, that it “moved the entire Congregation,” as Cantor Rosenberg has said.
After Rebecca passed away in 2019 and Anatoliy in 2020, the community has expressed great
interest in their lives. For this reason, Lydia and Benjamin started to subtitle the film in English for showing at Rodfei Zedek.

Now that the subtitles are complete, the video will be screened to remember Anatoliy and Rebecca on her 6th Yahrzeit on the 16th of Adar, 5785.

Light bites will be served before the screening at 10:00 am. The screening will begin at 10:30, and a Q&A will follow the screening.