ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book defines nearly half of my life. It is a great pleasure to express my deep gratitude to the many people and institutions that contributed to its making. The idea behind this project began with a desire to understand the reality of post-Soviet Jews who, given the chance to leave, remained in post-Soviet society. I wanted to know how their Jewish identity and community life were shaped by forces of migration, philanthropy, Jewish revival, and the greater sociopolitical changes that were unfolding then in an independent Ukraine. I was drawn to Odesa by its rich Jewish history, its famed cosmopolitanism, its humor, and its southern flair, all of which makes so many people fall in love with the city. Today, my deep connection to the place is defined by the Odesans I met at home and abroad. While working on this book, I have watched many of the children I knew grow into adulthood, the young adults I knew form their own families, and, sadly, the elderly I knew pass from this life.

I want to thank all the Odesans who welcomed me so warmly into their homes; shared their life stories, reflections, and memories around the kitchen table; and proudly showed me their Odesa—introducing me to their favorite places, streets, and buildings and bringing me into their families and circles of friends. I will always cherish your kindness and openness, and I hope my analysis and interpretations here reflect and honor your voices.

Emma Gansova, my Odesa mama, took me under her wing both as a supervisor at the Odesa National University and as a dear friend. I miss her wit and bubbly personality every day. Mila Volkova, who left this world so unexpectedly, always treated me with such love and attention and put on a feast every time I came to visit her, which was often. The remarkable women who head up Odesa’s Jewish community center, Migdal—Kira Verkhovskaya, Tanya Boyko, Polina Blinder, Ina Naydis, and Yulia Maksimuk—made me feel like a part of their Migdal family. They taught me much about Jewish life in Odesa and openly shared their personal journeys in Judaism. I grow as a person whenever I am in their company.

Anna Misiuk and Mark Naidorf welcomed me into their home and spent endless hours sharing their stories about historical and modern-day Jewish Odesa. I am profoundly grateful for their wealth of knowledge, support, and patience to tend to my many questions. Mikhail Rashkovetsky, Vladimir Chaplin, and Nusia Verkhovskaya from the Odesa Jewish Museum were instrumental in my work. I am grateful for their time, insight, and ongoing friendship. I also want to wholeheartedly thank my dearest friends, Kazatzker, Oks, Izu, Volk, Markovskaya, Moldovansky, Nos, and Zubrik, for making my days in Odesa so memorable. With them, I became an Odesitka.

My great appreciation goes to the many families from the Or Sameach and Chabad communities who welcomed me into their homes for Shabbat meals, as well as Rabbi and Rebbetzin Wolf, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Bacht, Rafael Kruskal, and Rabbi Yulia Gris, who opened the doors of their congregations to me and always made me feel like I belonged.

At the London School of Economics (LSE), my academic home throughout the making of this book, which emerged out of my dissertation, I am grateful to my PhD cohort of anthropologists, especially Irene Calis, Sarah Grosso, Hakem Rustom, Ankur Datta, Hans Steinmuller, Judith Bovensiepen, Katie Dow, Elizabeth Frantz, Marcello Sorrentino, Andrew Sanchez, and George St. Claire. As my PhD adviser, Stephan Feuchtwang guided me through the crucial years of coursework, research, and writing, and his mentorship was instrumental in the making of this manuscript. Indeed, his extensive knowledge, empathy, and deep concern for the world have shaped me as a scholar and an individual. Stephan’s wife, Miranda, has also become a good friend; I cherish the time we spend together and our Shabbats. Our common friend Beverly Brown was incredibly helpful in the final edits of my dissertation.

As my master’s supervisor and then as mentor during my postdoctoral fellowship, Matthew Engelke was immensely supportive, always expressing great interest in my work and helping me sharpen my ideas and make connections to the wider field of religious studies. In many ways, my deep interest in the anthropology of religion comes from being his student. Rita Astuti has been a supportive friend and colleague throughout my years at the LSE. I started my teaching career as Rita’s teaching assistant, learning from her what it means to teach with your heart. Mathijs Pelkmans has been my mentor in the Anthropology Department for many years, and I am extremely grateful for his steady encouragement, sound advice, and guidance. At University College London (UCL), Ruth Mandel has been a wonderful adviser and a supportive friend. I am also grateful to my dear friend Nicholas Lackenby for always finding time to read my work.

Many colleagues and friends around the world gave me strength when I needed it most and helped me structure my ideas more clearly. Tanya Richardson assisted me in making my first contacts in Odesa and has been a dear friend ever since. My copy of her book Kaleidoscopic Odessa, much scribbled in and marked up, was a key text in my understanding of the city. I had great pleasure sharing my Odesa days with Abel Polese. Life is never dull with Abel, and I am always impressed by his lightness, infectious curiosity, and desire to teach all he knows to others. I also enjoyed meeting the late Patricia Herlihy and John Doyle Klier, whose earlier works on Odesa and our conversations together shaped my knowledge of the city’s past.

Steven Zipperstein kindly read numerous drafts of my history chapter, highlighting necessary amendments and calming my fear of being an anthropologist writing history. I am grateful for his ongoing support and interest in my work. Larissa Remennick provided valuable commentary on the parts of this book that I presented to the public and always encouraged me to write more. The late David Shneer read early drafts of my chapter on migration, and our correspondence remains extremely meaningful to me.

I also want to acknowledge Zvi Gitelman, who has dedicated his career to understanding the different tenets of Soviet and post-Soviet Jewish identity. Zvi was always there to answer my questions. Throughout the years, I have learned a great deal from our interactions, collaborations, and personal correspondence. I particularly enjoyed our walks together in the streets of old Jewish Odesa during his visit to the city. Fran Markowitz’s first manuscript, A Community in Spite of Itself, was an inspiring text, and Fran herself became an inspiring mentor. Always supportive, always encouraging, she pushed me to add that extra oomph to my writing and to believe in myself. I am deeply grateful for her guidance and friendship.

I have had the pleasure of developing parts of this book in various collaborations with Efraim Sicher, Mirja Lecke, Vera Skvirskaya, Caroline Humphrey, and Tom Selwyn. Efraim’s read of my last draft was extremely valuable, and I am deeply grateful for his input and corrections. Throughout the years, I have benefited from rich discussions about Jewish studies and anthropology with Dani Kranz, who has a sharp eye for connecting ideas to a world outside of academia. I thank Jessica Roda for suggesting the bold title of this book. Vladislav Davidzon persuaded me to write for the wider public and I thoroughly enjoyed all our collaborations dedicated to Ukraine. Catherine Wanner, who read parts of this book in the making and always expressed a deep interest in my research, offered many words of encouragement, and her constructive feedback has made its mark throughout these pages. Sarah Zukerman Daly helped me organize my last edits and reach the finish line by caring for our combined eight children and taking me on walks.

I am grateful to the acquisition editors of Indiana University Press, Anna C. Francis and Gary Dunham, and the editors of the Modern Jewish Experience series, Deborah Dash Moore and Marsha Rozenblit, for believing in this work. I am equally grateful to those anonymous readers whose thorough and careful readings and constructive feedback strengthened its quality. Eliza Frenkel helped me with transliteration, and Barbara Peck and Daniel Listoe provided crucial copyediting support, often going beyond the call of duty to see this project through.

This book would not have been possible without various institutions and fellowships I received along the way. The initial fieldwork was made possible by an American Councils for International Education’s Title VIII Research Scholar Fellowship. At the LSE, I received the Alfred Gell Memorial Studentship of the Department of Anthropology. I was fortunate to receive a doctoral scholarship and a fellowship grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and a junior faculty grant from the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry.

Above all, I am most fortunate to have the support of my entire family. You are my village and pillar of strength. I thank my sister, Anya El Wattar, and brother, Ilya Sapritsky, and their beautiful families for their unwavering presence. My in-laws, Nicole Nahum, Isabelle Saltiel-Nahum, Candice Nahum-Enrici, and their families were there to take care of my boys when I needed it most. My parents, Valentina and Victor Sapritsky, have always nurtured my quest for knowledge and my passion for adventure. My husband, Stephane Abraham Joseph Nahum, has been my everything: enduring my absences for research and writing, welcoming a constant flow of Odesans into our home, reading multiple drafts of my chapters at all hours of the night, and most importantly believing in me. His love has made this project a reality.

Our four beautiful sons are my proudest achievement and source of boundless joy; their hugs and inspirational talks got me through some of my hardest days. Elaijah was born just after I finished the first draft of my dissertation, and I edited it with him in my arms. Isaac and Jeremiah, twins who arrived a year later, were a blessed gift. Needless to say, this book and, indeed, my career as a whole took on a different pace with three babies and only two hands. Our youngest son, David, who is defined strongly by his name, arrived to rule our kingdom four years later. By the time this book comes to life, my four boys will be joined by a long-awaited baby sister. Many scholars struggle to negotiate the demands of academia, family life, and other commitments, and I am no exception. But I wouldn’t change a thing in the long, winding, and messy path to this book’s completion.