Menachem Mendel Borodkin grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His wife, Rivka, was born in Ukraine. For the past five years, they have worked together in Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, building Jewish community at Beis Hannah—a Chabad boarding school and seminary for girls—and Camp Yeka, an informal education program for boys.
The Borodkins have a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Last week, in the face of the Russian invasion, they fled Ukraine. Many of the students at Beis Hannah had already returned to their homes, but there were six girls who couldn’t. The Borodkins offered to take the girls with them to safety in Israel.
Their plan was to travel to Romania where, with the help of the Jewish Agency, they could fly to Tel Aviv. After journeying from Dnipro to Odessa by train, they arrived at the border with Moldova. Two of the girls didn’t have their passports with them; they had left them behind in their hometowns. They managed to get refugee passes that would allow them to enter Moldova, but they had no way of crossing over into Romania. So, the group had to travel to Chișinău, the capital, where there is an Israeli embassy. Many of us know Chișinău by its earlier name: Kishinev.
In 1903 and again in 1905, there were a series of pogroms—state-sponsored anti-Jewish riots—in Kishinev. More than 100 Jews were murdered, dozens of women were raped, synagogues and homes were destroyed, and businesses were looted. Because of the leadership of people like Theodor Herzl (born in Budapest, Hungary), David Ben-Gurion (born in Plonsk, Poland), and Golda Meir (born in Odessa, Ukraine), and countless others, there is now an Israel embassy in Chișinău, a city in which, just a century ago, Jews could be slaughtered at will.
We have a duty to do our part to make it possible for families like the Borodkins and those they care for to find refuge.
Israeli officials provided the girls with emigration visas so they could cross the border into Romania and catch the El-Al flight to Tel Aviv. They made it to the airport for their Friday afternoon flight to Israel, arriving in time to light Shabbat candles.
Of their harrowing three-day escape from Dnipro to Odessa to Moldova to Chișinău to Israel, Menachem Mendel said, “So many people helped us to get here, from the Jewish Agency to rabbis. We’re trying to keep the girls as happy as possible and so many people are helping.”
This Shabbat, we begin the book of Leviticus, which includes instructions for how our Israelite ancestors were to offer sacrifices to God. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (z”l), shares a teaching from Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (which is in Belarus) about this week’s parasha, which begins, “When one of you offers a sacrifice to God…” (Leviticus 1:2). He notices that the order of the Hebrew words in the verse is unusual. As Rabbi Sacks explains, “We would expect to read: adam mikem ki yakriv, ‘when one of you offers a sacrifice.’ Instead, what it says is adam ki yakriv mikem, ‘when one offers a sacrifice of you.’”
This teaches us the essential and eternal lesson: The essence of sacrifice is offering of ourselves.
As we witness the senseless brutality and wanton destruction being inflicted on the Ukrainian people at the hands of Russian forces under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, we have an obligation to help. We have a duty to do our part to make it possible for families like the Borodkins and those they care for to find refuge. As those like Herzl, Ben-Gurion, and Meir before us, we are, in this hour, called to sacrifice on their behalf. If we do so with generosity, compassion, and love, we will—I am certain—be making the offering God desires from us.
Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback is the Senior Rabbi of Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, California.
From the author of the award-winning FUGITIVE COLORS and THE UNBREAKABLES, WOMAN ON FIRE is a gripping tale of a young, ambitious journalist embroiled in an international art scandal centered around a Nazi-looted masterpiece—forcing the ultimate showdown between passion and possession, lovers and liars, history and truth.
After talking her way into a job with Dan Mansfield, the leading investigative reporter in Chicago, rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual—and very secret—assignment. Dan needs her to locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier: legendary Expressionist artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum wants this portrait of a beautiful, mysterious woman for deeply personal reasons, and has enlisted Dan’s help to find it. But Jules doesn’t have much time; the famous designer is dying.
Meanwhile, in Europe, provocative and powerful Margaux de Laurent also searches for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux is a cunning gallerist who gets everything she wants. The only thing standing in her way is Jules. Yet the passionate and determined Jules has unexpected resources of her own, including Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and brilliant artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches. He knows how ruthless she is, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux gets to it first.
A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice that illuminates the destructive cruelty of war and greed and the triumphant power of beauty and love, Woman on Fire tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.
“Good evening, and welcome,” Margaux begins. “I’m Margaux de Laurent, and I’m thrilled to be here with you tonight.” She doesn’t need a microphone. Her rich voice resonates, her British accent posh and well-heeled, reflecting her privileged up- bringing. “This is DLG’s eighteenth year presenting at Art Basel. Tonight’s showcase is particularly important to me because it’s more than just an exhibit—it’s personal.” She gestures toward the large covered canvas perched behind her, and everyone’s gaze follows. She has her audience in the palm of her hand. “This painting has been missing from our family collection for eight decades. Until now . . .” There is a pregnant pause as Mar- gaux makes a panoramic sweep of the packed house, then turns to her assistant standing near her dressed in head-to-toe black.
“Unveil it.”
The drape comes off in one dramatic swoop and Jules gazes up in awe at the enormous canvas, and then a shock wave hits her as though she walked into a restaurant and a surprise party were waiting for her on the other side of the door. She may be imagining it, but Margaux smiles directly at her from the podium, a mercurial grin that quickly dissolves into a sneer. Jules’s blood thumps; her anger mounts. That painting does not belong to her. “Liar!” Jules screams at the top of her lungs, but no actual sound emerges. Her voice is hollow. Perspiration slides down the back of her designer dress. This can’t be happening.
But it is.
The clapping is random at first, and then a resounding ovation breaks out, deafening, like the winning goal in a World Cup game. Jules’s face burns, yet her hands are cold, as though her body temperature is malfunctioning, realizing that she is the one who has been played.
Margaux revels in the applause. Her hard gaze finds Jules once again. Her iced smile is no longer a mere victory lap—it’s a You’re f$cked with a cherry on top.
Jules sees Adam trying to push through the packed house and make his way toward her. Before she can react, she feels a hard rap on her shoulder and follows the finger. A sharp-faced young woman stands before her in a white leather minidress so tight that it would take a scraper to get it off. Jules recognizes her as the Door Girl, who stood at the mansion’s entrance marking off the guest list—which clearly isn’t her day job.
“Follow me,” the woman commands under her breath. As in now. Jules’s legs no longer seem to hold her up. Her gaze shoots to the other side of the room, searching for Adam, but he is gone. Where? Her head is spinning. Think, think.
Her gut warns her to run like hell, but the bigger part of her knows that she’d better do as she is told. The or else looms over her head like a black cloud. Jules follows the woman out of the courtyard, through a discreet side door, down a short narrow staircase, and into the unknown. Before she can see what’s happening or revise her decision, Jules’s purse is snatched, and she is pushed roughly into the back seat of a waiting vehicle by a firm, meaty hand.
She turns briefly, and through the car’s tinted rear window she spots the Door Girl standing in the zigzag shadows of a lit-up palm tree in the distance. Suddenly, without warning, a hood is placed tightly over Jules’s head and her hands are tied. The air leaves her lungs, and it feels like her head is departing from her body as the car accelerates. She braces herself against the sticky leather seat. Why didn’t she leave or run or scream when she had the chance? Is the damn painting worth her life and those of the people she loves?
WOMAN ON FIRE by @lisabarr18 tells the story of a remarkable woman and an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history…
‘Woman On Fire’: Sharon Stone To Produce & Star In Film Adaptation Of Upcoming Lisa Barr Novel:: Sharon Stone (The Flight Attendant, Ratched) has optioned the rights to Lisa Barr’s upcoming novel Woman on Fire, inking a deal to produce and star in a film adaptation.
Lisa Barr is the award-winning author of WOMAN ON FIRE, THE UNBREAKABLES and the historical thriller FUGITIVE COLORS, a suspenseful tale of stolen art, love, lust, deception and revenge on the “eve” of WWII. The novel won the IPPY gold medal for “Best Literary Fiction 2014” and first prize at The Hollywood Film Festival (Opus Magnum Discovery Award). In addition, Lisa served as an editor for The Jerusalem Post, managing editor of Today’s Chicago Woman, managing editor of Moment magazine, and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the highlights of her career, Lisa covered the famous “handshake” between the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat, and President Bill Clinton at the White House. Lisa has been featured on Good Morning America and Today for her work as an author, journalist, and blogger. In breaking book news: Actress Sharon Stone is set to produce and star in the film adaptation of WOMAN ON FIRE.
Advanced Praise for WOMAN ON FIRE
Barr’s vigorous prose complements her fully realized characters. Readers will be gripped from start to finish …” –Publisher’s weekly – Starred Review
“Woman on Fire is a sharp, propulsive page-turner that will keep readers in suspense.” – Booklist
“Part-thriller, part-historical fiction, this book will have you gripping the pages until the very end.” –Buzzfeed
“Thick with history, scandal, romance and deceit, WOMAN ON FIRE is a truly compulsive read.” – Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of LOCAL WOMAN MISSING
“An exuberant and propulsive thriller laced with sex, art, and history, Lisa Barr has created an unforgettable story that forces readers to question where the line should be drawn between the pursuit of justice and the hunt for revenge.” – Alyson Richman, international bestselling author of The Secret of Clouds.
“Barr’s riveting dive into the dark side of the international art world, led by an intrepid young journalist, had me on the edge of my seat.” —Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
“Addictively propulsive and laced with rapid-fire twists and turns, this sizzling tale of deception, lust, Nazi-looted art, and murder crackles with tension and comes vividly, strikingly alive in Lisa Barr’s skilled hands.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars
WOMAN ON FIRE by @lisabarr18 is "a thrilling page-turner that delivers everything from coded messages and secret knocks, to generational wounds and captivating characters."
“delivers a message of hope, drawing the story full circle to focus on the timeless power of beauty and love, two forces that can outlive even the darkest situations.”
