Review: A Visit to Moscow
A Visit to Moscow Adapted by Anna Olswanger from a story by Rabbi Rafael Grossman, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg West Margin Press, 2022 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Jeanette Brod Buy at Bookshop.org In the summer of 1965, a group of American rabbis visit the Soviet Union to meet with Soviet Jews. Rabbi Rafael Grossman, a member of the delegation, goes in search of the brother of one of his congregants. He finds a hidden child. Zev is a beautiful and fragile four-year-old boy who peeks out from behind a curtain. He has never been outside. He has never met a stranger. His parents believe that the only way the boy can stay safe and remain Jewish is to avoid the prejudice on the streets and the ostracism in the schools, where Shabbat observance would be impossible and unkosher food would be served. The Rabbi helps the boy and his family emigrate to Israel. That is the central story of this hauntingly illustrated graphic novel for older readers. The story begins and ends with Zev seem