Finding Myself in Others

Rashel Noginsky
When it comes to connecting with one’s heritage, it may be hard to target an idea or belief that drives a person to do so. For those Russian Jews who yearn for that connection, who need something to look to beyond rabbis and Shabbat dinners with all flavors of kugel, there is a way.
I just graduated from college where I made many amazing friends over the years from a very different background than my own. I am now headed to South East Asia, where I will spend a month exploring the cultures and traditions of Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos. While one chapter in my life comes to a close, another one has already begun.
As I look back on my adventures and look forward to another one, I know that it is meeting new people and sharing our beliefs and stories of upbringing that helps me mold my own view of myself. Personally, I feel very in-tune with my roots, and I believe that is due both to the religious and non-religious experiences I have had in my life. While inspiring speeches around a Shabbat table and trips to Israel ignite the meaning of what it is to be Jewish both traditionally and spiritually, I have also found it very valuable to go beyond that and to see the beauty and learn about people of different nationalities, heritage and religions.
Spending four years away from Brooklyn, NY, where every other block you will meet a Russian Jew, meant meeting people from all over the US and even some exotic places…like Canada. Yet every time I came home, I reassessed my beliefs, which only strengthened my connection with my upbringing. Even now, when I am about to embark on this trip, I know that I may be challenged, frightened, shocked, and surprised in addition to learning about a world that is so mysterious to me. But I welcome each experience (except maybe the humidity and bugs) because I believe that there is something to be learned about identity and my perspective of the world from the culture, traditions, and people I will encounter on the trip.
Rashel Noginsky, 22, whose family emigrated from St. Petersburg, Russia, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is studying Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
News Who would protect New York Jews better? Cuomo and Lander trade attacks on the campaign trail
-
News Rabbis revolt over LGBTQ+ club, exposing fight over queer acceptance at Yeshiva University
-
Opinion In Qatargate fiasco, Netanyahu’s ‘witch hunt’ narrative takes cues from Trump
-
Yiddish די הגדה ווי אַ לעבעדיקער דענקמאָל פֿון אַשכּנזישער פּאָעזיעThe Haggadah as a living monument to Ashkenazi poetry
אַמאָל זענען די פּייטנים, מיסטישע דיכטער־וויזיאָנערן, געווען אויבן־אָן בײַ די פֿראַנצויזישע און דײַטשישע ייִדן.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.