We liked to talk on the bus when we went on field trips, we played together, and when she needed some help doing something, I was able to help her out.

We weren’t religious; we were fighting for our dear lives, but Somebody upstairs gave me a hand not once, but a hundred different times.

He never once asked me how religious I am or anything else. I was a fellow human being, a fellow Jew, and he was happy to be able to help me.

The minyan here has expanded greatly, the holidays are always filled, and we’ve had members of the community who’ve become members of the community in Israel.

Nothing was going to stop me from a gold medal.