It's Like Jewish Yoga
Jews of the West
It's Like Jewish Yoga
Interview with Simon Dzhaparidze by Elie Benhiyoun
The Grind
Time For a Change
My Family
I was born in Dallas, but my parents are from Russia and Ukraine. They came in 1985 and 1989 to New York. They were Soviet immigrants who knew they were Jewish, but that was the extent of their Jewish identity. My mom is from Kiev. When she came to New York, she saw Chassidim and thought they were dressed up to go to a play. She knew she was Jewish—her grandparents all spoke Yiddish—but she knew nothing about it. It was culturally embedded in her, but she had no awareness. My dad’s from Moscow, and his dad is from Georgia—that’s where my last name comes from. My dad was in the jewelry business; he’s still a jeweler. My mom has been cutting hair since she was in the Soviet Union. Ninety percent of her clients are Russian Jews. I had a Bar Mitzvah. I went to Sunday school at a Reform synagogue. My best friend was Israeli, half Moroccan, half Iraqi, and I was at his house a lot. I went to Young Israel. All my friends were Jewish—I was in the Jewish ecosystem. I wasn’t very religious, but I was Jewish. After my Bar Mitzvah, my Jewish life slowed down.