Books with author Yaakov Astor

Nothing Bad Ever Happens. By Yaakov Astor. Details. "I'm scared," Rachel said. "And if I'm scared they' ll know something is wrong and they' ll figure out that I'm Jewish and they' ll turn me in.". Father sat down on a bench and asked Rachel to sit down next to him. "I know you're scared. We all are. But you can find it in you not to be scared. You're much. stronger than you think.". If only Rachel Blum could live the carefree life of a normal eleven-year-old - jumping rope, playing with friends. Instead, the frightened, isolated girl must struggle to survive in a world bent on destroying her.. Rachel is growing up in war-torn Poland in the 1930s and must smuggle in food for her family. She is hidden by a non-Jewish couple whose son works for the SS. When called upon to join a dangerous scheme to escape a train teeming with Nazis, Rachel must draw upon reserves of courage and strength she never even knew she possessed.. Talented author Yaakov Astor skillfully relates Rachel's miraculous story of survival in this action-packed account interwoven with sheer determination and stalwart emunah. Nothing Bad Ever Happens is the true story of an adolescent who manages to answer desperation with ingenuity, suffering with hope. Rachel lost everything yet felt she lacked nothing, leading her to the point where she could truly say, "Nothing bad ever happened to me.". Additional Information. ISBN978-1-61465-058-4. AuthorYakov Astor. Cover typeHardcover

Like scenes out of a spy novel ... ... except that this was real life, not fiction. They were instructed what to say and what not to say, where to go, how to act and react ... They were spied on and followed constantly, threatened with punishment, harassed at border crossings ... Yet they kept on coming. At first just a trickle, the shlichim of the Vaad L'Hatzolas Nidchei Yisroel ultimately numbered in the hundreds. Despite the dangers, they came year after year to the dreaded Soviet Union to help their lost brothers and sisters rediscover their lost heritage. They came to bring needed supplies, to show they cared, and to help in whatever way possible. And help they did. They succeeded in fanning the small sparks of the Russian ba'al teshuvah movement into a burning flame. Then, when the Iron Curtain finally fell, the Vaad only redoubled its efforts to help the Russian Jews transition to fully religious lives in Eretz Yisroel, America, and elsewhere. In fact, the nucleus of today's religious Russian Jewish communities was created in great part thanks to the efforts of Rabbi Mordechai Neustadt and the shlichim of the Vaad. For decades, these stories of incredible mesirus nefesh remained solely in the possession of the brave individuals who experienced them. Now, they can finally be told, and they will leave you awestruck.