I was raised in a Reform Jewish family and we retain a strong cultural identify today. My husband Michael’s extended family, however, was part of the once thriving Hasidic Jewish community in Eastern Europe and lived in a small rural village in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains in Czechoslovakia. Michael’s grandfather, Mehel, and his grandmother, Chanca, lived in the front room of great-grandfather Yankel’s house on Synagogue Street. Michael’s mother, Brana, was one of nine children. Nearly the entire family was murdered in The Holocaust. Brana was imprisoned in three concentration camps including Theresienstadt, Mauthausen and Buchenwald. A younger sister, Sylvia, was hidden on farms by righteous Christians. One brother escaped into the British army.

All three of these survivors have now passed on.

I longed to learn more about Hasidic Judaism, which my extended family through Michael practiced for many generations until the Shoah wiped them out. I was intrigued with life in such a community, the rules and laws for living and dying, the mysticism, and in particular, the role of girls and women. What is Hasidic Judaism like today?

In addition to talking with Michael about his family history, I spent time in Montreal at the school which my heroine would have attended. The principal of the school invited me for a visit, allowed me to sit in on classes and chat with both students and teachers. In addition, I attended a Chanukah party at the branch of the Lubavitch community near me and talked to the leaders and people attending. I immersed myself in the many books and articles which focus on Lubavitch religion, life, and culture. I learned so much and am grateful. My time of immersion in a culture so different from my own was enlightening, informative and inspiring. All of this informs Chaya’s story, and hopefully, brings it to vivid life.