Something Burning

Tag: Russia

  • Sergey Brin’s Donation Might Help Us Find Bolislav

    Did you read the NY Times story about Sergey Brin’s $1MM donation to the organization that saved him and other Jews from death at the hands of Russian anti-semites? Maybe the money I sent to Bolislav Vainman, my “Russian Twin,” in 1986, did find its way to him, after all. Maybe my mom was wrong,…

  • Russian News Anchor Joins Search For Bolislav

    She asked that I not reveal her identity because she works for a TV station and is well known in Russia and elsewhere. She’s been reading about my search for Bolislav Vainman on SomethingBurning — how it began when I sent him some money, how my mom weighed in, how Greg Clayman joined the search,…

  • Greg Clayman Joins The Search For My Russian Twin

    Last week, my mom tried to convince me that the Russian government took my freakin’ Bar Mitzvah money. Today, my friend and colleague Greg Clayman, EVP of Digital Distribution & Business Development at MTV Networks, weighs in on my search for my “Russian twin,” Bolislav Vainman. Greg has already begun looking for Bolislav, which I…

  • My Mom Responds To The Search For Bolislav

    My mother weighs in on the post about my search for the kid I gave half my Bar Mitzvah money to… “Actually, Ross, I don’t think Bolislav has any idea who you are or what you did. The Russians intercepted your letters, and he never received anything. It was all in vain. Like his name. You…

  • My Russian Twin: I Will Find You, Bolislav Vainman

    Twenty-two years ago, I gave half my Bar Mitzvah money to a Russian Jew I didn’t even know. At the synagogue, I made a poster with his name on it, drew some six-pointed stars with a red sharpie, threw a tallis over the top, and propped up the poster on its own chair on the…