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Anya Zhuravel Segal

PhD candidate in history at Tel Aviv University | Mom of 3 | All things German-Jewish aficionado

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Nov 27, 2025, 8:46 PM

Mr. Universe Lives in Jerusalem

On stage at the Israeli Physical Culture Assocaition bodybuilding competition. Courtesy Oleg Nikolaev.

Jerusalem is a special place. Its population diversity reflects the eternal Jewish yearning for this city – a yearning that brings people from the four corners of the world to Israel’s capital. Despite this, it is not a given...

Jul 9, 2020, 5:50 PM

Coronavirus Chaos: One Family’s Quest for the Test

The great Jewish historian Simon Dubnov found solace from two evils of his day, Communism and Nazism, in working on his memoirs. Some ninety years later, I am escaping the pandemic-tinted reality of today’s Israel by reading the resulting...

Jul 20, 2018, 12:30 AM

Rabbi Detained for Marrying Jews in Israel in a Religious Ceremony

The headline is an oxymoron: in a state that defines itself as Jewish and democratic, a rabbi has been detained for marrying Jews in a religious ceremony. Rabbi Dubi Haiyun of Haifa’s conservative community, Kehillat Moriyah, was woken up by...

Jan 25, 2018, 8:42 PM

When Art Shocks: Disturbing is Good

On January 10th, a solo exhibition by Zoya Cherkassky-Nnadi opened at the Israel Museum. Ms. Cherkassky-Nnadi depicts daily life in the Soviet Union and in Israel in the early nineties. She relates the reality lived by Soviet Jews in...

Dec 25, 2017, 12:45 PM

Spreading the Light, Fighting the Darkness

The holiday of Hanukkah falls on the darkest time of the year. Jews worldwide light a candle on the first night, and add another one on every evening of the eight-day holiday, so that by the last night the...

Jul 6, 2017, 11:18 AM

Not Done Yet in Ukraine

Last week I travelled to Uzhgorod, Ukraine to participate in an annual seminar of educators who work for Midreshet Yerushalayim Ukraine, which has been funded and supported by the Schechter Institutes in Jerusalem since 1990. Uzhgorod has once been home...

Jun 8, 2014, 10:18 PM

My Grandmother Rita

My grandmother Rita (Revekka) Zhuravel née Birzh, daughter of Anna (Nechome Itke) and Max, was laid to rest in Moscow on Friday afternoon on June 6, 2014. She lived a life defined by the relentless history of the 20th century. The...

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About Me

Anya is a PhD candidate at Tel Aviv University and a visiting fellow at the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History Potsdam. Based in Berlin, she juggles five languages, three kids and a growing coffee addiction.

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