By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY

The freedoms for people clearly outlined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution — speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition — are interconnected and foundational to democratic society, personal dignity, and social progress. They enable individuals to think, express, pray, and live according to their conscience and traditional values without government interference.

In our country, freedom of religion protects individual conscience, which includes both the right to practice a faith and the right to have no faith or protects a person’s innermost beliefs. The First Amendment prevents religious discrimination, protects the right of all people of the U.S. land, regardless of their faith by ensuring that the government cannot establish a religion or force citizens to conform to a particular set of beliefs. It also fosters a diverse society by allowing people to live, speak, and act according to their beliefs peacefully and publicly; religious freedom preserves a diverse and pluralistic society. 

During this summer season, I have been signing my books at the Hearthside Books in the Merchant’s Wharf in downtown Juneau — an engaging activity in meeting diverse tourists from all corners of the world. On one occasion, the relatively young orthodox-looking Jewish tourists from New York approached my table, purchased one title of my books, and during our brief communication, recognizing that I am a Russian-born Jew, offered to perform a blessing for me.

Certainly, why to refuse an offer of the sincere blessing. Indeed. Very quickly two young men displayed necessary items for blessing ceremony, secured two leather boxes (tefillins), one on my forehead just above the hairline, and centered between the eyes (tefillah shel rosh), and the other box on the bicep of my non-dominant left arm (tefillah shel yad). The box on my arm was angled toward the heart, and the strap is wrapped nine times down the arm and around the hand. These Jewish prayers are called tefillin. The practice is meant to fulfill the Torah’s commandment to bind the words of God “upon your hand” and “between your eyes.”

Inside each box are scrolls of parchment inscribed by a scribe with four specific passages from the Torah, which express the core tenets of the Jewish faith: 

• Exodus 13:1–10: Reminds Jews of the Exodus from Egypt and God’s role in their liberation.
• Exodus 13:11–16: Highlights the duty to teach Jewish values to future generations.
• Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (The Shema): Declares God’s unity and commands the love and fear of Him.
• Deuteronomy 11:13–21: Reiterates the rewards for observing God’s commandments. 

The placement of the tefillin on the arm and head symbolizes the devotion of a person’s intellect, emotions, and actions to serving God.

• Head tefillin: Corresponds to the mind, focusing one’s intellect and thoughts toward God.
• Arm tefillin: Placed near the heart, representing the submission of a person’s emotions and actions. 

The act of wrapping tefillin binds a person to their core values and traditions, reminding them of the covenant with God established at Mount Sinai. This practice is considered a mitzvah (commandment) for Jewish men starting at their Bar Mitzvah (age 13). A Bar Mitzvah is a Jewish rite of passage for a boy at age 13, marking his transition to religious adulthood, where he is held accountable for observing Jewish laws (mitzvot) and gains new responsibilities within the community. The ceremony, which can include reciting blessings and reading from the Torah during a synagogue service, is followed by a celebration, symbolizing his “son of the commandment” status.

After I was wrapped in tefillin, a young man pulled out from his pocket a small-size Torah, instructed me to repeat after him and recited the prayers from the Torah. Then he loudly blew Shofar that echoed around the Merchants Wharf Mall.

The Jewish horn used during ceremonies is called a Shofar. It is an ancient, sacred instrument, typically made from a ram’s horn. The Shofar’s sounds are considered a spiritual alarm clock, calling people to reflect, repent, and reawaken their connection to God and Jewish tradition. It recalls biblical events such as the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and the binding of Isaac. Throughout history, the Shofar was used to announce significant events, signal the start of a jubilee year, and even as a call to arms in battle. 

At the end of the ceremony, the young man asked me if I ever had this experience. I replied that in Juneau I organized a Bat Mitzvah for my daughter in the local synagogue when she was 12 years old, but I never was blessed until now. “Well, this was your Bar Mitzvah,” he acknowledged with a generous smile.

This spontaneous ceremony performed for my benefit by complete strangers from New York in the public place in Juneau brought my thoughts back to Kiev of the former Soviet Union. Being a Jew in the Soviet Union meant navigating systemic discrimination, state-sponsored anti-religious campaigns, and political persecution, particularly under the Stalin regime until the mid-1980s. Jews were labeled “outsiders” with disloyal “cosmopolitan” ties to Israel and faced quotas in education and various professions. While some assimilated Jews lived “normal” lives, religious observance and cultural expression were suppressed and often forbidden by the government. 

The Soviet state exercised anti-religious policies, promoted atheism, leading to the closure of synagogues, the banning of religious teachings, and the suppression of traditional Jewish schools. The state-controlled media often engaged in anti-Semitic propaganda. In short, Jewish cultural and religious life was suppressed under strict policies of discrimination. 

When I turned 13 years old, unexpectedly, my dear aunt Lilya invited me to the restaurant to celebrate my birthday. In fact, it was my first visit to the restaurant.

In the former Soviet Union, privileged individuals dined at a small number of high-end state-run restaurants. These restaurants, favored by the government officials and cultural celebrities, offered a level of cuisine and service unavailable or unaffordable to the public. Access to these exclusive establishments was often gained through connections, special permits, or the ability to pay the exorbitant prices, which could equal a significant portion of an average worker’s monthly wage. 

My aunt helped me to navigate through the menu and ordered appropriate food and beverage items for me. Then she presented to me a birthday gift (a soccer ball), leaned toward me and whispered: “Sasha, son, in a Jewish tradition, today on your 13th birthday, you become an adult.” Her voice was trembling, and tears appeared in the corner of her eyes. “Today is your Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish transition to religious adulthood. Remember this day,” she continued.

As I reminded my daughter during her Bat Mitzvah held in Juneau in 2004, “Elena, in America, we do not whisper our prayers, and we do not hide our faith. If we glow together as a nation and believe in the wisdom of Judeo-Christian values and traditions, our nation will survive and prosper.”

Alexander Dolitsky was born and raised in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. He received an M.A. in history from Kiev Pedagogical Institute, Ukraine in 1976; an M.A. in anthropology and archaeology from Brown University in 1983; and enrolled in the Ph.D. program in anthropology at Bryn Mawr College from 1983 to 1985, where he was also lecturer in the Russian Center. In the USSR, he was a social studies teacher for three years and an archaeologist for five years for the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. In 1978, he settled in the United States. Dolitsky visited Alaska for the first time in 1981, while conducting field research for graduate school at Brown. He then settled first in Sitka in 1985 and then in Juneau in 1986. From 1985 to 1987, he was U.S. Forest Service archaeologist and social scientist. He was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska Southeast from 1985 to 1999; Social Studies Instructor at the Alyeska Central School, Alaska Department of Education and Yukon-Koyukuk School District from 1988 to 2006; and Director of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center from 1990 to 2022. From 2006 to 2010, Alexander Dolitsky served as a Delegate of the Russian Federation in the United States for the Russian Compatriots program. He has done 30 field studies in various areas of the former Soviet Union (including Siberia), Central Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and the United States (including Alaska). Dolitsky was a lecturer on the World Discoverer, Spirit of Oceanus, and Clipper Odyssey vessels in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions. He was a Project Manager for the WWII Alaska-Siberia Lend Lease Memorial, which was erected in Fairbanks in 2006. Dolitsky has published extensively in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology and ethnography. His more recent publications include Fairy Tales and Myths of the Bering Strait Chukchi, Ancient Tales of Kamchatka, Tales and Legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia, Old Russia in Modern America: Living Traditions of the Russian Old Believers in Alaska, Allies in Wartime: The Alaska-Siberia Airway During World War II, Spirit of the Siberian Tiger: Folktales of the Russian Far East, Living Wisdom of the Russian Far East: Tales and Legends from Chukotka and Alaska, and Pipeline to Russia: The Alaska-Siberia Air Route in World War II.

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