Fire Ice Air: A Polish Jew’s Memoir of Yeshiva, Siberia, America

Fire, Ice, Air is a short memoir by Rabbi Simcha Shafran, who was born in a Polish shtetl, attended the Novardhok yeshiva in Bialystok as a teenager, spent the years of World War II in Siberia and served as a congregational rabbi in Baltimore for over half a century. Rabbi Shafran still serves as one in a smaller way (Sabbath services take place in his home weekly) and is the administrator of the Baltimore Bais Din, or religious court. He has inspired countless people who know him personally, and continues to do so today. His son, Rabbi Avi Shafran, persuaded him to put his memories into words, and assisted in that project. The result is Fire, Ice, Air. Professor Jacob Neusner calls the book elegantly written - Avi Shafran is a master of American prose and writes that it could serve as a reading in a course in basic Judaism, telling the story of authentic Judaism through the life and experiences and messages of this remarkable man. Elie Wiesel on a world stage and Simcha Shafran in private life… accomplish the same goal. Cynthia Ozick calls Rabbi Shafran’s memoir remarkable and an invaluable story, and its publication a mitzvah… to all the Jewish generations to come.