A Forgotten Past and a Singer’s Voice Changed Her Life

Last Thursday, something very special happened in the Jewish community of Kyiv. A simple moment in a quiet stationery store led to a life-changing discovery—a woman who thought she wasn’t Jewish found out that she might actually be part of the Jewish people.

The story was shared by Rabbi Mordechai T., a teacher in a local Jewish school and a member of the Karlin-Stolin Chassidic community in Kyiv. He had just stopped into a small store near his school to pick up some supplies when the saleswoman behind the counter surprised him. Looking at his traditional Chassidic clothing and his peyot (sidelocks), she said, “There’s a singer in Israel who looks just like you—and he sings beautifully.”

Curious, the rabbi asked who she meant. She struggled to remember the name and finally said, “Sheimitz?” Rabbi Mordechai smiled and asked, “Do you mean Moti Steinmetz?” Her eyes lit up—“Yes! That’s him!”

Touched by her connection to Jewish music, the rabbi gently asked her, “Are you Jewish?” She shook her head no, but added that her great-grandmother had been Jewish. That sparked something in Rabbi Mordechai’s heart. He asked more questions and learned that her Jewish ancestor was her mother’s mother’s mother. In Jewish law, halacha, if someone’s mother is Jewish, then they are Jewish too—and this includes a maternal line going back generations.

When he realized the possibility, Rabbi Mordechai told her she might actually be Jewish. He encouraged her to look into her family history more deeply and even helped guide her to a place where she could check official documents. If her grandmother never gave up her Jewish identity, then she—and her children and grandchildren—are still part of Am Yisrael, the Jewish people.

“I’ll stay in touch with her,” Rabbi Mordechai said warmly. “And if it turns out she really is Jewish, then we’ve merited something truly beautiful: to help a lost soul come home.”

This moving story reminds us how powerful one moment can be. A song by a Jewish singer, filled with emotion and holiness, reached into the heart of someone far away and stirred something deep within her. Sometimes, that’s all it takes—a melody, a memory, or a simple question—to awaken a Jewish soul.