As a child,
Alina was always skinny, sickly and constantly bullied by her friends. They
mocked her for her small size and pale complexion.
“One day,” she used to retort back at them, “I will be on top of the world. Where will you be?”
“One day,” she used to retort back at them, “I will be on top of the world. Where will you be?”
The dream to
shake off the image of her dreary childhood, in the city of Khabarovsk, her
birthplace, located in the far eastern part of Russia, took hold of her heart
and shaped Alina’s essence. Though she ended up living a very comfortable life, earned a business
management degree from one of the top and most prestigious universities and had
all her needs taken care of, something was missing in her life. Life in that
remote part of the world was empty and seemed to hold no future. The dream,
however, refused to extinguish itself. Parts of her spirit and soul were
begging for a change.
It was her Jewish
ancestry, of all factors, which helped revive the dream, bring about the change and help fulfill her wish.
“Why don’t
you travel to Yisrael?” her mother asked her one bright day trying to cheer her
up. “Since my father is Jewish,” she suggested to Alina, “ under the Law of
Return, you can move there without any problem. Give it a try. You can always come
back home.”
Despite warnings against the difficulties that Yisrael poses to new immigrants and in spite of the doubts expressed by those that were close to her about her ability to adjust to life here, Alina took
her mother's advice. In 1999, she arrived in Yisrael. She was immediately placed in an
absorption center in Tiberias where, a year later, she was joined by her mother.
From
Tiberias, they both moved to Eilat.
In 2004,
Alina moved to Herzliya where she commenced her studies towards earning a
Personal Training Certificate at the American-Israel Fitness college. Life, it
seemed, was finally beginning to smile at her. She was on her way to realize her
childhood dream.
In October of that year, Alina was preparing for her final exams in the course. She needed a break and, along with her mom, went on holiday at the Hilton Hotel in the resort town of Taba in the Sinai Peninsula. She was planning on doing her studies in the tranquility of the relaxing desert atmosphere. That vacation changed her life and shaped its destined path in every respect.
Many Yisraelis may recall October 7th of 2004 as the day in which two devastating terror attacks took place in two resorts frequented by Yisraeli travelers. The Hilton Taba was one of them.
Alina was sitting just outside the hotel lobby reading her course notes when a powerful blast ripped through the hotel. It was caused by two separate car bombs each carrying 200kg of explosives detonated in the lobby. He mother was upstairs in the room.
The scars caused by the many pieces of flying glass that hit Alina are etched on her body. They are an eternal reminder of that devastating day, a day that marked a turning point in her life.
In October of that year, Alina was preparing for her final exams in the course. She needed a break and, along with her mom, went on holiday at the Hilton Hotel in the resort town of Taba in the Sinai Peninsula. She was planning on doing her studies in the tranquility of the relaxing desert atmosphere. That vacation changed her life and shaped its destined path in every respect.
Many Yisraelis may recall October 7th of 2004 as the day in which two devastating terror attacks took place in two resorts frequented by Yisraeli travelers. The Hilton Taba was one of them.
Alina was sitting just outside the hotel lobby reading her course notes when a powerful blast ripped through the hotel. It was caused by two separate car bombs each carrying 200kg of explosives detonated in the lobby. He mother was upstairs in the room.
The scars caused by the many pieces of flying glass that hit Alina are etched on her body. They are an eternal reminder of that devastating day, a day that marked a turning point in her life.
With each
passing moment of her long and painful recovery, following the terror attack,
Alina felt weakness leaving her body. She was getting stronger not only physically
but also emotionally. The “skinny and sickly” young girl from Khabarovsk was fading
away into parts of a very remote past. Determination to defy all odds filled
every cell in Alina’s body. If she can challenge death, she decided, she can overcome
any of life’s tests.
Her attempt to study for the final exam of her course were one of those tests. The blood-soaked notebooks and her scarred body refused to let the waves of grief that threatened her troubled soul to subside. At the same time, Alina was determined not to let victimhood dictate her life. She would study and pass her exams! Failure was one term that evaporated from her vocabulary. Her efforts paid off. She passed her exams with flying colours and earned her certificate.
Something else happened to Alina on the day she survived the terror attack. She realized WHY she survived. “Mom,” she called her mother one day, “I am going to convert to Judaism. My maternal grandfather was Jewish. His People became a nation on Mount Sinai. I am coming back Home.”
Alina embarked on the journey of Halachic conversion to Judaism. Several months later, her mother joined her. The sliver of hope on the cloudy skies of Alina’s life was getting wider.
In 2007, Alina gave birth to a beautiful boy. “I named him Roniel,” she told me as she turned around, exposed part of her upper back and pointed at one of her scars. It was in the clear and defined shape of the Hebrew letter Reish. “Roniel is my precious gift. He is part of my reward and the soothing balm to my bruised soul.”
Her attempt to study for the final exam of her course were one of those tests. The blood-soaked notebooks and her scarred body refused to let the waves of grief that threatened her troubled soul to subside. At the same time, Alina was determined not to let victimhood dictate her life. She would study and pass her exams! Failure was one term that evaporated from her vocabulary. Her efforts paid off. She passed her exams with flying colours and earned her certificate.
Something else happened to Alina on the day she survived the terror attack. She realized WHY she survived. “Mom,” she called her mother one day, “I am going to convert to Judaism. My maternal grandfather was Jewish. His People became a nation on Mount Sinai. I am coming back Home.”
Alina embarked on the journey of Halachic conversion to Judaism. Several months later, her mother joined her. The sliver of hope on the cloudy skies of Alina’s life was getting wider.
In 2007, Alina gave birth to a beautiful boy. “I named him Roniel,” she told me as she turned around, exposed part of her upper back and pointed at one of her scars. It was in the clear and defined shape of the Hebrew letter Reish. “Roniel is my precious gift. He is part of my reward and the soothing balm to my bruised soul.”
Alina’s
regained inner strength has pushed her to take her dream even further. This year,
she has participated in three body building competitions. The first, Nabba -
Israel where she earned first place in the 40+ category. The second WBF –
Israel where she earned second place in the bikini 35+ category. She also
earned second place in the NAC competition of bikini 40+.
The balance of beauty, wisdom and determination that Alina has been blessed with are the traits that have brought her thus far and have made her a role model to many.
We wish her the best of luck and every blessing! 🇮🇱 🏆 🇮🇱
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