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members of the family. Mikhail led a healthy life and exercised every morning. He loved to spend his Sundays in the Russian steam baths at either the Sandunovskyie or the Tsentralnyie Bathhouses. "At that time, those were Moscow's most popular public bathhouses, and sometimes we had to spend a long time waiting in line for admission," remembers Yuri. Once inside, Mikhail thoroughly enjoyed the full range of services: the steam room with a switch of green birch twigs, the pool, the barbershop, and a mug of beer. "It was lemonade for me," clarifies Yuri. "I still follow the wholesome tradition of the steam baths and it helps me recharge my batteries." Mikhail loved to sing, particularly aer a drink or two. His favorite song was "That Snowball Tree's Abloom." Says the professional conductor Yuri, "He had a clear voice and did his best to put his soul into his singing." Mikhail was proud of Yuri's musicianship and never missed one of his son's performances. "Once I was to conduct the Moscow State University Pops Orchestra at the May 1 festivities at the Kremlin," recounts Yuri. "The Manezhnaya Square near the venue was blocked by the police, and access was allowed only through other streets. Father demanded to see the commanding general, and then explained to the officer that his son was the orchestra conductor and identified himself as a war veteran. Naturally, they let him through." Yuri describes the house where he grew up as a log cabin without modern amenities. He was assigned certain household chores. In the winter, he had to fire up a wood stove before he could start his homework. He was a good student, completed his education with honors, and never shied away om difficulties. He was drawn to music early in his childhood. His parents encouraged his passion and ultimate career choice, and supported him through his education. He graduated om the Gnessin Music Institute, a conservatory in Moscow. Since the 1960s, he has been teaching instrumental conducting at the A. Shnitke Moscow State Institute. He also heads the Teaching Methods Commission of the Instrumental Conducting Department and has published a number of teacher's manuals and college syllabi. Outside of teaching, he manages a children's orchestra at a music school and the pop vocals studio at the Moscow Youth Center. His elder sister Raya married Mikhail Oradovsky in 1961. Relatives and iends both close and distant attended the wedding. For the first time, aer many years of separation om the rest of the family, Raya's aunt Zhenya flew in om Paris. The wedding was magnificent. "There I took notice of a blue-eyed, pig-tailed girl," muses Yuri. "Her name was Svetlana, and she came to the wedding with her parents om Kharkov." Aer meeting and keeping in touch, they fell in love and married on December Aliyah A basic tenet of Zionist ideology and an important component of Judiasm, aliyah is the immigration of the Jews to Israel. According to Israel's Law of Return, any Jew or eligible non-Jew (a child, grandchild, or spouse of a Jew) is accorded the legal right to assisted immigration and settlement in Israel, as well as automatic Israeli citizenship. Many religious Jews espouse aliyah as a return to the Promised Land, and regard it as the fulfillment of God's biblical promise to the descendants of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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