Reconnecting with What's Important

Angela Grabovsky believes planning is something everyone needs to do. So she took her own advice when it came to donating. She and her husband Ilya recently talked through what was important to both of them. 

“We did not grow up in a religious environment. Religion was not allowed, yet we have a strong sense of tradition, family and community,” said Angela who immigrated from Odessa, Ukraine in 1989 with her husband, two children, parents, grandparents and sister. Through the generosity of the Federation, upon their arrival they received English language tutoring and scholarship assistance to Hasten Hebrew Academy.

Reflecting back, Angela credits son Leo and daughter-in-law, Marina for re-awakening their sense of connection to the Jewish community. “And now looking forward we have made giving back to our community a part of our legacy,” Angela said.

 

Leo and Marina

Marina and her family also immigrated here from Ukraine (Kiev) in 1992. Her great aunt and uncle were the 14th family to move to Indianapolis. “I’m hoping our daughter has a stronger Jewish education than Leo and I and both sets of our parents,” Marina said. Their daughter Leah attends Hasten Hebrew Academy. “Both Leo and I also attended Hasten, so now it’s full circle.”

She and Leo are going beyond schooling to strengthen ties to their faith, involving both sets of their parents along the way.

“We didn’t grow up with any Jewish traditions or practicing Judaism; all we knew was that we were Jewish. Now we practice Judaism day in and day out. It’s a way of life for us. It is a very strong part of our identity because our parents and grandparents weren’t able to.”

Marina is currently involved in the PTO at Hasten Hebrew Academy and she’s co-chair of the kickoff event for the Federation’s NextGen program. Leo is on the board at the Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis and involved with organizations that made a big impact for him—the Jewish Community Relations Council, Indiana Jewish Historical Society and the JCC.

 

Deciding What's Important

Many of the JFGI agencies have positively influenced the Grabovsky family. Leo and his sister Karina were JCC camp counselors while Marina attended the camp as a young girl. They have had several family members stay at Hooverwood. Angela’s Uncle, Jack Briker (who initially encouraged their trip to the United States) works at Jewish Family Services with their Wheels to Wellness program. In addition, Marina was involved with Indiana University Hillel (another beneficiary agency) and Leo and she were even married by IU Hillel’s Rabbi Sue Silberberg.

Recently, their involvement has deepened. They joined the national young leadership cabinet for the federations. “It’s a six-year commitment more on a national scale to bring both leadership and programming here locally,” Leo said about the program for 210 individuals across the country who are 30-45 years old. Indianapolis has not had anyone participating in this program for more than 20 years.

Both he and Marina cite Indianapolis as a great community for being able to get involved easily and make an impact. “Talking to people nationally you can almost get lost in a lot of these larger Jewish communities,” Leo said. “I think here we have the ability to (have an) impact and make it your own and have that instantly. We have friends who moved to Chicago and it’s going to take them 10 years to get to a position like we have where their voice matters.”

 

It's About Something Bigger

Marina and Leo are actively participating in the Jewish Community for themselves but more importantly for their children. They were inspired by friends to start their own traditions, one of which is having Shabbat every Friday that they can. “That’s very important to us,” Marina said.

Angela and Ilya were inspired to participate in Life & Legacy by son Leo who made his own donation. Angela advises that everyone should take some time to think about the things that are important to them. They identified three areas. 

1: The Survival of Israel. “If we need to be anywhere other than the United States, this would be the place,” Angela said. 

2: Jewish Traditions. Because the Grabovsky’s grew up in an environment where they were not free to express their religion, they felt it was important to teach their children and grandchildren about Jewish traditions. “The main reason why we came to this country (is to) have the ability to unite with our Jewish heritage. It’s important to me to make sure we always have our identity as Jews. And make sure our kids and grandkids (are) proud to be Jews,” Ilya said.

3. Community Involvement. Angela said about her native country, “we did not grow up in a culture of community. We did not grow up in a culture of giving. People have to get to that level by themselves.” She continued, “we wanted to live in a Jewish culture and have friends and spouses of the Jewish faith,” she said in recognition of the fact that more and more children and grandchildren are marrying non-Jews.

 “It’s been almost 30 years since the immigrants from the Soviet Union started arriving in Indianapolis. We all do okay. For ourselves and for our families,” she said. ”Now is the time to start thinking about something that’s a little bit bigger than us.”

 

Cover photo: The Grabovsky family. Ericka and Eric with their children Frankie and Ben; Angela and Ilya; Karina (Leo's twin sister) with daughter Zelly and husband Andy Rosenthal; Marina with David and Leo with Leah. (Photo by Raw Sugar Photography)