Tanya grew up in an Orthodox Jewish home in the Soviet Union. Her family's tea business was beginning to flourish when Stalin began his purges. When Tanya was 17, her father was taken by the secret police and shot in the head. During the Second World War her brother, sister, and husband were killed. She lost everyone closest to her in a two-year span.
Tanya struggled with depression. Although she advanced in educational and diplomatic circles, she always sensed that something was missing. She could never come to terms with all the suffering her family had experienced. She couldn't accept the terrible finality of their cruel deaths.
One day Tanya passed the Moscow Olympic Stadium and saw a sign proclaiming "The Bible Way to New Life." Mark Finley was holding a series of meetings covering the same Bible topics in this book. Tanya was deeply moved as she heard the Bible come alive. She accepted Y'shua as her Messiah and was filled with the hope of heaven and of being reunited with her loved ones forever. She moved beyond her past and looked forward to a glorious future.
Originally from: Jewish Discoveries by Jeff Zaremsky, pages 198-199, which contains a total of 22 fascinating chapters of biblical history and lessons plus 25 rich Jewish tradition sections, and 27 powerful testimonies, with over 40 beautifully rendered professional works of art all on over 300 jam packed pages. You can own this treasure by visiting Jewish Discoveries.
For more information on this topic, see Lesson 15 under Torah (Scripture Studies).
Tanya’s story is adapted from the book Solid Ground by Mark Finley and published by Review and Herald (2003), used with permission.
