Flashback No.1

Unfortunately there is a very sad reason behind my current trip to Russia. I was in Moscow to attend the 40th day memorial service (a Russian tradition) for my old friend, business partner and colleague, Aleksandr Semenovitch Feldblyum. Alex, Sasha to his friends, died unexpectedly in early October as a result of a routine surgery at the age of 50: a young man by any means of the word. He was an exemplary son, husband and father, someone I looked up to and enjoyed doing business with immensely. But our relationship extended well beyond just business, and we would spend hours discussing politics, be they in Russia, the USA or Israel, Russian or Western culture, Russian movies (which he would buy me on DVD and we would talk about after I would watch them) or translated Russian literature (from Bulgakov to Akunin and anything in between). Not a day would go by without a conversation which could range from the price of scrap, news about our families, or just shooting the breeze about whatever happened in the world on that day.
A doctor in physics and mathematics, who embarked on a new adventure 10 years ago when he decided to get into the scrap export business from his country, Alex was a proud Russian and someone who believed strongly that his motherland would continue to grow and offer opportunities to its people. I am including a picture which was taken on a previous trip to St Petersburg, actually on February 8 of this year.

Alex was loading a ship for us at the port, and this picture was taken on the deck. Alex is standing in the middle, sporting the proud mustache that was his trademark. I miss him terribly. תהה נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים