The annual Project Inspire Tisha B’av video draws thousands of viewers from around the world for an hour of inspiration from those who motivate us to aspire to greatness. Project Inspire presents its brand new feature film, premiering this Tisha B’Av 5781. This year’s original film for men and women is Iron Faith: Stories of Faith and Sacrifice From Behind the Iron Curtain.

Experience the unbelievable story of the Jews of Russia who risked their lives for the sake of spiritual continuity, fueled by Jews from Israel and America who traveled behind the Iron Curtain to help secretly spread Torah and Mitzvos. With exclusive interviews from Rabbi Eliyahu Essas, Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich, Rabbi Sholom Gold and more, this year’s Tisha B’Av event is sure to be captivating. Hear firsthand reports of the heroism of those who sacrificed to stand up against the huge empire of the former Soviet Union attempting to quash any and all signs of Jewish observance. Together, these small groups of Jews brought down one of the greatest empires in world history.

The refuseniks, a small group of Jews, were not allowed to keep the Torah on any level. They stood up to the powerful regime by defying the laws and creating an underground network to spread Judaism. The spiritual danger was great: if they learned Torah, or practiced the mitzvos, they faced great harm. “There were no arms, there were no weapons, there was just will,” said Rabbi Sholom Gold. In addition, there were Jews who made trips to Russia during this time and under a great element of risk to teach and care for the Jews living there. They showed them brotherly love and compassion and helped ease their burden as much as possible. They brought religious items to enable them to keep mitzvot. “The Jewish soul also has to eat, it has to eat the foodstuff of Torah.”

Hear from Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich about his saga of heroism, how he tried to hijack a plane out of Russia to bring awareness to their plight and ended up getting caught by the KGB. “In the end the Russians discovered that they are not the superpower, the real superpower is am yisrael that is united to fight for their brethren,” he said. Rabbi Pinchas Teitz tells his story of traveling to Russia 22 times to strengthen Soviet Jewry and even smuggled a Torah out of Russia. Rabbi Herschel Lieber gave his own tzitzis he was wearing to a young boy who said he didn’t have any.

The self sacrifice of those who traveled repeatedly behind the Iron Curtain to save the Soviet Jews is an inspiration to all of us. The stories from this time period in Jewish history are endless yet Project Inspire has captured the essence of the story in such an impactful way. We can learn from them not to take our blessings for granted and be apathetic about Jewish education, commitment and values. For those of us who grew up after this time period, it is even more important to appreciate the freedom we have to be observant without risk to our lives. We should never lose our appreciation for our ability to spread Torah to others.

To watch this film on Tisha B’av visit www.projectinspire.org/tisha.

Project Inspire’s mission is to empower committed Jews to take responsibility to create a vibrant and unified Jewish people by sharing the beauty and wisdom of our common heritage with fellow Jews.