Anna McClennen and Boris Melomedov
Anna and Boris relocated to Bethlehem from northern New Jersey. Just a few months ago, they settled into their newly built home. Boris was drawn to the North Country because it reminds him of the Ural Mountains, where he was born and raised. Anna’s paternal family are New Englanders. Anna said hearing there was a synagogue in such a rural area surprised them and became an additional attraction. They have enjoyed coming to BHC services since their arrival.
Boris was drawn to the North Country because it reminds him of the Ural Mountains. Anna’s paternal family are New Englanders.
Anna and Boris met in the fall of 2019 at a speed dating event. Anna was divorced and Boris had been widowed for about three years. “We had exhausted the connections we might make through our circle of friends,” Anna recalled, and neither liked the idea of hyping themselves on a dating site.
They began to spend time with each other and realized they were quite compatible. By the time the pandemic started, they were living together.
Boris lived in Moscow from the age of 11. In 1985, at the age of 35, he came to the US, along with his parents, his brother, sister, and his sister’s child. Each year, the family celebrates the anniversary of the day they first stepped foot on American soil at JFK Airport: September 13, the day the family calls their “personal Thanksgiving.” (By serendipity, this interview took place on that special day.)
Boris grew up in exile as the son of an “enemy of the people.” “They gave me a one-way ticket.” While he wanted the exiled family to go to Israel, “I was outvoted.”
Boris grew up in exile as the son of an “enemy of the people”—his father had been a political prisoner in the Gulag for 11 years. Leaving the Soviet Union, regardless of the destination, was a goal for his entire family.
Once he left, he knew the door would be slammed against him. “They gave me a one-way ticket. I could take no papers, no driver’s license, not even my college diploma.” The family first arrived in Austria, then spent two months in a refugee camp in Italy, where they were helped by Jewish aid organizations. There, they were told the various countries which might accept them. Boris ranked Israel first, “but I was outvoted.” Other family members wanted to come to the US.
Boris continued to feel strongly about Israel. He traveled there at his first opportunity. He went to Yad Vashem to register grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles who had been slaughtered by the Nazis. “I felt a responsibility to do this for them.”
Since his arrival, Boris has lived in the New York metropolitan area, first in Manhattan and later in northern NJ. He worked as a computer programmer for Wall Street firms. His two children from his second marriage still live in New York City. His two children from his first marriage live near their mother in Riga, where they were born.
Like Boris, Anna enjoys a cold climate because she was born and raised in Michigan. Her family belonged to Rabbi Sherwin Wine’s founding temple of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. This modern splinter organization for secular Jews emphasizes Jewish ethics but eschews most traditional religious rituals. For her bat mitzvah, Anna studied conversational Hebrew. She was required to write and present a paper on a famous Jewish person whom she admired. She chose violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman. She was also required to recite a poem in Hebrew related to her paper topic.
During her later teen years, Anna began attending a Conservative shul, wanting to explore a more traditional version of Judaism. She said this has helped her navigate BHC services. Boris, because of religious restrictions in the USSR, never learned to read Hebrew
Anna was born and raised in Michigan. Her family belonged to Rabbi Sherwin Wine’s founding temple of the Society for Humanistic Judaism.
She’s been a professor at Temple and Rutgers. She has an interest in home design and, after designing her home, is helping friends with their homes.
After graduation from the University of Michigan, Anna came to NJ to do her graduate work at Rutgers in Philosophy. She’s been a professor at Temple and Rutgers. But she acknowledged that even before the pandemic, “I was getting burned out, and once it started, I didn’t want to deal with Zoom teaching.”
Since leaving academics, she’s done post-production work for streaming services, writing audio description tracks for visually impaired viewers and polishing translations for dubbed video. She is also writing a screenplay with a filmmaker friend in Australia.
Anna designed the couple’s new home, both the building itself and its interiors. She has an interest in design and has helped friends with their homes. She is starting to explore pursuing this as a business. “My specialty is designs that are unique and pleasing, while nonetheless being affordable and being spaces that real people can live in comfortably.
To stay in shape, Anna does both yoga and Pilates. Boris walks and runs a total of 6 miles each day. He’s also a chess master and writes poetry in Russian and English. Recently, Anna, who sings and plays the guitar, put one of his poems to music.
The couple did a lot of house hunting, but once they saw the building lot in Bethlehem, “it took us five minutes to decide to buy and build.” They’re happy with their decision and pleased to be part of the BHC community.
By Annie Hoyer, as part of a BHC profile series