Chabad at MIT

DR. JEFF HOFFMAN became a NASA Astronaut in 1978. He participated in five space missions, becoming the first astronaut to log 1,000 hours of flights aboard the space shuttles. Dr. Hoffman has performed four spacewalks, including the first unplanned, contingency spacewalk in NASA’s history and the initial repair/rescue mission for the Hubble Space Telescope. He was the first Jewish American male astronaut to fly into space.

 

Over five space missions, he chose to bring numerous Jewish objects. The highlight was a small Torah scroll that he took with him on his fifth and final mission. Rabbi Shaul Osadchey, Jeff’s spiritual leader, was instrumental in making it possible for Jeff to take a Torah scroll (the “Space Torah”) on the Shuttle Columbia in 1996. Jeff saw the act of bringing religious objects into space as part of bringing his own tradition with him, but bringing the Torah into space had the added symbolic meaning and significance of bringing the holiness of human life into space.

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NIKKI BART, MD is an elite mountaineer, and world record holder for being part of the first ever mother-daughter team to climb Mt. Everest. Upon reaching the top, Nikki and her mother Cheryl became the first mother-daughter duo to complete the Seven Summits: climbing the highest peak of every continent in the world. While on Everest, they celebrated Passover with a seder at Base Camp.

Nikki is now a heart failure and transplant cardiologist in Sydney Australia. She holds a PhD from Oxford University and has been the recipient of several prestigious leadership and research scholarships, including the Fulbright Scholarship which has brought her to Brigham & Women’s Hospital for her current research.

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RACHELLE BURK writes fiction and nonfiction books for children ages 1-13. Her Jewish-themed picture books include Space Torah: Astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman’s Cosmic Mitzvah, She’s a Mensch! Jewish Women Who Rocked the World, A Mitzvah for George Washington, Matzah Ball Chase, and the upcoming Passover on Everest. Among her secular titles are The Story of Taylor Swift, The Story of Simone Biles, Stomp, Wiggle, Clap, and Tap: My First Book of Dance, and A Gift of Life: A Story of Organ and Tissue Donation. Rachelle loves to share her love of reading and writing by visiting elementary schools around the country. Find out more at rachelleburk.com

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RACHEL RAZ is the founder of the Space Torah Project and executive producer of the space torah Film. Rachel started the Space Torah Project based on her vision to preserve this extraordinary story and share it with communities around the world. She has been leading programs and event that use the film as a tool to promote deep conversations about identity, community, values, and striving to reach our highest goals. Rachel is an educator and entrepreneur and is the founder of multiple initiatives with global reach. Rachelraz.com