8 | MARCH 3 • 2022 

in modernity with more active 
heat than they ever displayed 
in our lifetimes, who should 
emerge from the landscape of 
our past to stand for freedom, 
democracy, selflessness, and 
unfathomable bravery but a Jew. 
One of our own. 
How this came about is as 
mysterious to Jews as it prob-
ably is to Putin. He thought 
he could march over Ukraine 
like the Taliban swept across 
Afghanistan in a matter of 
days. He saw a young, inexpe-
rienced Jewish boy somehow 
accidentally elected to highest 
office, and he pounced. After 
all, who would have anticipated 
the mettle Zelensky has shown? 
And who would have thought 
his people would love him and 
stand behind him so fiercely? 
And the rest of the world 
has followed suit, taking cour-
age from his elemental style 
of leadership. He did not only 
galvanize his own countrymen 
— and believe me, the concept 
of Jews and Ukrainians being 
bonded countrymen is diffi-
cult enough to process — but 
there can be little doubt that 
it impacted Western European 
leaders and President Biden to 
step up their provision of mil-
itary and humanitarian aid as 
well as economic isolation of 
Russia. 
No one anticipated that the 
44-year-old Jewish comedi-
an-turned-politician, a populist 
leader born of the same times 
that gave us Donald Trump and 

Boris Johnson, would transform 
into the pillar standing against 
the Kremlin, a new kind of Iron 
Wall shielding West from East. 
He knows how to use social 
media to send messages of hope 
and resilience. He knows how to 
speak to a generation connected 
through soundbites, mobile apps 
and frank words. 
Most importantly, though, he 
knows what happens when bul-
lies are allowed to run rough-
shod over their neighbors. He 
is the grandchild of a Holocaust 
survivor. And who better under-
stands the importance of stand-
ing firm in the face of naked, 
unprovoked aggression than the 
offspring of survivors? 
Zelensky has made us all 
proud, Jew and non-Jew alike. 
He has given us hope that old 
hatreds can be overcome. He 
has shown the world the best we 
have to offer — shrewd, tough, 
honest, selfless. The world’s 
knight in shining armor looks 
like us. He has shown resolve to 
stay and fight, and the Ukrainian 
people — his people — have ral-
lied to his battle cry. They have 
rallied to the battle cry of a Jew! 
The cry of the Holocaust survi-
vors! The cry of Never Again! 
I don’t know about you, but I 
needed this. 

Ellen Ginsberg Simon is an attorney 
and compliance professional in Upper 
Saddle River, New Jersey. She has 
an M.Phil in Modern Middle Eastern 
Studies from Oxford University and is 
also a graduate of Brown University 
and Harvard Law School. From Times 
of Israel

ened and deepened the 
understanding of the signifi-
cance of U.S. policies, its role 
in the world, and the value 
and strength of the U.S. 
economy and dollar. 
I also consider it a privi-
lege to vote in the U.S. Some 
ask why, if living overseas, 
I should be able, much less 
would care, to vote. When 
I explain that we never 
stopped being Americans, 
are required to file (and pay) 
taxes, and that it’s a right and 
privilege, most get it. 
But every privilege also 
has its responsibility. Since 
living in Israel, I have been 
called for jury duty twice. 
I am exempt because I live 
overseas (though wouldn’t 
complain if they wanted to 
send me a plane ticket), but 
I still have to respond. The 
U.S. also imposes compli-
cated bureaucratic standards 
that all U.S. citizens living 
abroad, earning over a cer-
tain amount, still have to 
file taxes in the U.S. even if 
we pay more in tax in Israel 
than we would in the U.S. 
on the same income. We still 
have to let the IRS know. 
Some people with young 
children also get a tax credit, 
but you have to file to do so. 
Opening a bank account 
here as an American requires 
extra scrutiny. Israeli banks 
ask, covering their assets 
literally and figuratively, if 
we are U.S. citizens. The last 
thing they want to do is cross 
the U.S. and its banking sys-
tem. So, they don’t. And it 
costs us. 
More frustrating is that, 
regardless of income, 
American citizens have to 
file an FBAR if their finan-
cial assets exceed $10,000. 
That includes saving 

accounts, pensions, bro-
kerage accounts, etc. Even 
if people have no current 
income, they have to report 
total assets. Unless you have 
time and know what you’re 
doing, you have to pay some-
one to do this. For young 
people starting out in their 
careers (like my kids), it’s a 
burden and expense that’s 
hard to justify. It’s almost 
something you have to pay 
someone to do because with 
the bureaucracy, while one 
can file their own taxes and 
the like, making a mistake 
would create even worse 
problems. 
It’s disappointing that my 
kids don’t appreciate the 
blessings of being American 
the same as I do. Forget that 
they don’t know about many 
American cultural and his-
torical pillars (shockingly 
not even Woodstock), they 
just don’t look that far west. 
It’s disappointing that they 
don’t care that much, and it’s 
disappointing that the U.S. 
makes being a citizen over-
seas that much of a financial 
burden. Nobody’s given up 
their citizenship yet, but they 
have a hard time rationaliz-
ing paying what’s for them a 
lot of money just to maintain 
their “membership” and risk 
something criminal for not 
doing so. My oldest daughter 
has two children and, even 
though they are eligible, 
they’re not registered as 
Americans.
But there’s always a catch. 
You can’t just burn or give 
up your passport and say, no 
thank you. Giving up U.S. 
citizenship is a costly bureau-
cratic process. It costs about 
$2,500 per person (a month’s 
salary for some, before taxes), 
as well as an “exit” tax which 

TIME TO BURN MY PASSPORT? continued from page 4

THE HERO WE DIDN’T KNOW WE NEEDED continued from page 6

PURELY COMMENTARY

“… WHO SHOULD EMERGE FROM 

THE LANDSCAPE OF OUR PAST TO 

STAND FOR FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, 

SELFLESSNESS AND UNFATHOMABLE 

BRAVERY BUT A JEW. ONE OF OUR OWN.” 

