Not My Identity

A man came out of Russia after having suffered greatly there for being a frum Jew.  Yet, he did not look the way you would have expected him to look.

There was an air of serenity about him, and someone asked him to explain it, considering the life he had led.

His answer was, "Mir darf zein hecher foon dem" - we need to be above it.

We had a discussion about this, with someone posing the question - what does this mean?

I said it means not becoming defined by your hardships.