{"text":"She was alone and destitute in a world of pointless carnage. By an eight-hundred-year-old Sepahrdic tradition she ad been since the age of twelve and a half 'bogeret l'reshut nafsha'--an adult wit authority over her own soul. The Torah taught, Choose life. And so, rather than die of pride, Sofia Mendes sold what she had to sell, and she survived.","author":"Mary Doria Russell","tags":["inspirational","judaism","life","strength","survival-instinct"],"id":9082,"author_id":"Mary+Doria+Russell"}