In fact, he was so good at math that he started diving into an area known as pure mathematics, which focuses on abstract and theoretical concepts that prove theorems. Well, it didn’t take Edward long to reach the end of his teachers’ knowledge of pure math in his small town, so he set his sites on Moscow State University, which was the only school in Russia where you could study pure mathematics.

In order to be accepted into Moscow State University, Edward would have to take a series of entrance exams mostly covering freshman level-math, which Edward could pass with ease. So Edward applies and receives a letter from the school saying that members of the administration would like him to come to the school so they can give him some tips on navigating the entrance exams. He thought to himself, “That’s very kind of them!”

Edward hops on a train and, when he arrives, they direct him to a woman who asks his name. He says Edward Frenkel and the woman says, “What’s your nationality?” Edward was like, “I’m Russian.” She smiles at him and says, “Uh huh. And what’s the nationality of your parents?” Edward says, “Well, my mom is Russian.” And she says, “What about your father?” Edward says, “My father is Jewish.” And she goes, “Ah ha. Did you know that you’re not going to be accepted to Moscow University?” Edward says, “Why is that?” And she says, “Because they don’t accept Jewish students.”

Edward’s heart sank. He knew people could be anti-Semetic, but mathematics was so important to the Soviet Union’s status as a world power that he figured they would look past his Jewishness for the benefit of the nation. Edward was quiet for a moment and then said, “Well, what do you suggest I do?” She said, “My suggestion would be to withdraw your application. Don’t even try because you’re not going to be accepted.”

This moment was like Groundhog Day. Edward’s father had dreamed of becoming a physicist and was denied entrance to Moscow State University. Edward’s grandfather had been imprisoned by Stalin and at his interview, Edward’s father was told, “You are the son of the enemy of the people, and therefore, we cannot take you.” So Edward’s father had to go to a technical school, which really crushed his father’s spirits. Edward could tell his father was a shell of man because the Soviet government had stolen his dreams and Edward was determined to not let that happen to him.

Edward told the woman, “I’m going to apply anyway.” She smiled and said, “Whatever you want to do.” He left her office and was determined to blow them away at his interview. He was going to study super hard and do so well that it would make it impossible for them to not accept him. So Edward applies and a few weeks later he’s on a train back to Moscow to take the written part of the exam.

The written exam consists of five problems and the fifth problem was supposed to be so hard that the prospective students were not expected to solve it. But Edward was so determined to show them how good he was that he was able to solve all five problems, giving him a perfect score. Unfortunately, after the written exam, Edward had to do an oral exam.

Edward was placed in a room with 25 other students. The examiners gave each student two randomly assigned questions. After Edward had prepared his answers, all he had to do was raise his hand and explain the answers to one of the test’s proctors. The questions were so easy for Edward that he was able to raise his hand in about 2 minutes.

But the proctors refused to come and check his answer. It was kind of comical because every time a student raised their hand, one of the proctors would rush over and check their answer, but when it came to Edward, the proctor looked through him as if he didn’t exist. After a period of time, Edward physically grabbed the arm of one of the proctors and asked, “Why are you not taking my exam?” The proctor said, “I’m not allowed to,” and quickly walked away.

After an hour, all the students had left the room except for Edward. Two men entered the room and approached the proctor at the front. The proctor points at Edward, which let Edward know that these two men were the inquisitors sent to defeat them. The two men, who were also professors at the university, approach Edward, who, mind you is 16 years old, and start asking him questions.

The first question is about a circle inscribed in a triangle. They ask Edward, “What is the definition of a circle?” Edward says, “A circle is a set of points on a plane, equidistant from a given point.” The inquisitor gleefully says, “Wrong!” Edward was confused because he had provided the absolute textbook definition of a circle. The inquisitor says, “It’s the set of all points equidistant from a given point.”

The inquisitors continue, “What’s a line? What’s a tangent line? What’s a limit? What’s a function? What’s a ratio?” For three hours, they grilled Edward on definitions and every time he answered the question perfectly. By this point it was starting to get dark outside and Edward was getting tired. All of a sudden, they said, “Okay, we’re done with questions. Now we want you to solve some problems.”

When they hand him the problem, Edward quickly realizes it’s well beyond the curriculum. He had never seen this kind of math before, but he starts working on the problem. Just as he was about to finish, the inquisitor gives him a second problem that is twice as hard as the first one. They say, “You’re on the clock and time is running out.” So he stops working on the first problem and focuses on the second. Again, this is math he’s never seen before.

As he’s working his way through it, the inquisitor hands him a third problem. He abandons the second problem and focuses on the third problem, which was the hardest of all. On the surface, it seemed like a very simple problem, but as he dug into the details, he realized it was extraordinarily complex. Eventually, the inquisitors call time. They take his paper and tally his score. The inquisitor says, “You couldn’t answer the first question, so no credit. The second question, you get partial credit, but you didn’t fully answer it. And the third problem, again, no answer. We wish we could give you a passing grade, but unfortunately, we’re going to have to give you an F.

But rather than give up, Edward said, “Can I see my written test,” because he knew he had solved everything perfectly. As the inquisitors review the written exam, they start making all kinds of marks and hand it back to him. They gave him a C even though all the answers were correct. The inquisitor then says, “You are denied admission, but you are welcome to appeal our decision.” The second inquisitor says, “Do you plan to appeal?” Edward looked at them and said, “No. I’ll withdraw my application.”

A smile crossed their faces. After 4 grueling hours, they managed to prevent a brilliant 16-year-old kid from gaining entrance to their university. One of the inquisitor says, “I’ll walk you to the office and see you out.” By this point, everyone in the building had gone home. They walk edout of the classroom towards the elevator in this awkward silence. The elevator arrives and they both step in. As soon as the door closes, the inquisitor says, “Wow, you were so great! You know so much about math. I was very impressed.”

Edward was kind of stunned by this comment. Clearly, now that there was nobody watching, this professor could speak honestly. He says to Edward, “How come you know math so well? Did you go to special mathematical school?” Edward said, “No.” He says, “Are your parents are mathematicians.” Edward says, “No. They’re engineers.” The professor says, “Wow. That’s really impressive! Let me give you some advice. There is one school in Moscow that will take Jewish students like you. It’s called the Institute for Oil and Exploration. Apply to that school, and they will accept you.” The professor handed Edward his file and says, “Best of luck to you.”

This would become a watershed moment for Edward, defining his life in huge ways. Why had they rejected him? For no other reason than the fact he was Jewish. And this bias isn’t unique to his teachers. Anti-Semitism has been around for a really long time. We read today from the gospel of John where the gospel states: “The Jews were seeking all the more to kill [Jesus], because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.”

John’s gospel has a noticeable anti-Jewish bent strewn throughout the text where the term “the Jews” is used as a derogatory insult 70 times. Indeed, not only does John’s gospel place the responsibility for Jesus’ death squarely at the feet of the Jewish people, but it also portrays Jesus, a Jew, as rejecting his own people. In my opinion, John’s portrayal of Jesus is inaccurate. Yes, Jesus argued with the Jewish leaders of his time, but debate is a big part of Jewish culture where people are allowed to disagree.

The point being, the Christian tradition, which was in Russia long before communism and perpetuated anti-Jewish sentiment, is part of the reason why Edward encountered such intense discrimination from his inquisitors. But Edward did something very Christ-like when he encountered this discrimination. He didn’t get angry. He didn’t defend himself. Similar to when Jesus was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and accepted the punishment, Edward did the same. When Edward was told he answered wrong, he accepted the consequences.

I think all of us have had people who have tried to keep us down at some point in our lives. All of us have encountered people who have tried to hold us back. Perhaps someone judged you because they didn’t think you were smart enough or perhaps they judged you because you were the wrong sex or because you were the wrong color. When that happens, it can feel like the world is conspiring against us and can make us feel like giving up and saying, “What’s the point in even trying?”

But whenever I’ve faced people who doubt me or who feel I don’t belong, like Edward, it motivates me to try harder. Indeed, what Edward found is when he was faced with math problems he had never seen before, he dug down deep and found this hidden knowledge inside of him that knew the answer. Indeed, this idea that there is innate wisdom inside of us is found in Proverbs. The scripture we read says that before God creates the physical world, God creates wisdom as a helper. This wisdom becomes infused throughout the universe.

Indeed, what this story from Proverbs teaches us is that God’s wisdom is everywhere. We simply have to be motivated to dig deep and sometimes that wisdom will reveal itself to us. I don’t know if you’ve ever found that to be true in your life, but I have found it to be true in mine. There are times in my life when I feel like my back is against the wall and I don’t know what to do. I feel lost and alone. It’s like I’m staring into the abyss and there are no answers.

In my experience, whenever that happens, before long God’s wisdom reveals an answer. Seemingly from nowhere, a person will say something or I’ll have a thought and it opens the door to a completely new way forward. I can’t explain it, but it’s happened to me again and again throughout my life. What I’ve discovered is that watershed moments are always right within your grasp. Indeed, what I want you to take away from this series is that every day you are walking in the midst of God’s wisdom and if you dig deep enough, I truly believe the answers will reveal themselves to you.

By the way, are you interested in knowing what happened to Edward after getting denied from Moscow State University? Well, he ended up applying to the Institute for Oil and Exploration that the professor had recommended. He got accepted, but it was just an engineering school like the one his dad had attended. It did have a small applied mathematics program, but very little pure math that was too easy for Edward. In a cruel twist a fate, his school was just down the street from Moscow State University.

However, upon entering the program at the Institute for Oil and Exploration, one of the professors saw how incredibly brilliant Edward was at math, so he put Edward in touch with Dmitry Fuchs, one of the most famous mathematicians in Russia. Fuchs was part of a small group of professors who secretly mentored promising Jewish students shut out of academia.

The first time Dmitry Fuchs meets Edward, he wanted to test his metal. So Fuchs gives Edward a problem. And to be clear, this wasn’t like a drill in school where the teacher already knows the answer. This was a math problem which no one in the world had ever answered. And now Dimitry Fuchs was asking him to do it. This was a high anxiety moment for Edward. He’s thinking to himself, “Am I really cut out to be a mathematician?” because you have to appreciate that this problem Dmitry Fuchs hands to Edward, there’s no way of knowing if it’s going to take three months, three years or 300 years to solve.

But Edward thought back to his interview at Moscow University and he remembered how he had been able to solve these problems he had never encountered before. So he starts working on it. Day and night he’s thinking about it to the point where he couldn’t sleep. And one day, Edward is sitting at his desk with all these papers strewn everywhere, desperately trying to find the solution. When all of sudden, he saw it. Seemingly out of nowhere, like from the wisdom in Proverbs, the pattern emerged from the papers.

It was just this incredible moment where Edward realized he had in his possession something which no one else in the world had and no one could take that away from him, especially the inquisitors at Moscow University. So Edward brings the solution to his next meeting with Dmitry Fuchs. Fuchs looks it over, checks it backwards and forwards and says, “You did it. You solved something no one has ever solved before. What do you want to do next?” Edward looks Fuchs with a smile on his face and says, “I want another problem.” Amen.