In today’s Talmud page, Kiddushin 17, the rabbis instruct us that we all deserve liberty and dignity, no matter how useful we are or how industrious. Professor Brian Horowitz, the editor of a new translation of a work by one of Russia's greatest forgotten Jewish writers, Lev Levanda, joins us to talk about the artist's belief in the emancipation of Russia's Jews, and about how his optimism soured first into despair and then into mental illness. Why is emancipation the beginning of the journey rather than its end? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hostedby Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer.  Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.