Enrichment Seminars Prepare SmartJ Staff for Another Year of Inspiring Informal Education
Weeks before the start of the new academic year, one hundred and twenty SmartJ coordinators and educators gathered in Kishinev and Baku for three-day seminars filled with tools and innovative ideas to continue and expand their life-changing educational work within Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union. Operating for over six years in dozens of […]
YAHAD Announces Surprising New Location for Annual Student Trip
Thousands of Jewish students and young professionals from across Russia and the FSU were surprised and excited by YAHAD’s recent announcement of an intriguing new destination for their annual trip. This trip, which has become a tradition, attracts hundreds of participants each year after they complete their attendance in a unique and stimulating Jewish studies […]
Gan Israel Minsk Brings Renewed Spirits to Belarusian Jewish Youth
Attracting 70 Jewish children from across Belarus, the FJC’s overnight ‘Gan Israel’ summer camp in the suburbs of Minsk, the Belarus capital, managed to become a shining beacon of light and inspiration for the country’s Jewish population. Headed by the Chief Rabbi and Rebbetzin of Minsk, Shneor and Bassie Deitsch, the special camp offered ten […]
Hundreds of FSU Rabbis Attend Historic Yahrzeit Event in Kazakhstan
Eighty years after the passing in exile of the holy Kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Schneerson OBM, father of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in the remote city of Almaty, hundreds of rabbis and communal leaders active across the former Soviet Union gathered in Kazakhstan this past weekend to commemorate his memory. Rabbi Schneerson was born in 1878 […]
An Unforgettable Summer on the Frontlines in Kharkiv
Situated on the frontlines, Camp Gan Israel in Kharkiv, Ukraine provided a rare opportunity for children to experience normalcy and joy despite their challenging circumstances. Sasha celebrated his Bar Mitzvah with all his fellow campers. Nochum took the Tzivos Hashem learning book home every night, determined to win the learning competition. Elisheva Chaya enjoyed a […]
Summer Special: Shabbaton Weekend Inspires Belarusian Youth
More than forty Jewish teenagers from across Belarus recently participated in a special off-schedule Shabbaton conducted and planned by EnerJew, FJC’s Jewish youth movement across the FSU, in conjunction with the local Jewish community of Bobruisk. “The inspiring Shabbaton,” explains the Chief Rabbi of Bobruisk, Shaul Chababo, “combined wonderful experiences for both body and soul. […]
A Summer of Rejuvenation: A Unique Retreat for Dnipro’s Jewish Community
Thanks to the invaluable support of the Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, the Federation of Jewish Communities, and Chabad’s humanitarian arm in Ukraine, the Jewish community of Dnipro, led by Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, organized a unique family summer retreat for over four hundred community members, rabbis, and activists in a beautiful area outside the city. […]
Jewish summer camps offer respite amid Ukraine’s heat and conflict
The largest of these camps, held in Dnipro, hosted more than four hundred family members. Based on an article by JERUSALEM POST STAFF Ukraine is facing a summer of extreme challenges, not only due to soaring temperatures and power outages but also because of escalating tensions. Amid these dire circumstances, Jewish communities across Ukraine have […]
Nine Students of Moscow’s Yeshiva Receive Rabbinical Ordination
Students of Moscow’s Yeshiva Gedola ‘Tomchei Tmimim’ have received Smicha, Rabbinical Ordination, after completing a series of including their final exam by the Chief Rabbi of Russia and the yeshiva’s founder, Rabbi Berel Lazar. The scene is familiar: a group of excited yeshiva students about to begin their final exam on the material they have […]
Jewish Design Students Create Unique Exhibition on the Shtetl
Students majoring in design at the Machon Chamesh Institute presented their work at the Hadassah Medical Center in Moscow displaying the Shtetl, Jewish towns throughout Europe that were destroyed during the Holocaust, and Jewish life that continues until today. As the academic year drew to a close, graduates of the architecture and interior design program at the […]