Dnieper Yeshiva Students Tour France

Say you’re fourteen years old. How does a week in France, filled with touring and trips, sound? For the bochurim of the Yeshivas Lubavitch in Dnieper, Ukraine – it was a dream come true.

The trip was the result of months of intense effort by the bochurim. Each bochur was successfully tested on a minimum of thirty five to forty five blatt Gemora. Many far surpassed their quota, earning additional rewards.

Arrangements were made with the yeshiva in Brunoy for the bochurim to stay in the newly remodeled yeshiva campus while the Brunoy bochurim were away for yeshivas kayitz.

The program combined learning and incredible trips. The boys spent a day at Paris’s premium amusement park together with over two thousand children from Gan Yisrael camps from around the area. A rope course, go-carting and an afternoon doing mivtzoim at the Eifel Tower completed the fun.

Coming from Dnieper, the city where the Rebbe grew up, it was only natural for the bochurim to spend one day visiting various sites that the Rebbe frequented when living and visiting France. One of the venues was the apartment of R’ Zalman Schneerson where Rebbitzen Chana, the Rebbe’s mother, stayed while waiting for a visa to immigrate to the US. The Rebbe would visit her every day and farbrenged there for the chassidim several times. While taking a group picture outside the home, the current owner came to the balcony and kindly invited the entire group of 25 strong into her apartment. While inside a bochur made a siyum on a mesechta. The day ended with studying a reshima of a shiur the Rebbe gave at the “17 shul” where the Rebbe davened and gave shiurim while living in France, followed by a farbrengen there.

During their stay, the bochurim had the opportunity to farbreng with the mashpi’im of the Brunoy yeshiva R’ Yisrolik Segal, R’ Avremi Wolf and R’ Zalman Segal and got to enjoy the old-fashioned Chassidishe atmosphere of Brunoy.

This year’s France trip comes after spending the last several summers in a month-long yeshivas kayitz in Kfar Chabad Beis in Eretz Yisroel.

Yishivas Lubavitch Ukraine was established in Dnieper four years ago by several shluchim from Ukraine to serve the sons of shluchim and anash world over, with primacy given to sons of Ukrainian shluchim. The yeshiva has earned a reputation for academic excellence and an atmosphere of yiras shomayim, by combining a solid framework of high expectations and a sensitive personal approach. It is run by a team of experienced hanhala led by R’ Chaim A. Chazan and R’ Eliyahu Chefer

The yeshiva is situated on the outskirts of Dnieper on a beautiful sprawling campus. The peaceful environment and natural surroundings encourages a complete dedication to diligent learning, for which the yeshiva has become known. Beyond the learning, the top gashmius conditions, ably managed by Australian-born R’ Yossi Glick, greatly contributes to the yeshivas unique success.

The expenses of the trip were arranged by the dedicated vaad of the yeshiva Rabbis Shmuel Kaminetzki, Meir Stambler and Fully Rutman, beyond the untold effort they expend throughout the year to ensure that tuition fees remain one of lowest of any Chabad yeshiva in the world, if not the lowest.