Swerdlov Summer Program Visit Ukrainian Cities, Farbrengs With Shluchim

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A group of 25 Jewish girls from New York visited the Beit Baruch Charity Center and the Beit Reuven synagogue in Kamenskoye on the first day of Elul, 9 August 2021. The trip is a part of the famous YTT (Swerdlov Summer Program) 8-day touring camp for Jewish girls in Ukraine.

Miryam Swerdlov, the organizer of the motivational program YTT (which stands for ‘Brining Yesterday into Today for a better Tomorrow’), said that usually around 100 Jewish girls from different countries attend the camp. This year, due to the global pandemic, the YTT project was only able to accept fully vaccinated members.

The young participants visited Jewish communities in Dnipro and Kamenskoye and learnt about the history and daily life of these communities. In Dnipro American travellers were warmly greeted by the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro Shmuel Kaminetsky, who talked to them about the significance of the region for Jewish history in the global perspective and how the instructions of the Lubavitcher Rebbe are being implemented by the local community today.

Rabbanit Dina Stambler, wife of Chief Rabbi of Dneprodzerzhinsk Levi Stambler, personally welcomed the girls in Kamenskoye. She spoke about the history of the city, the synagogue and the meaning of Rosh Chodesh. The meeting ended with a festive meal.

This summer trip to Eastern Europe includes an introduction to the legacy of the Ashkenazi civilization, historical centers of Hasidism and large modern communities. According to the organizers, the main goal of the camp is to establish and strengthen the Jewish identity of the young women.

Photos provided by the Jewish communities of Dnipro and Kamenskoye.