Emotional Bar and Bas Mitzvah Celebration in the Heart of the Carpathian Mountains
127 Jewish teenagers participated this last weekend in EnerJew’s unique unity seminar for club members from across Ukraine. In the climax of the event, a Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration for 60 boys and girls from 15 youth clubs who had spent the year preparing for their big day as part of the FJC’s Bar and Bat Mitzvah project.
Far from the tension and stress that prevail across the country, the seminar in the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine offered participants—who arrived from all over the country—magical moments of peace and quiet, and a chance to be empowered and filled with strength and positive energy.
Already on the first evening of the four-day seminar, which took place in late June, the emotional Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration was held for the boys and girls who had diligently participated in all stages of the preparation course and were able to reach the grand celebration, which was integrated into the seminar. Precious gifts—tefillin for the boys and silver candlesticks for the girls—were presented to the youth in recognition of their efforts and achievements.
The remainder of the seminar, which brought together graduates of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah Project and members of the EnerJew youth movement, included a fascinating mix of activities and social games, dancing and gatherings, comedy skits and performances, lectures and classes, attractions and outdoor trips, with a central highlight being an uplifting and energetic Shabbaton.
The unforgettable seminar – organized by Rabbi Moshe and Shoshana Weber from Dnipro together with Ms. Lena Kovylova Director of EnerJew Ukraine – was led by the professional staff of FJC’s Jewish youth movement in the FSU, along with experienced counselors, lecturers, rabbis, and their families, who came especially for the event.
The young participants came from cities and program branches in Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Kamianske, Kyiv Simcha, Kyiv Orach Chaim, Kremenchuk, Kropyvnytskyi, Lviv, Shepetivka (Khmelnytskyi region), Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, and more.
The Bar and Bat Mitzvah project and the EnerJew Shabbaton were made possible thanks to the generosity of the Finger Family Foundation and the support of Jewish United Fund of Chicago.
