100 Outstanding Jewish Teens Celebrate Bar and Bat Mitzvah Near Moscow
After a year of learning, preparation, and personal growth, 100 outstanding teens from Jewish communities across Russia and Belarus gathered near Moscow for a memorable Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration organized by EnerJew, the Jewish youth movement of the Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC). The special four-day seminar brought together participants from 45 cities, marking a significant milestone in their journey into Jewish adulthood.
The participants, 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls, were selected from a much larger group of 403 teens who took part throughout the year in the Upgrade Bar and Bat Mitzvah Project. Through weekly learning sessions, workshops, and communal activities, the program guided the young participants as they prepared to enter Jewish adulthood with greater confidence, responsibility, and connection to Jewish values and tradition.
The program’s most emotional highlight was during the special and moving Bar and Bat Mitzvah grand celebration and ceremony, attended by Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, who personally presented each Bar Mitzvah boy with his very own pair of tefillin, and every Bat Mitzvah girl with her very own elegant silver Shabbat candlesticks. The gifts, courtesy of the Finger Family Foundation, symbolized the participants’ personal connection to Jewish life and tradition as they entered this new stage. Also in attendance were FJC CEO Rabbi David Mondshine and YAHAD Director Rabbi Mendy Wilansky.
This year’s program stood out for its broad reach, including more than 50 participants from small and remote communities where regular Jewish educational infrastructure is limited. These teens completed the curriculum online in partnership with the Or Menachem Jewish online school, allowing them to remain connected throughout the year despite the distance. Twenty of those online participants were able to travel and join the concluding seminar in person.
The atmosphere throughout the gathering was both festive and inspiring. Participants enjoyed an uplifting Shabbaton, interactive workshops, lectures, creative activities, excursions, and a celebratory cruise along the Moscow River. EnerJew staff members, educators, guest speakers, and local Chabad rabbis accompanied the teens throughout the event, strengthening the sense of unity that had developed during the year. Among those actively participating were Rabbi Mendel Mondshine and Rabbi Moshe Rochlin from the EnerJew administration, Rabbi Moshe Elkin, Rabbi Avraham Denisov, Rabbi Gershon Gershovitz, Rabbi Shneur Kosenko, Rabbi Mendel Feldman, Rebbetzin Dina Deitch from Samara, and Rebbetzin Perel Nechoda of Tomsk.
“A very special moment took place during Shabbat,” shared EnerJew director R’ Yaakov Sominsky. “One of the participants celebrated his actual 13th birthday that day, and in many ways became the representative of the entire group. When he was called to the Torah, the excitement among all the teens was extraordinary. The feeling of one united family was truly remarkable.”
The Bar and Bat Mitzvah Project, generously supported by the Meromim Foundation, was coordinated by Rabbi Azarya Shaulov and Mrs. Kristina Shulman, together with EnerJew regional director Natella Epstein, who also oversaw the successful production of the seminar and Shabbaton.
Photo: Olesya Prozhilina
