Space to Grow for Krivoy Rog Children

Snowy weather and cold January temperatures didn’t stop parents and children from the Krivoy Rog Jewish community to come out and celebrate the opening of a new facility, Sunday. The Ukrainian community’s 10-year-old kindergarten moved into a new space—a beautifully designed building where the foundations of Jewish education will be laid for the city’s Jewish kinder.

Widely supported by local educators, business leaders, and parents, the new kindergarten is yet another development in the establishment of a comprehensive Jewish educational infrastructure for Krivoy Rog’s 12,000 Jews. The city’s Jewish community, led by Chief Rabbi Liron Ederi and Chairman Alexander Uchitel, is a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, and enjoys an active synagogue and an Ohr Avner Chabad Day School.

“Our first priority is to ensure that the children receive a solid, high-quality Jewish and secular education from an early age. This begins in kindergarten and continues all the way through, until they are ready to begin an independent life,” explained Rabbi Chaim Fridman, director of the Ohr Avner Foundation in the CIS, upon visiting the construction site. The Ohr Avner Foundation had initially helped establish the kindergarten, which is currently operating within the Day School building.

Mr. Gennady Korban, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish community, was a key sponsor of the $1.5 million project. The kindergarten complex will also house a modern gymnasium sponsored by Krivoy Rog community leaders Vladimir Nemirovsky and Alexander Livshits.

Designed and built by several Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog firms, the two-story, 2,260 sq meter structure is expected to accommodate 60 children. The spacious ground floor includes a performance hall with modern audio-visual equipment, multi-purpose hall, swimming pool, and well equipped gymnasium. The early childhood center and sports complex, under construction since 2009, has been completed last week.

With new research suggesting that young children are more productive and happy learners in an attractive and comfortable learning environment, special care was taken in the design of the space to foster development and learning. The classrooms are filled with natural light; the rooms for naptime are cozy and comfortable, and the space encourages exploration of Jewish identity through small, thoughtful touches. For example, the playroom offers a toy kitchenette with two separate sinks, appropriate for learning about the Jewish laws of Kashrut.

“From now on our goal is to extend the circle of Jews and ensure that no Jew in Krivoy Rog will be unacquainted with Judaism, and unaffiliated with the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Edri at the dedication ceremony. This, he explained is another step in the fulfillment of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. “We must invest all of our energy into accomplishing this goal.”