Blessing of the Trees Among 1000’s of Rare Ones

Every Shabbos afternoon, in the Central Marina Roscha Shul of Moscow where Rabbi Berel Lazar davens, there is a Chevra Tehillim for children. Each year on every Chol Hamoed Pesach they go on a special trip that includes saying Birkas HaIlanos, an enjoyable attraction, and prizes for the outstanding students.

Being that the winter weather hadn’t yet made way for spring, the shul’s gabbais searched for a place where it would be halachically permissible to say the bracha.

This year they chose the Botanical Garden, which is the largest park of its kind in all of Russia and is home for close to ten thousand rare species of trees.

After reciting the bracha from special pages that were prepared with Russian translation, Rabbi Shneur Zalman Kahn, Dayan of Russia’s Beis Din, along with his young sons, bentched all the participants with an emotional Birkas Kohanim.

After touring the park’s impressive grounds, the children marched on in an organized fashion to the Rope Climbing Park, while singing psukim and listening to Chassidic stories.

The children had a great time enjoying the various attractions, and at the end of the trip were gifted with special prizes of encouragement and appreciation.

Photos by Levi Nazarov