Each day at the “Gan Levi Yitzchak” retreat, organized by the Jewish Community of Dnipro at the luxurious and comfortable Kohavi Forest Club — a picturesque and ecologically pristine location on the banks of the Samara River — was filled with a wide variety of engaging activities: workshops, sports games, excursions, educational sessions, and joyful entertainment.
During the first session of the retreat, several workshops were held that brought great pleasure to both children and adults. One of the workshops was dedicated to playing various percussion instruments such as darbukas, hang drums, and other popular instruments among today’s youth. Another workshop focused on the tie-dye technique, where participants created custom-designed T-shirts and decorated bottles. A pottery workshop also sparked great interest, and twenty-five women and girls had the opportunity to create textured-paste artwork under the guidance of one of the retreat leaders, Mrs. Leah Maevska.
Special attention was given to sports activities, which were led by Rabbi David Vayskovsky. These included outdoor games, soccer, tennis, and more. A large fishing trip provided participants with great enjoyment, and a table tennis tournament was held in Olympic format — the winner being Binyamin Cherkassky.
Swimming also played an important role in the retreat’s program. “The Torah commands every Jew to teach their child to swim — this mitzvah is not only relevant in the past,” noted Rabbi David Vayskovsky. “At our retreat, many members of the community had the opportunity to fulfill this commandment and enjoy swimming in a wonderful pool.”
As previously reported, the retreat featured a carefully planned and rich children’s program led by madrichot Sheina and Esti Segal, as well as Chaya and Chana Neuman. Additionally, the children enjoyed activities such as tile mosaics, numerous games including board games, educational sessions, quizzes, and contests where they earned points for the “Store” program held on the final day of the retreat.
A key component of the retreat was the range of activities that brought families together: braiding colorful challot before Shabbat, creating a family coat of arms, shared meals, picnics, and evening programs — including two farbrengens: a women’s farbrengen on the 12th of Tammuz and a men’s farbrengen on the 13th of Tammuz. The highlight of the retreat was the festive closing ceremony of the session.
“The first session of the ‘Gan Levi Yitzchak’ retreat was vibrant and will be remembered by all its participants for a long time,” said the retreat director, Leah Brez. “We are truly glad to have justified the trust placed in us by the Jewish Community of Dnipro and its Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
