As part of the preparations for the upcoming Hanukkah holiday, a hands-on workshop for decorating hanukkiahs was held for the second and third-grade students of the Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Jewish Lyceum No. 144, the leading educational institution of the Dnipro Jewish Community.
The event was led by Rabbanit Yehudis Futerfas, a teacher in the Lyceum’s Jewish Studies department. The wooden bases for the future hanukkiahs were crafted thanks to the talent and ingenuity of Yevheniia Kheilyk, the Lyceum’s Facilities Manager, and Yurii Vovaiev, a Maintenance Worker, who prepared everything each child needed to create a unique hanukkiah. The children decorated their hanukkiahs with great joy and inspiration, listening to Rabbanit Yehudis Futerfas’s captivating story about the deep spiritual meaning of fulfilling the mitzvah of lighting the Hanukkah candles. After completing the workshop, they were able to take their handmade hanukkiahs home, where they will light them each evening of the upcoming holiday together with their families.
“It is very important for a child not only to participate in the holiday itself but also to prepare for it with an understanding of the importance of every detail, so that the holiday becomes their personal matter,” shared Rabbanit Yehudis Futerfas. “This will strengthen family understanding, bring much spiritual light into every home, and also become an important personal memory. Growing up, these children will be able to pass it on to their own children and grandchildren, telling them how Hanukkah was celebrated in the first quarter of the 21st century in the united and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
