The “Menorah Community” youth project of the Dnipro Jewish Community, implemented by the Zislin family, celebrated its anniversary with a lively party in the “One Family” format. It was on this day three years ago that the history of the program began—a program that today unites dozens of participants and has become for many a true entry point into conscious Jewish life.
The official part of the evening was led by Shlomo Tereshkevich, with the atmosphere captured by renowned Dnipro photographer Oleksandr Mishko. The hall gathered project participants, teachers, friends, and guests—all those who have walked together with “Menorah Community” throughout these years.
Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region Shmuel Kaminezki delivered a welcome address, emphasizing the project’s significance for the community and the spread of the light of Yiddishkeit. He was presented with an honorary certificate as a token of gratitude for his constant support and leadership. Following him, President of “Menorah Community,” esteemed member of the Dnipro Jewish Community Nathan Zolotarevsky, spoke, noting the great potential of this format of work in current conditions, after which he also received a certificate and commemorative gifts. Project activist Mazal Brocha (Kira) Bondar performed a musical greeting, creating a special atmosphere of Adar joy.
A special moment was the presentation of a certificate to the Rabbi of the “Menorah Community” project, Reuven Kaminezki, who highly praised the enthusiasm and dedication to the Chassidic movement of the project directors, the wonderful couple Levi and Esti Zislin. The natural continuation was their brief report on the journey traveled, presented not as formal statistics but as the story of a living community’s growth.
Levi and Esti Zislin noted that everything began with seven people and a men’s class in a hummus bar, while the women’s group started with eight girls in a small room on the eighth floor. No one thought about scale back then, yet during this time, over 160 men’s classes and approximately 158 women’s classes have taken place—a total of 318 study days and 556 hours of Torah learning.
But behind the numbers stand destinies and real changes: over 3,000 times participants laid tefillin; over 700 challahs were braided during the fulfillment of the mitzvah of hafrashas challah. Mezuzos were affixed in more than 30 homes, and more than five families began regularly keeping Shabbos. Over one hundred families received holy books in their homes, and more than fifteen individuals took on Jewish names, consciously declaring their belonging to their people.
Sincere and warm words of gratitude were expressed to the teachers of the men’s and women’s divisions of the “Menorah Community” project. They were presented with gifts in recognition of their work and dedication to the cause. Then, each participant of “Menorah Community” received commemorative gifts—t-shirts and caps with the symbolic inscription “One Family,” emphasizing the project’s core idea.
An important moment symbolizing the participants’ connection to Torah and mitzvos was the presentation of three pairs of tefillin, donated by the JFK community of Kyiv. The ceremony was attended by JFK President Menachem Mendel Kaminezki and guest from Great Britain, Mr. Aba Nechemia Vogel. Three project participants received this significant gift, which will mark a new stage in their personal spiritual growth.
The official part concluded with a performance by singer Dmytro Vaitishyn, after which the party continued in the warm, joyful atmosphere of informal communication, so characteristic of this community project.
“The anniversary of ‘Menorah Community’ became not just a celebration but a testament to how a strong and cohesive community grew from a small initiative,” Levi Zislin, director of the “Menorah Community” project, told our website. “If three years ago it was an idea, today it is truly one family—One Family—that continues to grow and multiply light. For the existence of our project, for the opportunity to be together and participate in a common cause, we wholeheartedly thank our beloved Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
