On the eve of Hanukkah, two thousand Jewish families in the Dnipro Jewish Community are receiving festive gift packages from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine. This is just a small part of a major all-Ukrainian campaign by the Federation, distributing forty-five thousand such packages across more than one hundred and fifty Jewish communities throughout Ukraine.
Each package contains everything necessary for celebration: a compact hanukkiah (Hanukkah menorah), a set of candles, chocolate coins for the custom of Chanukah gelt, a book for family reading with children, and a very special gift – a copy of the unique, complete Ukrainian translation of the Five Books of the Torah with the Haftarot additions.
Recipients include families of community members, participants in informal educational programs and special projects like “Menorah Community,” residents of the “Beit-Baruch” Home for the Elderly and other social institutions of the Dnipro Jewish Community, and families of students from the Jewish lyceum and other educational institutions. Throughout Hanukkah, gifts will also be delivered to the homes of elderly and less mobile community members as part of a special mivtzaim campaign. During this time, members of the Dnipro Jewish Community will carry out activities to spread Hanukkah light not only in Jewish homes but also in various city locations.
In his address, Rabbi Mayer Tzvi Stambler, Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, emphasized: “The Hanukkah miracle reminds us that even the weak can triumph over the strong through faith in the Creator. The kindling of the Hanukkah candle declares that true justice and integrity are possible when people are guided by faith and the awareness that there is ‘an eye that sees and an ear that hears.’ In these difficult times, we must spread the light. Hanukkah menorahs will illuminate the world, filling it with joy, love, faith, and hope. We wish for the light of the Hanukkah candles to warm your hearts, grant strength, inspiration, health, happiness, peace, and faith in miracles. We hope for the speedy coming of Moshiach, complete redemption, and the light of Jerusalem spreading throughout the entire world.”
The Dnipro Jewish Community expresses its boundless gratitude to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine and its leader, Rabbi Mayer Tzvi Stambler, for their comprehensive assistance and support in holding Jewish holidays, in bringing thousands of Jewish families closer to Yiddishkeit, and for their colossal efforts in spreading the spiritual light of the Torah and mitzvot, which make the world better and brighter.
