In the youth program for Jewish teens, “DJCY – STL teens – EnerJew,” organized by the Jewish Community of Dnipro with the support of STL and the EnerJew project (by the JRNU foundation), the first meeting after the end of Pesach and the holiday break took place.
During this meeting, the teens reviewed their joint Pesach commitment. While not all fully avoided chametz, many did their best to limit it and consciously track their efforts to refrain from what is prohibited during the holiday. It turned out that the teens took this commitment seriously: most were able to keep Pesach fully for all eight days, and others made significant efforts to reduce chametz and align their behavior with the spirit of the holiday.
“For many teens, it wasn’t easy — it required awareness and even courage,” said project coordinator Beila Letichevskaya. “We see this as a major collective achievement and congratulate everyone, hoping for even greater success next year.”
To mark the end of the holiday and the return to normal kosher eating, the group held a hands-on workshop on how to prepare tasty and kosher shawarma.
“The teens became real shawarma chefs,” continues Beila Letichevskaya, “they prepared and checked all the ingredients, then customized their dishes to taste — and it turned out absolutely delicious.”
After the culinary activity, the main topic of the meeting was the Counting of the Omer. With the help of their madrichim, the group explored the concept of the seven sefirot and the importance of counting the Omer each day. They committed to doing it every evening without missing a single day until the conclusion on the holiday of Shavuot — after which they plan to assess how successfully they completed the challenge. The meeting ended with a fun team game and an engaging quiz.
