The “Bar/Bat Mitzvah UPGRADE 5786” project has launched in Dnipro, aimed at preparing Jewish teenagers for one of the most important milestones in their lives – reaching Jewish adulthood. The project is being implemented by the Dnipro Jewish Community with the support of EnerJew Ukraine and the JRNU fund. It is designed to help participants consciously and meaningfully enter this new life status by combining knowledge, personal experience, and engagement with Jewish traditional practice.
This year, the project’s sessions are being held at the Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Jewish Lyceum No. 144, the leading educational institution of the Dnipro Jewish Community. This program is structured not only to provide teenagers with the necessary knowledge about the significance of Bar and Bat Mitzvah but also to create a space for inner growth, the development of responsibility, and the cultivation of their Jewish identity through interactive and creative formats.
During the first meeting, welcoming words were addressed to the participants by Rebbetzin Chana Kaminezki, wife of the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, and by Rabbi David Vaskovsky, head of the “Beit leBanim” boarding school. They emphasized the special spiritual significance of the Bar and Bat Mitzvah age and the importance of a proper, meaningful start to adult Jewish life.
The project participants were introduced to the team that will accompany them throughout the course: the Lyceum’s Vice-Principal for Jewish Traditions, Aliza Rabinovich, and the Dnipro “EnerJew” club coordinator, Beila Letichevskaya. The teenagers received workbooks, filled out their avatars, participated in a collage-making activity visualizing their expectations from the program, and at the end of the meeting, memorable gifts awaited everyone.
“The ‘Bar/Bat Mitzvah UPGRADE’ project is not just a course of study, but an important and very delicate stage of guiding a teenager during their transition into adult Jewish life, when their relationship with mitzvos, tradition, and themselves as part of the Jewish people is being established,” noted the project leader, Beila Letichevskaya. “For us, it is fundamentally important that this journey be meaningful, warm, and supportive. I would like to express sincere gratitude to Olena Leonidivna Krasnova and the entire team of Jewish Lyceum No. 144 for their openness and fruitful cooperation, as well as to the Dnipro Jewish Community, Chief Rabbi of Dnipro Shmuel Kaminezki, and Rabbi Reuven Kaminezki for their constant support and attention to such important educational and spiritual initiatives.”
