A summer mini-camp titled “Contact” was held at Machon “Chaya-Mushka,” the leading educational institution for girls of the Dnipro Jewish Community. It became a special space for rest, socializing, and inner growth for students of various ages. Its program was built around a deep educational theme – a person’s contact with their inner essence, with their Jewish soul, with the Almighty, with the Chassidic way of life, with the Rebbe, and with the people around them. This approach made the camp not merely a series of summer activities but a cohesive program aimed at strengthening Jewish identity, understanding one’s own purpose, and developing personal responsibility.
The camp participants were divided into age groups: the younger girls, students in grades 1-4, were led by Adel Shikula; the grades 5-6 group was led by Sheina Segal; and the older students worked with Chana Stambler and Esti Kaminezki. The camp’s common theme was explored through different directions, helping the girls to re-examine themselves as true Jewish girls, to feel their connection to their soul, to their values, and to the way of life that the Machon fosters.
The first day of the camp was dedicated to inner contact with one’s own personality, awareness of oneself, one’s Jewish name, one’s soul, and one’s identity. An important conceptual foundation for this day was the story of a girl from the hippie era, which helps one understand: before making choices, building one’s life, and determining one’s place in the world, a person must feel who they truly are, what they are connected to, and what their inner anchor is. The girls reflected on what it means to be a true Jewish girl, to feel one’s soul, and to build one’s life accordingly. As part of the creative session, the participants created their names from clay, turning them into a personal artistic project connected to individuality, inner world, and a sense of their own uniqueness.
The second day was dedicated to the connection with the Almighty and the theme of prayer as a constant personal contact between a person and the Creator. The girls spoke about tefillah as the most important part of daily life, about the possibility not merely to recite the words of prayer but to build through it a regular inner meeting with the Almighty. Through discussions, specially prepared tasks, and the general atmosphere of the day, the students learned to perceive prayer as a personal space for gratitude, supplication, reflection, and spiritual growth.
The third day developed the theme of the connection between the Chassidic way of life and the modern world. For students in grades 6-11, a special Zoom lecture was organized with Mushka Alperin, dedicated to gadgets, the internet, and how to maintain inner control over one’s time, attention, and decisions. Importantly, the conversation was built not as a formal prohibition or criticism of the digital environment, but as a discussion of how a young shlucha of the Rebbe can use modern tools without losing connection to her values, to her inner discipline, and to the foundation of her Chassidic life. Also on this day, part of the program was dedicated to working on a music video for the camp song, where the camp’s shared theme received creative expression.
The final day of the mini-camp was dedicated to contact with others – how a person feels in a group, how relationships between friends are built, why Chassidim feel like one family, and how respect, attention, the ability to hear another, and a sense of community become an important part of Jewish life. Through games, group activities, and shared discussions, the girls learned to see themselves as part of a collective, to understand the value of friendship, support, and shared responsibility. It was this theme that helped conclude the camp with a conversation about how a person’s true inner connection with their soul, with the Almighty, and with Jewish tradition inevitably manifests in their attitude toward others.
“It was very important to us that the ‘Contact’ mini-camp be not just a summer recreation program but a time when each girl could understand herself more deeply, feel her Jewish soul, strengthen her connection with the Almighty, with the Rebbe, with Chassidic values, and with the people around her,” noted Machon Director Raizel Milman. “That is precisely why the entire program was built around the theme of contact, with each day revealing one aspect of the inner world of a true Jewish girl and young shlucha of the Rebbe. We are sincerely grateful to everyone who invested effort, attention, and soul into the preparation of this camp. I am confident that it became an important part of the summer programs for children, which, following the directives of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, are conducted by the united and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki. And for the special attention to the work of our Machon and the education of Jewish girls in an atmosphere of Yiddishkeit, I want to once again express my deep gratitude to our dear Rebbetzin Chana Kaminezki.”
