A special event dedicated to 11 Nissan – the birthday of the Leader of our generation, the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson – took place at the Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Yeshiva Ktana, the leading educational institution for boys of the Dnipro Jewish Community. The celebration was organized with the support of the Dnipro Jewish Community in the cozy setting of the “Menorah Cafe” in the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menorah.”
The program began with a screening of a video of the Rebbe, immediately setting a special atmosphere for everything that followed. After this, the boys recited the Twelve Pesukim, which the Rebbe instructed every Jewish child to memorize, and then performed a special song set to the text of Psalm 125, which begins to be recited from this day. Next, each boy wrote a Pan – a personal letter to the Rebbe – which is an important part of the traditions of 11 Nissan. This combination of words from Tehillim, niggun, and shared participation created a very uplifting mood in the hall, where the children were not merely following the order of the event but truly experiencing it as a day filled with Chassidic meaning and joy.
The next important part was the awarding of thirty winners – those students who had completed ninety percent of the tasks within the two-week preparation for 11 Nissan. For the boys, this was not only a pleasant moment of recognition for their efforts but also confirmation that daily work, consistency, and a serious approach to the mivtza truly matter and bear fruit. Each received as a gift a special Kiddush cup, which they will be able to use during the Pesach Seders for the fulfillment of the mitzvah of the four cups.
Following this, an interactive game based on fourteen Chassidic stories took place. The students were divided into groups: one group selected images corresponding to a particular story, another matched a quote to it, and the third formulated conclusions. This format made the program particularly engaging and rich, allowing the boys not merely to recall what they had read but to internalize the meaning of the Chassidic stories, see their inner lesson, and feel how Chassidic thought becomes part of their own perception of the world.
A separate and very joyful part of the event was the awarding of the ten students who accumulated the highest number of points in the preparation for the Rebbe’s birthday. We are pleased to name these ten winners, of whom the entire Dnipro Jewish Community is proud:
1st place – Shneur Zalman Segal,
2nd place – Yosef Yitzchak Stambler,
3rd place – David Susorov,
4th place – Eliyahu Feldman,
5th place – Shlomo DovBer Neumann,
6th place – Yosef Yitzchak Romanovsky,
7th place – Shmuel Stambler,
8th place – Menachem Mendel Segal,
9th place – Levi Yitzchak Nachshon,
10th place – Levi Yisroel Vaskovsky.
The event concluded on a special note – the yeshiva students wrote down their good resolutions, made in honor of 11 Nissan, in special notebooks that had been given to them. This moment became the culmination of the entire program, as the celebration and the preparation for it found their continuation in the personal responsibility of each child.
“It was very important to us that 11 Nissan not remain for the students simply a date on the calendar or a beautiful event, but become a day that they truly lived with their hearts – through participation, through joy, through learning, and through a personal good resolution,” noted Rabbi David Vaskovsky, director of Tzivos Hashem at the Yeshiva Ktana. “When a boy watches a video of the Rebbe, recites the pesukim, sings Tehillim, takes part in a game based on Chassidic stories, receives an award for his efforts, writes a Pan, and makes his good resolution – then it is no longer just a program, but a genuine Chassidic experience that, we hope, will remain with him for a long time and help him continue to grow in Torah, Chassidus, and good deeds. We are deeply grateful for the assistance in holding this event, for the constant care in raising our boys, and for the attention to every Jewish child, to our dear, united, and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
