Ten-year-old Marina Opalikhina was invited to the PlayBack camp, organized by the Jewish community of Dnepr, at the request of her mother, who really wanted her daughter to take a break from a stressful situation, to find herself in a cozy family atmosphere, surrounded by warmth and care, for which Jewish children’s programs in Dnepr are widely known.
Although the PlayBack camp is a day camp, and Marina and her mother live in the city of Pokrov (formerly Ordzhonikidze), which is more than 60 miles from Dnepr and it would have been difficult to travel every day, the Jewish community found a solution to the issue of Marina’s overnight stay, and she felt happy, having found many friends and taking part in all the activities.
But most of Marina’s new friends already had Jewish names, and Marina asked the director of the camp, Leah Lazareva, if she could also get a Jewish name. Her wish came true the following Thursday, the day when the Torah is read during the morning prayer of Shacharit. Near the Seifer Torah in the main hall of the central synagogue “Golden Rose”, Marina with great trepidation called herself for the first time by her new name – Miriam.
Of course, for the “PlayBack” camp this was an important event and a special event was organized in honor of Miriam, and she received a large birthday cake with her Hebrew name written on it, and all the girls, madrichim, head counselors and the director of the camp loudly congratulated her and sang “Siman Tov uMazal Tov” in her honor.
