A celebration of the bar mitzvah of Menachem Mendel Futerfas took place in the “Menorah Grand Hall,” the main celebration hall of the Dnipro Jewish Community. He is the son of the Secretary of the Beis Din of Dnipro, the esteemed Rabbi Shneur Zalman Futerfas, and his wife Yehudis, the eldest daughter of the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki, and Rebbetzin Chana.
The celebration was intended to solemnly mark the coming of age according to Jewish law of the young Chassid and Rebbe’s shliach, Menachem Mendel Futerfas. It began with a reception in the format of a welcome party, where numerous guests greeted the bar mitzvah boy and his parents and took photographs with him as a keepsake.
The ceremony in the main hall began with a screening of a video of the Leader of our generation, the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Then, the grandfather of the bar mitzvah boy, the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki, read in Hebrew a letter of blessing that the Lubavitcher Rebbe had personally sent to him for his own bar mitzvah. The Ukrainian translation was read by the esteemed member of the Dnipro Jewish Community, Igal Rogovoy.
A majestic introductory niggun was played, and the young chassan bar mitzvah began to recite from memory, in Yiddish, the maamar “Ita BeMidrash Tehillim,” which boys are accustomed to study for their Jewish coming of age. This maamar discusses the importance and significance of laying tefillin, the connection between this mitzvah and the commandment to study Torah, and the performance of mitzvos as a way to bring spiritual light into the world.
As soon as the maamar recitation was completed, lively Chassidic music began to play, performed by the legendary musician Zvulun Natanov. All the guests then moved to the center of the hall to participate in spirited Chassidic dancing, which is customary to delight the bar mitzvah boy and his parents, as the joy of a bar mitzvah is likened to the joy of a wedding.
Numerous archival and historical photographs and videos were shown at the celebration, including the song “Lyuba, brattsy, lyuba” performed by the great-grandfather of the current chassan bar mitzvah, Menachem Mendel Futerfas. Many congratulations and toasts were offered by relatives, esteemed members of the Dnipro Jewish Community, and honored guests who arrived for the celebration from other cities and countries.
The Dnipro Jewish Community and our website congratulate the Futerfas family and the young Menachem Mendel, and wish him to bring glory to his family, becoming a Torah scholar and a renowned Chassid, to bring much nachas to the Rebbe, and to go from strength to strength — to Torah, Chuppah, and good deeds.
Mazl Tov!
