A touching and truly heartwarming concert took place at the “Beit Baruch” Home for the Elderly, a unique social institution of the Dnipro Jewish Community. The concert was prepared by students of the Levi Yitzchak Schneerson Jewish Lyceum No. 144, who came to greet the Home’s residents and bring them the joy of live interaction, music, and children’s creativity.
This concert was part of a special monthly project dedicated to the month of Kislev, which is ongoing at the lyceum and focuses on various aspects of the concept of “Community.” (Our website has already written about the first events of this project here). The connection between different generations and different Jewish institutions was the overarching goal of this event, designed to bring joy to the elderly and instill in the children an understanding of the importance of unity within the Dnipro Jewish Community and the joy of being part of this bond.
Representatives from various classes of the Jewish Lyceum participated in the concert, accompanied by teachers Darya Barkova and Svitlana Paliukh under the guidance of Deputy Director for Educational Work Tetiana Syrotkina. The program was structured as a cohesive and thoughtful performance, where songs, poems, and kind words naturally intertwined, creating an atmosphere of care, respect, and sincere attention to the older generation. Children of various ages took part, each adding their own special note to the collective harmony of the celebration.
The concert program was opened with the song “My Name is Ukraine,” performed by first-grader Levi Zolotarevsky. Then, 8th-grade student Maksym Kandybur read a poem about Ukraine, followed by a specially prepared dance performed by the third grade. Next came the poignant song “To Be Simple,” performed by fifth-grader Ariana Aronovska, a poem by Lesya Ukrainka recited by eighth-grader Veronika Kruglyak, and a performance by the dance duo of fifth-graders Anna Filkenstein and Miriam Promyslovska. In the final segment, tenth-grader Yelyzaveta Talan performed a song set to music by Myroslav Skoryk, after which two poems were recited: one by tenth-grader Anna Kroshevych and another by eleventh-grader Alisa Shnaider. The culmination of the concert was the powerful and truly folk song “Oi, na Hori” (Oh, on the Mountain), performed by sixth-grader Kira Bondar.
The residents of “Beit Baruch” watched every performance with great attention and joy, generously rewarding the young artists with applause and smiles. The audience laughed, shouted “bravo,” and some even cried with happiness, with many saying that this concert had added not just months, but years to their lives… After the concert, the residents of “Beit Baruch” composed and conveyed a collective letter of gratitude to the Lyceum Director, Olena Krasnova, expressing their hope that such concerts and meetings with children would happen as often as the educational process allows.
“Such meetings fill our Home with a special meaning because children bring with them living joy, energy, and a feeling that our residents are remembered, loved, and visited not out of obligation but from the heart,” said the Director of the “Beit Baruch” Home for the Elderly, Malvina Ruvinska. “The atmosphere of this meeting revealed the true meaning of the concept of ‘Community’ as one big family, which is precisely what our beloved, united, and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community is under the leadership of Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
