Joseph K. Miller Torah Center
Kharkov, Ukraine
Kharkov is the third largest town in the Ukraine. It is home to 40,000 Jews, most of whom have minimal, if any, knowledge of their Jewish legacy, not because they do not want it, but because they never had a chance to gain it.
Joseph K. Miller Torah Center:
Because of the Orthodox Union, 500 children and adults participate yearly in the Joseph K. Miller Torah Center, which serves Kharkov and eighteen other communities in the Ukraine. It provides an environment that revitalizes Jewish commitment and reinforces Zionist values. Junior high and high school students, and summer and winter campers, begin to observe Shabbat and Yom Tov. They learn Torah and Hebrew. They become bar and bat mitzvah. They experience a seder and begin to explore their Jewish identity. Monthly Shabbatonim bring together over 100 high school youngsters to celebrate the beauty of Shabbat.
Staff:
Three families of Rabbanim, who each live in Kharkov for two year terms, run the Kharkov program. Currently they are Rav Eran Pletzki, Rav Avraham Seadya and Rav Yishay Tachvilyan. They are supervised by Rabbi Shlomo Assraf, founding dean of the Kharkov Orthodox Union organizations. We also have two shelichot and two Hesder Yeshiva shelichim, as well as Chagim.
Volunteers:
Approximately ten during Tishri and as many as twenty during Pesach.
Central Events for the Chagim:
This past Rosh Hashanah, we celebrated with a festive concert in the presence of a huge audience of around 500 people. On Sukkot, as usual, we put up a central sukkah in the yard of Sumskayia, supplying meals for Jewish youth from Kharkov and many other parts of the Ukraine. The heart of our Chanukkah event, which attracted around 600 people, was the lighting of the menorah and a children’s performance. On Purim we made a huge Purim market.
We spent Shabbat Hagadol in Medziboz with the American boys from Yeshivat Sha’alvim (100 participants). At each of the sedarim (for the community separately and for the youth and university students separately) we had around 550 participants. Around twenty teenagers came especially from America in order to participate in the Pesach events, in addition to the regular Israeli shlichim.
Sunday School:
Forty students who learn in non-Jewish schools and public schools participate.
The Jewish University Students Organization “Achim”:
Around 200 students are connected under the umbrella of the community.
Students’ Yeshiva:
Classes have been added and significant progress has been made with the students. Around forty students attend three times a week to study Torah, Jewish history and Jewish philosophy. These students also enjoy an extensive variety of activities such as Shabbatonim, summer and winter camps, etc.
Kabbalat Shabbat in Susmayaka:
On a Shabbat three weeks ago there were 140 children, youth and students and also others from the community (there’s a late Kabbalat Shabbat minyan
just for the students). Those who keep Shabbat come to us for all the Shabbatot and Chagim. Board and lodging are free. Unfortunately,
there’s not enough room for every one.
Torani Yeshiva:
B”H we established and opened this year a Yeshiva inside the school under the leadership of Rav Tachvilyan. Twenty students are currently learning in this yeshiva.
Aliyah to Israel:
In the last few years, close to 600 young pepole have made aliyah to Israel through our efforts. Most of these children are religious and currently learn in a variety of religious institutions in Israel.
 Girl’s School (Click to enlarge) |
Pictured above is Zvi Kasspi, of Sha’alvim, who visited Kharkov’s Joseph K. Miller summer camps, part of the NCSY JOLT II program, where children, teenagers, and university students, receive their first taste of yiddishkeit.
Orthodox Union Sha’alvim Yeshiva High School: A School Which is a Home
Litsi Orthodox Union Sha’alavim School:
We now have 200 students, classes 1-11, open five days a week. There are three hours of Jewish studies every day which are given by the staff of rabbinical families and shelichim from Israel. From the data of the Education Ministry and Lishkat Hakesher, the percentage of aliyah from the school is amongst the highest in the world. The school receives partial support from the Israeli Education Ministry, whose studies indicate that olim from Kharkov programs arrive with a high level of Hebrew, leading to a swifter and easier acculturation process.
Boarding School for External Children:
The dormitory currently accommodates forty students. The boy’s school is located on Susmayka Street (in a community building) and the girl’s school is on Gogol Street. The students receive three meals a day, clothing, scholarships, additional classes in the evenings and more.