By Sholom Ber Stiefel
Last week, when we met with Rachel Aronavna, she told us that there is going to be a camp for (Jewish) kids, and she wants us to come there Friday afternoon at the end of camp to lead a model Shabbos meal, in order to teach the children about the various Shabbos traditions.
And so at 3:30 PM sharp the program began. First we introduced ourselves, and told the children that we came all the way from America just to show them what a true Shabbos meal looks like. Then, we gave out vanilla flavored wafers from Israel, and we all recited the Bracha together.
After that, we all went into the dining room, where there was a beautiful table set up with food (the children were taught earlier that day how to set up a Shabbos table), and Matzah and grape juice which we had brought.
On a side table candles were set up for the women and girls to light. We first gave out a nickel to every child, and told them that right before candle-lighting is a special time to give Tzedakah. Then, the girls lit the Shabbos candles, while the boys watched closely in order to be able to show their mothers how to do it.
Then we gave out transliterated song sheets with Sholom Aleichem – some of them knew the tune, while the rest hummed along. Then they all washed their hands for bread with the traditional 3 times on each hand, and we all recited the Bracha together.
During the meal, we sang many Jewish songs in Russian, which they were really impressed with, hearing so many Jewish songs that they understood.
We even taught them “who knows one” (“Эх ты Землак”) in Russian! The children were excited to be able to take home their song sheets.
The children then heard a story about how special the Shabbos candles are.
At the end of the meal, we all thanked Hashem for the food we ate. Then we asked if any of the boys are over 13 years old, and one of them was. So, we put on Tefillin with him and made him a Bar Mitzvah. All the other children watched very eagerly, paying attention to every detail, joining in the celebration.
to #13: I was actually @ that mass grave. i can send u pictures if u send me an email [email protected] And btw, it says all that on the monument
to #14: right now, there are roughly 500 Jews in the city, and it is about 10 hours away from “yeka” a.k.a. Dnepropetrovsk
yum what did they serve
my grandmother was from Kaminetz Podolsk, came to NY via Ellis Island around 1906 as a young child with her family. It once was a center of many synogogues and Bais Medrashim. How many Jews now live there? Is it near Yeka? BH Moshiach Now!
Very interesting. I have read several stories of Americans traveling back to KP to find their roots but I don’t recall seeing anything about a Jewish community still existing there. There was a massacre there that wiped out the Jewish population: One of the first and largest Holocaust mass-murder events occurred on August 27–28, 1941 near the city of Kamianets-Podilskyi. In those two days, 23,600 Jews were killed, most of them Hungarian Jews (14,000-16,000) and the rest mainly local Ukrainian Jews. As the researchers of the Holocaust point out, the Kamianets-Podilskyi massacre was the first mass action in the “final… Read more »
My bubbe and zeide were from Kaminetz-Podolsk!
WOW!
Amazing!
really great
Wow Sholom you’re famous!!!
Mogilov liolom voed
Stiefs!!!
Wasn’t this an article about Kamenetz-Podilskiy, why is everyone writing about Yeka? what is this “yeka” thing anyway?!?
yo shtif, tot, keep the yeka spirit and spread the love
STEIFMIESTER!!!!!
EVEYBODY DOING THE STIEF!!
good stuff
Kudos
Everybody doing the shitff yeh yeh yeh!!!!
Geulahing away
shtief ur awsomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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