120 Jewish 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls from 34 cities across Russia and Belarus gathered last week for a moving seminar and central Bar and Bas Mitzvah celebration held in the scenic Podmoskovye resort near Moscow.
This festive event marked the highlight of the Bar and Bas Mitzvah Project, led by the EnerJew Jewish youth movement operating under the Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC). In total, 243 participants took part in the enriching preparatory program designed to empower and guide them through their transition into Jewish adulthood.
The program, included weekly sessions and major events focusing on life skills, personal responsibility, and foundational Jewish values. Of these participants, 120 exceptional teens were invited to the culminating seminar and celebration, where they also received meaningful, high-quality gifts to accompany them into the next chapter of their lives.
The four-day seminar, held in a warm and engaging atmosphere, featured an emotional Shabbaton experience, classes and lectures, interactive workshops, festive gatherings, creative activities, exciting excursions, and a celebratory cruise on the Moscow River. The teens were accompanied by EnerJew’s dedicated staff, inspirational speakers, and their communal Chabad rabbis who accompanied them throughout their preparation.
A particularly memorable moment occurred during the visit of Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar. He presented each Bar Mitzvah boy with his own pair of tefillin and each Bas Mitzvah girl with an elegant silver Shabbat candlestick, a gesture that left a lasting impression on the young participants.
“It was an incredible moment,” shared a boy from Volgograd. “I felt like I was part of something so much bigger—part of the eternal Jewish people.” A girl from Chelyabinsk added, “Something inside me changed. I felt filled with Jewish pride. I’m now planning to study in a Jewish school and live as a proud Jew.”
The Bar Mitzvah program is managed and coordinated by Rabbi Azarya Shaulov and Ms. Kristina Shulman. “It was deeply moving to witness the teens’ enthusiasm and the seriousness with which they prepared for their Bar and Bas Mitzvahs and their Jewish futures,” said R’ Yaakov Sominisky, Director of EnerJew. “This meaningful seminar left a profound impact, with each participant returning home inspired, joyful, and eager to strengthen their Jewish identity and connection.”
EnerJew currently operates 73 vibrant chapters in Jewish communities across ten FSU countries, with the generous support of the Finger Family Foundation. This year’s standout participants came from cities such as Moscow, Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Novosibirsk, Grodno, Birobidzhan, Krasnodar, Ufa, Omsk, and Kaliningrad, among many others.
