Hillel activists also enjoy several volunteer
activities, said Ms. Tovkach. They visit with Jewish elderly in the Beit
Baruch assisted living center and in the hesed, she stated. Additionally, they visit
lonely elderly Jews in their homes, sometimes bringing them small gifts of food
from sponsors. Another volunteer activity is working with at-risk children.
Ms. Tovkach acknowledged that Hillel needs to strengthen
its Jewish edu-cation programs. To that end, they are developing an
adaptation of a JDC education plan that will meet the needs of Hillel members.
In response to a question about participation of Hillel members in the Chabad
STARS program (see above), Ms. Tovkach said that some people attend both Hillel
and a STARS course. STARS, she noted, also refers halachically non-Jewish
applicants to Hillel.
A new Hillel program, said Ms. Tovkach, focuses on young
married Jewish couples, who often find that existing organizational activities
do not meet their needs. (It is not uncommon in the post-Soviet states for
Hillel to expand its better-known university programs to the post-college age
cohort.)
The current annual budget of Hillel in
Dnipropetrovsk is $46,000, Ms. Tovkach stated. This amount covers her fulltime
salary and that of seven part-time staff. Major donors, she continued,
are Hillel International, regional (CASE) Hillel, the Schusterman Family
Foundation, the Genesis Philanthropic Group (Moscow), United Jewish Community of
Ukraine, and the Joint Distribution Committee. Additionally, several local
individuals contribute small sums and/or in-kind donations, such as food
products and team t-shirts.
Encouraged by both Iosif Akselrud, the regional
Hillel director, and Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, Ms. Tovkach has begun to raise
funds locally for Hillel operations. Clearly anxious about her initial
efforts at fundraising, Ms. Tovkach said that she and Mr. Akselrud had set a
goal of $10,000 for the first year; she had already raised $4,000, she stated
proudly. Although Hillel prefers cash gifts, she also is seeking certain
material goods, such as refreshments, office supplies, and team apparel.
Notwithstanding strong sister-city ties between
Dnipropetrovsk and Boston, no exchanges have occurred between
Dnipropetrovsk Hillel and any Hillels in Boston-area colleges/universities.
However, said Ms. Tovkach, groups of Hillel members from Cornell University in
New York have visited Dnipro-petrovsk several times in recent years.
Ms. Tovkach stated that Dnipropetrovsk Hillel fills two
Taglit buses (birthright Israel; 40 people per bus) every year, one in
winter and one in summer; other organizations in Dnipropetrovsk – the Jewish
Agency, Nativ (through the Israel Cultural Center), and Chabad – organize their
own Taglit groups, so the city is well represented in this program. Hillel
does com-prehensive follow-up programming for all local young people
participating in Taglit and attracts some of those who went on non-Hillel buses
to local Hillel programs.
10. Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical College was established in 1995 to prepare teachers and
childcare workers for Chabad-sponsored preschools and elementary schools
throughout the post-Soviet states. Initially, it recruited its all-female
student enrollment mainly from smaller cities and towns, assuming that Jewish
young women in such locales would be eager to escape their often-stifling
environments for free college programs in a larger city. Over time, Beit Chana
grappled with the consequences of lower educational achievement of girls from
such circumstances and with demographic developments that sharply reduced the
number of Jewish young women in smaller towns, regardless of their capacity to
complete post-secondary education programs. Further, notwithstanding their enthusiasm
for relocation to a larger city, many young women were reluctant to commit to
residence in an isolated gender-segregated dormitory with a religious lifestyle
for the duration of their course of study.
Beit Chana never reached its capacity enrollment of
between 200 and 250 young women. It achieved its peak of 165 students several
years ago, and its 2008-2009 enrollment plummeted to 70. Acknowledging that
the institution was unlikely to survive without a “new vision”, Beit Chana has
made several changes in its operational procedures during the last several
years and intends to evolve further in the future. In collaboration with
Crimean State University in Yalta, Beit Chana is now accredited to offer a full
baccalaureate degree, rather than just the certificate program
(approximately equivalent to an associate’s degree in the United States) that
was its highest diploma in its earlier years. Its curriculum now
includes degree concentrations in additional fields, including psychology,
public relations, tourism, and finance, It scrapped its residence
requirement, opening its program to day/commuter students from
Dnipropetrovsk and environs.
In cooperation with Crimean
State University, Beit Chana has developed both baccalaureate and master’s
degree programs that enroll practicing teachers on a part-time basis. Some
such students live and work outside Dnipropetrovsk and travel to the city for
intensive courses several times yearly. All of its degrees are recognized both
in Ukraine and Israel. According to Rabbi Moshe Weber, Rabbi of the
College and its Deputy President for Jewish Studies and Jewish Education, Beit
Chana graduates are in demand for teaching positions in Chabad schools
throughout the post-Soviet states.
Rabbi Moshe Weber, left, has held administrative
positions at Beit Chana through several transitions. He directs the Jewish
studies and Jewish education component of the curriculum.
Photo: the
writer.
Rabbi Weber stated that current enrollment at
Beit Chana includes almost 70 students who follow the traditional curriculum in
pursuit of associate or full bachelor’s degrees; 45 of these young women live
in the Beit Chana dormitory, and the remainder commute from the city on a daily
basis. Another 10 young women from the Chabad Akademia program in Kharkiv come
to Beit Chana for intensive educational seminars enabling them to earn
baccalaureate degrees.
Forty-seven women who already have associate’s degrees in education and are
teaching in various schools (in Dnipropetrovsk and elsewhere) are enrolled in
Beit Chana on a part-time basis, coming to the college for several periods of
intensive education each year so that they can complete bachelor’s degrees.
Additionally, Beit Chana hosts a twice-weekly intensive Judaica program for
young women, which is an outgrowth of the STARS course; students receive
stipends for their participation in this curriculum.
Expressing enthusiasm about the new Director of Beit
Chana, Stanislav Sapozhnikov (see below), Rabbi Weber said that Beit
Chana has improved significantly in the last few years. He expects Mr.
Sapozhnikov to bring “revolutionary” changes to Beit Chana and to Jewish
education in Ukraine.
11. Stanislav Sapozhnikov, a local individual
currently writing his Ph.D. dissertation in the field of educational
administration, is the new Director of Beit Chana. His previous education
experience includes positions at several local universities and other educational
institutions.
Mr. Sapozhnikov said that
he is charged with growing Beit Chana, expanding its enrollment to
between 200 and 300 women and adding to the list of its degree programs so as
to increase the appeal of the college. He foresees additional concentrations
in English, Hebrew, management, banking, and “Ukraine in the world (Украина во мире)”. The new campus (see below) planned for Beit Chana
will appeal to Jewish women throughout Ukraine, he continued, because it will
have modern dormitories with amenities as well as up-to-date computer
laboratories and other facilities. However, he cautioned, Jewish demographic
decline has led to a situation in which very few halachically Jewish young
people remain in the country; further, he continued, few halachically Jewish
young women have the type of Jewish background that would attract them to a
Chabad women’s college. Beit Chana must have very strong programs to entice
non-Chabad Jewish young women to enroll.
Stanislav Sapozhnikov, right, a local non-observant
Jewish educator, is the new director of Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical
College. Photo: the writer.
Notwithstanding the inherent difficulties in expanding
Beit Chana, Mr. Sapozhnikov said that he is working very hard to attract the
best possible instructors. The Beit Chana compensation schedule already is
“not the lowest” in the city and he believes that teaching conditions on the
new campus will be excellent. In response to a question, Mr. Sapozhnikov
stated that he is not responsible for fundraising in support of Beit Chana.
12. A new program
operating from Beit Chana premises in 2010-2011 is the International Hasidic
Women’s Seminary. Managed entirely independently from Beit Chana, the
seminary is a one-year course for girls from Chabad families. Most
participants are approximately 19 years old and have already completed one year
of intensive religious studies in a post-high school Chabad seminary in Israel
or elsewhere. The first contingent of seminary participants included nine young
women from the United States, Brazil, Argentina, England, and Ukraine. The operational
language is English, although students were expected to possess “a background”
in Hebrew. The stated objective of the program is to provide Chabad young
women with a Jewish, Hasidic, and practical education in preparation for life
as Chabad emissaries in Jewish communities throughout the world. The Seminary
is supervised by Rabbi Moshe Weber.
The inaugural class of Seminary students poses outside
their dormitory, which was built next to the regular Beit Chana dormitory so
that the two groups could share dining facilities.
Photo: Chabad
of Dnipropetrovsk.
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