Rabbi
Glick stated that the number of children in the Dnipropetrovsk homes continues
to decline from year to year, although the loss has been less dramatic
recently. At the time of the writer’s
visit in May, 21 boys between the ages of six and 17 resided in the boys’ home,
a renovated former synagogue, and 15 girls lived in the girls’ home, a former
private residence. In the past, the residential
program had accommodated as many as 40 boys and 28 girls. The decline in census reflects the general
Jewish demographic decline and “competition” from relatively new similar
programs operated by rabbis in nearby Krivoy Rog and Zaporizhya.
All
of the youngsters are halachically Jewish, said Rabbi Glick, and all are
enrolled in either the yeshiva katana or the machon. In response to a question about further
education of these adolescents after they leave the homes at age 17, the
age of high school graduation in Ukraine and Russia, Rabbi Glick said that
post-graduation programs remain “the biggest problem, a headache every
year.” Graduates need a support system, he
acknowledged, but Tsivos Hashem lacks the resources to provide continuing
guidance. Some boys find sponsors for
yeshiva study in the United States, and others enroll in local colleges or
institutes. However, acknowledged Rabbi
Glick, he and his colleagues lose contact with many of their previous charges;
additionally, he said, 17-year olds do not always make wise decisions. He is aware that some are not successful in
their adult lives.
In
response to a question about the economic viability of the residential
program, Rabbi Glick said that allocations from Tsivos Hashem continue to
decline and the subsidy from the Chabad Philanthropic Fund of the
Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины) does not cover the funding gap. The last few years have been “very tough” due
to the global economic situation, he continued; fewer donors are coming forward. This year (2011-2012) has been “the worst” in
terms of fundraising in all of the years that he has been in Dnipropetrovsk. Accordingly, plans to renovate the badly
dated boys’ home have been scrapped, and construction of an apartment for house
parents in the girls’ home also has been postponed indefinitely. Youngsters residing in the homes have fewer
recreational opportunities than previously.
Staff have not been paid for two months, noted Rabbi Glick, and this is
not the first time that he has been unable to meet payroll obligations.
5. Iosif Masakovsky, a local individual
previously employed as a computer technology instructor, manages a continuum of
Chabad Jewish education programs open to halachically Jewish young people. Participants are subsidized for attendance
and achievements as measured on periodic examinations. About 650 young adults are engaged in these
programs, but only about 350 appear to be really active and committed. These 350 receive stipends for their
involvement, said Mr. Masakovsky.
The
previously touted STARS (Student Torah Alliance for Russian Speakers)
courses have declined in scale, Mr. Masakovsky stated. Some participants, he and others stated,
enrolled in the program under false pretenses; they were not students and were,
in fact, incapable of absorbing the college-level Jewish curriculum that had
been prepared for them. A number of them
had limited intellectual capacity and/or psychological or emotional
issues. They were disruptive in
class. Their motivation for joining the
program was receipt of Chabad stipends.
Even some young people who successfully completed the course had shown
that their primary interest had been receiving subsidies. As soon as their courses of study ended and
the grants ceased, he explained, many of them broke with the community and
declined any further involvement with Chabad.
Today,
Mr. Masakovsky continued, most compensated courses of study proceed under the general
rubric of Shiurei Torah (Heb., Torah Lessons). Several formats exist, including “770” (so
called because 770 Eastern Parkway is the address of Chabad world headquarters
in Brooklyn), which requires six classes per week. All students must be halachically Jewish and
all classes are gender-segregated, although some social events are held in an
effort to encourage contact between halachically Jewish young men and women.
Most
of the instructors, said Mr. Masakovsky, are baalei tshuvah (בעלי תשובה; previously secular Jews who become Orthodox) of Russian-speaking
background, some of whom have lived in Israel for 10 to 15 years. Such individuals, Mr. Masakovsky continued,
understand the Russian psyche and often are very effective teachers.
The impact of these programs is clear, Mr. Masakovsky asserted. Dnipropetrovsk has seen many more traditional
Jewish weddings in recent years, followed by a growth in the number of local
Orthodox families. Stipends are an
effective instrument in encouraging traditional Jewish education, he said, but
then young people continue to follow observant Jewish lives on their own
without financial incentives.
Iosif Masakovsky is a
local individual, largely self-taught in Judaism. He manages an extensive program of Jewish
education courses in which halachically Jewish participants, mostly young
adults, are remunerated for attendance.
Photo: the writer.
6.
Olga Tovkach continues to direct
the Hillel student organization in Dnipropetrovsk with considerable
success. Ms. Tovkach reported that
Dnipropetrovsk Hillel has about 1,000 names in its data base; up to 250 unique
individuals participate in at least one Hillel activity every month, she
said. In all, she continued, the
201-2012 academic year then coming to an end has been highly successful for
Hillel.
Facilitating
increased student participation has been a Campus Entrepreneur Initiative
in which seven trained student interns have conducted outreach activities at
the three largest universities in the city. They have indeed engaged Jewish students not
previously involved in any Jewish activity, said Ms. Tovkach. Another successful tactic has been the
staging of many meetings and events in cafés and other neutral spaces. Much “resistance” remains among students to
attendance at activities in or near a synagogue, she continued; clearly, young
people are more comfortable in premises not connected with religious practice.
Hillel
also has attracted new participants through large-scale non-religious Jewish
events, such as a big Purim party, Ms. Tovkach said. However, Jewish religious tradition
can be palatable when it is introduced through a gradual and voluntary program;
Hillel distributes simple Shabbat kits to interested individuals who then learn
how to conduct a Shabbat dinner through a brief series of lessons.
Asked about programs that are particularly popular, Ms. Tovkach
responded that Shabbatonim held at a site outside the city draw as many
as 160 students. Obviously, such events
are costly; students are expected to pay a fee, but not all do so. JDC has been helpful in covering some of the
expenses, Ms. Tovkach noted. The
madrichim (leaders) for Shabbatonim are trained through various Hillel seminars
and workshops. They volunteer their
services without compensation.
Olga
Tovkach, left, has revitalized Dnipropetrovsk Hillel in recent years, bringing
to it a sense of vitality and innovation.
Photo: the writer.
Hillel
activists also enjoy volunteer work, Ms. Tovkach continued. They organize holiday celebrations at Beit
Baruch, the assisted living center for senior adults. They also deliver food parcels to bedridden seniors
(лежающие)
and do repair work in the homes of elderly people. They organize major events (such as picnics
or holiday celebrations) for the Big Brother/Big Sister program, hosting as
many as 60 pairs of children and their volunteer older siblings. Many Hillel activists themselves are big
brothers or sisters, noted Ms. Tovkach. During Good Deeds Week (Неделя добрых дел), Hillel participants entertain pediatric cancer
patients who are in children’s hospitals.
Hillel students also have undertaken other charitable endeavors, such as
raising funds for musical instruments needed for children’s musical ensembles.
Hillel
continues to organize intellectual games on Jewish themes (similar to Jewish
trivia contests), which remain very popular in the post-Soviet states. The Dnipropetrovsk Hillel team has competed
in a large Ukraine-wide Hillel Jewish trivia tournament in Odesa, she
noted. Another intellectual pursuit is
the study of Jewish given names; Hillel encourages its members to adopt
their own Jewish names after studying the meanings of various first names and
relating their findings to their own family history.
Another program on the Hillel agenda is a young families club. Many young Jewish families find that
existing organized Jewish activities do not meet their needs and are eager to
adapt the Hillel “atmosphere” to their new circumstances. (It is common practice in the post-Soviet
states for Hillel include post-college individuals in their programs.)
A
wall poster entitled Rules of Our
Home occupies a prominent position in the Dnipropetrovsk Hillel office. Among other things, it admonishes Hillel
members to: observe cleanliness; respect co-workers and listen to them; ask
before taking things and if something is removed, put it back in its proper
place; not bring alcoholic drinks into the premises; use ‘literary speech’ in
conversing with people – and if you forget, put five hryvnia into the tzedekah
box.
(An
adjoining poster informs people that smoking on the adjoining balcony is
forbidden by Rabbi Kaminezki.)
Jewish
education remains a problem area for
Dnipropetrovsk Hillel, noted Ms. Tovkach.
The most recent staff person to hold this portfolio resigned and now
Hillel is attempting to find another qualified individual for the post.
Responding
to a question about interaction with Hillels in foreign countries, Ms.
Tovkach said that a group from the University of Maryland Hillel came to
Dnipropetrovsk for an alternative spring break program. They spent seven days in the region,
including a Shabbaton and a three-day segment in Donetsk, a large industrial
city to the east in which the local Hillel is a recently-started endeavor. While in Donetsk, continued Ms. Tovkach, the
Maryland group did volunteer work with Jewish elderly, children, and a group of
special-needs children. Ms. Tovkach
commented that the visit would have been more productive for Ukrainian Hillel
members if it had occurred during a local vacation period; because their
American guests arrived during regular academic classes, local Hillel-member
students were unable to interact with the Marylanders as much as all would have
liked.
|