Jewish Education
58. The Orach Chaim Jewish day
school (School #299), operating under the auspices of Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov
Bleich, is the oldest of five Jewish day schools in the city. The writer spoke
with Khariton Gilgur, a native of Zhytomyr, and the longtime principal
of the school. Mr. Gilgur described the mood in the city as one of
apprehension and bafflement. The police had only recently emerged from hiding,
having been physically assaulted by ordinary citizens who were angered by
police corruption and by collaboration with the hated former President Viktor
Yanukhovych. Many local officials had left their desks, Mr. Gilgur said, because
no one knew who was in charge. However, stated Mr. Gilgur, someone with
authority declared that garbage pick-up was no longer a free service provided
by the municipality and, clearly, this is the case. The school now is charged
for trash removal.
School
enrollment now stands
at 212, Mr. Gilgur said, apparently including children in a preschool program.
All pupils are halachically Jewish, a policy that Mr. Gilgur believes is
unnecessarily limiting and unrealistic in view of the heavy intermarriage rate
among Kyiv Jewry. Another issue, he acknowledged, is that the small enrollment
cannot justify maintenance of the four buildings for which it is responsible.
One building houses a coeducational preschool, and a second accommodates a
coeducational elementary program (grades 1-5) and an upper school for girls.
The upper school for boys convenes in a third structure, and the fourth
building stands empty.
Most of these structures are unattractive older buildings in need of renovation
Khariton Gilgur has
led School #299 for many years. He fears for its future and also is
apprehensive about the future for his own family in contemporary Ukraine.
Photo: the writer.
The Jewish studies curriculum now
includes eight classes weekly in Jewish tradition and Hebrew, having been
reduced in recent years from a significantly heavier program. Parents opposed
the emphasis on Jewish studies, preferring that the school focus on secular
studies. Compensation of Jewish studies teachers, most of whom are from
Israel, for an intensive Jewish curriculum also was an issue. In addition to
formal Jewish studies, many pupils also participate in a Shabbaton every year,
Mr. Gilgur said.
Most graduates of the high school continue their
education in local universities and other institutions of higher education,
responded Mr. Gilgur to a question. A few boys enroll in yeshivas, some for
only a year or two, and some students enter various Israel programs.
59.
The Simcha-Chabad Jewish Academy was established in 1992 by
Berel Karasik, then a Chabad-associated local leader in Kyiv. The
two-building institution is located in the Dniprovskiy district of the city, on
the east bank of the Dnipr River. Simcha is affiliated with Tsirei Chabad
(Young Chabad), an Israel-based faction of the Chabad movement. The school
receives no financial assistance from Ohr Avner, the educational arm of the
Chabad-controlled Federation of Jewish Communities. The writer spoke with Rabbi
Mordechai Levenhartz, director of Tsirei Chabad programs in Ukraine.
Enrollment
at Simcha reached a peak of 540 youngsters in 2007-2008, said Rabbi
Levenhartz. Current enrollment (2013-2014) is about 300, including approximately
100 children in the Simcha preschool, he stated. However, he continued, he
anticipates a substantial drop in the school census in 2014-2015 because
families are fleeing the unrest and economic meltdown in Ukraine or, at least,
are sending their children out of the country. He knows of eight Simcha
families that already have completed arrangements to make aliyah to
Israel during the summer, he declared, and others have begun the aliyah
process. Additionally, some high school students will join the Na'aleh
high school in Israel program, and some graduating 11th graders and recent
graduates have applied for the Selah pre-college prepara-tory program in
Israel. Israel is a magnet for Simcha families, continued Rabbi Levenhartz
because many already have relatives there and Simcha has a long history of
guiding youngsters into Na'aleh.
Despite a very
difficult political and economic environment, Rabbi Mordechai Levenhartz
manages a slight smile. He operates a Jewish day school and a welfare service
in one of Kyiv's poorer neighborhoods.
Photo: the writer.
Everyone in Kyiv is nervous, said Rabbi Levenhartz, because the
future is so uncertain. People are afraid. The price of gasoline [for
vehicles] has risen 35 percent in the last month, and the cost of all food
products also has increased. Unemployment is growing; a friend who manages a
travel company specializing in corporate travel fired 77 of his 78 employees
recently, and other businesses either are dismissing large numbers of employees
or are closing completely.
Regarding fundraising for Simcha
and his welfare service, Rabbi Levenhartz, an accomplished fundraiser,
referred to Kyiv as a "fundraising desert" (пустыня). It is impossible to raise money
now, he said, even for forthcoming seders. He downsized the customary Purim
celebration, he stated, and things have only deteriorated since then. Banks no
longer lend money to them or, for that matter, to anyone else, he declared,
echoing others. Further, Kyiv oligarch Vadym Rabynovych just withdrew
financial aid for Simcha security arrangements last week - because he is in a
dispute with another oligarch donor and will not contribute to any cause that
is supported by his adversaries. In response, Rabbi Levenhartz has had to
reduce the level of security in and around his school buildings.
Notwithstanding all of these difficulties,
Rabbi Levenhartz was able to provide Purim gift parcels for 200 elderly Jewish welfare
clients, that is, individuals who are attempting to manage on fixed-income low
pensions in circumstances of high inflation. He receives some in-kind
assistance, he said, from a Jewish deputy on the city council who sometimes
manages to find various supplies for Simcha. "Conditions have never been
worse," he stated; perhaps things will improve after the next elections if
real civil servants are voted into office, he declared.
60. The ORT
school was established in 2000 as a lyceum, an elite school with a
competitive admissions policy. In common with the Simcha school (see above),
the ORT lyceum occupies two separate small buildings. It is located on the
east, or less prosperous, side of the Dnipr River in a generally unattractive
area of the city. The lyceum currently enrolls 341 youngsters in grades five
through 11,
an increase over previous years. Most children have some Jewish heritage, but
not all are halachically Jewish.
Prospective students must complete entrance examinations, according to state
law, at the beginning of June for entry the following September. He worries
every year, said Principal Yuri Kinkov, about maintaining enrollment as
the Jewish population in the city declines, but the school has a good
reputation and families want their children to attend.
One of the two
buildings of the ORT school is at right.
Photo: the writer.
All pupils are from middle or lower
class families, said Mr. Kinkov. The city provides a lunch subsidy for 92
students from very poor families, for which he is very grateful, Mr. Kinkov
declared. The school is unable to provide bus transportation for youngsters,
and public transportation also is limited. Although he has attempted to obtain
a better, single building for the school for some years, the prospect of doing
so in the foreseeable future is very dim. All building transfers must be
approved by local politicians, whose own tenure is brief due to current
political instability. The situation is especially frustrating, Mr. Kinkov
said, because he is aware of several better school buildings in the same area
that are only one-third occupied. These buildings have sports facilities and
other program spaces that the current premises lack.
Youngsters at the ORT lyceum are
scheduled for four to six class periods in technology subjects every week,
depending on grade level, and five weekly periods of Jewish studies,
which includes Hebrew language, Jewish tradition, and Jewish history. The main
Jewish studies teacher, an Israeli, is excellent, Mr. Kinkov continued, but,
unfortunately, Israeli government policy will force her to return to Israel
during the summer because the Israel Ministry of Education limits teacher
appointments abroad to three years.
The ongoing
political and economic crisis creates very tough problems for the
school, said Mr. Kinkov. Most school families, he continued, support a strong,
sovereign Ukraine and are opposed to Russian intervention; additionally, many
have been ad-versely affected by the troubled Ukrainian economy. Mr. Kinkov
estimated inflation at 50 percent, taking into account the declining value of
the Ukrainian hryvnia vis-a-vis other currencies. Some parents, Mr. Kinkov
stated, continue to support the school financially through the provision of
office supplies, technology, and security, but he is concerned about their
ability to maintain their largesse. He knows that some parents have lost their
jobs and that others fear major economic disruptions in their lives. The
situation for parents is terrible, terrifying
(страшное).
Yuri Kinkov,
principal of the ORT lyceum in Kyiv, is concerned about the impact of the
current political and economic situation in Ukraine on children in his school,
their parents, teachers, and custodial staff.
Photo: the writer.
Families talk about these issues at
home, stated Mr. Kinkov, and their children become worried about the future,
both for their families and for themselves individually. They bring these
tensions to school, and the teachers try to speak with them calmly and be compassionate.
At the same time, he continued, the teachers have their own problems. Some of
the teachers, he continued, give their own funds to struggling pupil families
or to the janitorial staff when they themselves are having problems making ends
meet.
Mr. Kinkov expressed gratitude
to the Jewish Agency for Israel and to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Chicago for financial assistance to date. The funds supplied, he said, have
enabled the lyceum to improve its security, a measure that is greatly
appreciated by school parents and by district security officials. Fortunately,
he continued, things have been very quiet in the area where the school is
located, but it is best to be prepared for any eventuality. He had an additional
request, he stated. He would appreciate special funds for supplemental
payments to teachers, administrative staff, and custodians because inflation is
eroding the value of their salaries; he would like to have about $70,000 to
address this problem adequately, he said, but any amount will be helpful. The
lyceum also needs money for school lunches and to help staff and pupils pay for
transportation to and from school.
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