Historic celebration in Moscow: one hundred teenagers celebrate their Bar/Bat Mitzvah

Historic celebration in Moscow: one hundred teenagers celebrate their Bar/Bat Mitzvah

In a unique event in the Russian capital, around a hundred teenage boys and girls celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs in a special ceremony. This moving celebration concluded an extensive educational program lasting several months, organized by the youth movement “EnerJew” operating under the aegis of the Federation of Jewish Communities – FJC. The program included a series of preparatory meetings for Bar and Bat Mitzvah teens with their local rabbis and Chabad emissaries.

Jewish Moscow enthusiastically prepared for the historic Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration of around a hundred Jewish teenagers from all over Russia, organized with great dedication by the FJC youth movement “EnerJew”. This event concluded an exceptional Bar and Bat Mitzvah program that included weekly meetings for young people with rabbis from their hometowns.

Teenagers who regularly attended the weekly meetings and excelled in carrying out their assigned tasks were each given a pair of tefillin (for boys) – to be worn daily, or silver candlesticks (for girls).

As mentioned, after several months of preparation, a closing Shabbaton was held this weekend for the program's outstanding participants at a luxurious hotel in the suburbs of Moscow. The Shabbaton theme was Jewish pride, and its signature event was an authentic and moving Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. The Shabbaton brought together around a hundred boys and girls from 17 cities in Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan.

The event was graced by the presence of the Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar, the Hasidic philanthropist who has supported the Jewish revolution in Russia since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Mr. Lev Leviev, CEO of “Or Avner”, Rabbi David Mondshine, and Reb Shlomo Neman, director of the educational branch of FJC “Atidenu”. Dignitaries presented prestigious gifts to the Bar/Bat Mitzvah teens.

Shabbaton was made possible through the support of the Finger Family Foundation and the Meromim Foundation, led by Rabbi Bentzi Lipsker, and through the tireless efforts of the dedicated “EnerJew” team and rabbis, Ms. Kristina Shulman, Ms. Natella . Epstein, Rabbi Moshe Baruch Beinish, Rabbi Gershon Feldman, Rabbi Moshe Elkin, Rabbi Avraham Denisov, Rabbi Azaria Shaulov, and Rebbetzins Ms. Deitch, Ms. Hababo, and Ms. Yoffe.

“The profound impact of the meetings, Shabbaton and the entire celebration on the boys and girls cannot be overstated,” summarized Rabbi Moshe Rochlin, rabbi of the program. “The immense moral values ​​will accompany them throughout their lives and open pure paths for their Jewish life. »