A special ceremony took place on Rosh Chodesh Iyar to mark
the tenth anniversary since the founding of the Jewish
School in Kiev, under the aegis of Yad Yisroel. Some 2000
Jews of Kiev gathered in a large auditorium to mark the
event, at which pupils, past and present, showed their
appreciation for what the school has done for them.
In a moving address, the Chief Rabbi of the Ukraine, Yaakov
Dov Bleich, who established the school in 1991, mentioned
that this very hall where divrei Torah were being
heard on this occasion had been the cultural center of the
dreaded, atheistic KGB during the Communist era.
Among the distinguished guests who participated in the event
were the well- known philanthropists, Mr. Albert Reichman
and Rabbi Shlomo Noach Mandel, from Toronto. Rabbi Meir
Roberg, veteran mechanech and former head of the
Hasmoean High Schools in London, traveled from Jerusalem to
address the gathering. He has been connected with the
mosdos in Kiev for several years.
Local dignitaries who greeted the occasion included the
Minister of Education for the Ukraine, who praised the
outstanding achievements of the school. He was proud of the
fact that many of the students continue to study in
yeshivos and seminaries in Israel after they graduate
from school.
Today there are some 500 pupils in the school, which has
separate buildings for boys and girls. Thanks to a grant by
the Pinkus Foundation, two dormitory sections have been
added in recent years. There are some forty students in the
boys section, and a further thirty girls in the newly
refurbished building, which also houses the kindergarten for
eighty children. The boarding facilities enable pupils from
all over the Ukraine to benefit from a full-time Jewish
education.
The Rebbes at the school are all Kollel graduates, mainly
from Eretz Yisroel. Their wives are trained Bais
Yaakov teachers, who teach limmudei kodesh in the
girls' school or in the kindergartens.
Two of the current staff are couples who themselves were
students of the school when it just started. After several
years of learning in Eretz Yisroel, they now returned
to teach in Kiev for a few years.
It is hoped to organize a residential seminar for teachers
of secular subjects at the Jewish schools in the Ukraine.
Almost all of them are Jewish, but unfortunately lack basic
knowledge of Yiddishkeit.
Previous such seminars have produced a number of baalei
teshuva, some of whom actually left their positions
temporarily to undertake a year's study at yeshiva or
seminary.
