We started the day with a brief from Danny Gechtman, a representative from the JDC, and then went to visit with Nahlat Avot Azriel, a home for the aged as well as Beiteinu, a youth organization for the Ukrainian Jewish teens.
In our travels, we passed by the infamous Beilis court house.
We also went to the St. Andrews market and purchased some Ukranian fur hats and matruska dolls.
Later on we visited with two local Jewish schools, the Simcha School is a day school. They have about 140 students who learn Jewish and secular studies, they study Torah in Ivrit. The children are respectful and filled with life. We were even treated to a small play with song and dance. The high school is equally as impressive. It occurred to me that though they do not have the same funds as our day schools, (as they had to keep most of the lights off to save money), they display a passion that we would be proud to see in the United States school system. It goes to show you that sometimes you can accomplish a great deal more with an enthusiastic and talented teacher than you can with a smart board.
Below is a video I took on my phone:
We ended the day with a visit to the JAFI Center of the Jewish agency, where we learnt about the unique bnai mitzvah program with participants and their parents.
I am closing my computer now as we get ready to board the plane to Israel.
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