(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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8 community hopes to generate Menorah operating funds by renting office space in the Center to various businesses, a common strategy for managers of Jewish community facilities throughout the post-Soviet states. Some of the businesses, such as the ground floor kosher restaurants and various shops, will be geared toward visitors to the Center; however, management of the Center also is seeking unrelated commercial firms that find the Center convenient for their office needs. Hotel guests will be charged market rates for their accommodations, and use of all meeting and conference rooms will require fees. A small underground parking garage may provide another revenue stream. Notwithstanding these income-generating plans, several observers expressed concern that the Center would be able to cover its annual operating expenses, which one experienced property manager estimated at $3 million annually. Adding to expenses is the need for various security measures. According to Vyecheslav “Slavik” or “Zelig” Brez, Executive Director (Исполнительный директор) of the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины), which supports Chabad interests in the city, the high visibility of the structure already has generated antisemitic comments on the web and elsewhere. Israeli security experts, he said, have been engaged as consultants in developing perimeter protection and other safeguards. The fears expressed by Mr. Brez are echoed and expanded upon by others who believe that the structure is ostentatious and that its control by Chabad only emphasizes the hegemonic influence that Chabad exercises in local Jewish life. Further, commented another senior local employee of Chabad (whose office will be in the new building), the facility marks the creation of a “ghetto in the middle of the city,” a development that he – and others – consider detrimental to the image of Jews in the area. Jewish Education and Culture 2. Beit Tsindlikht, a Chabad-operated year-round preschool, is currently in its sixth year of operation in attractive, newly renovated premises – a two-story rectangular building - near the center of the city. Its rooms are spacious and well-equipped, and its grounds include a variety of play apparatus. Highly regarded in Dnipropetrovsk, the preschool currently enrolls 150 children between the ages of 2½ and six in space intended for 140. 12 which supports Chabad interests in the city, and Mr. Kolomoisky is lay President of Всеукраинский Еврейский Конгресс (lit. translation, All-Ukraine Jewish Congress or English acronym VEK, also known in English as United Jewish Community of Ukraine). Both former residents of Dnipropetrovsk, Mr. Boholubov now spends most of his time in London and Mr. Kolomoisky lives in Geneva. 12 The lead gift for renovation of the building housing the preschool was provided by wealthy industrialist Victor Pinchuk, who named the facility in memory of his maternal grandparents. A native of Dnipropetrovsk, Mr. Pinchuk is married to the daughter of Leonid Kuchma, a past president of Ukraine, and now spends most of his time in Kyiv. He is among the Ukrainian oligarchs who derived great economic benefit from government favor.
9 The preschool is operating “at the very limits” of available space, said Yudit Baram, the highly respected principal. A plan to open a branch on the east bank of the Dnipr River in space controlled by another Chabad institution collapsed when Chabad refused to pay bribes in return for city operating permits. At least 25 families in that part of the city had already expressed interest in such a branch location, said Mrs. Baram, and she is certain that other families would have come forward as soon as Chabad had declared that it would open. Beit Tsindlikht pupils are divided among six groups according to age. Two of these groups, with a total of 50 children, constitute a heder with an enhanced Hebrewlanguage program taught by Israeli teachers. About 90 percent of the heder children are from Chabad families, most of whom are from Israel; their parents work in various Chabad programs in the city. Children in one of the heder groups gather for circle time at Beit Tsindlicht. Preschoolers in the back are carrying chairs forward to join the group. Photo: the writer. Ninety-five percent of all pupils at Beit Tsindlikht are halachically Jewish; the remaining five percent are from intermarried families who have a strong relationship with the Chabad community. Most families pay approximately $44 monthly in tuition fees, said Mrs. Baram, but about ten youngsters are enrolled at $20 monthly, and another six or seven families pay nothing at all. The program is full-day and includes both breakfast and lunch. The overwhelming majority of Beit Tsindlicht pupils, perhaps 95 percent, continue their education at school #144 (see below), many of them in the machon or yeshiva sections of the school, Mrs. Baram stated. The remaining five percent enter other schools, usually because their families have some connection with such schools as teachers or administrators, said Mrs. Baram. However, notwithstanding these connections, such youngsters often transfer to school #144 after a year or two in the non-Jewish school. Yudit Baram, right, is the Israeli principal of Beit Tsindlicht. Photo: the writer (in 2010),
Page 1 and 2: OBSERVATIONS ON JEWISH COMMUNITY LI
Page 3 and 4: 3 begin to pay taxes that they had
Page 5 and 6: 5 Dnipropetrovsk Founded in 1778 on
Page 7: 7 The major entrance to the Menorah
Page 11 and 12: 11 pupils (503) and the number of y
Page 13 and 14: 13 families whose relationship to C
Page 15 and 16: 15 boys’ home (a former synagogue
Page 17 and 18: 17 The overwhelming majority of lit
Page 19 and 20: 19 homes, sometimes bringing them s
Page 21 and 22: 21 program in Kharkiv come to Beit
Page 23 and 24: 23 return for the teaching done by
Page 25 and 26: 25 started as more funds become ava
Page 27 and 28: 27 Holocaust, and rebirth of Jewish
Page 29 and 30: 29 manufacturer inevitably will ent
Page 31 and 32: 31 Two newcomers were expected to j
Page 33 and 34: 33 individual needs, providing food
Page 35 and 36: 35 managing. He has heard of very f
Page 37 and 38: 37 committee for the clinic was est
Page 39 and 40: 39 Jewish community. Another 120 in
Page 41 and 42: 41 Natalia Rier, who directs the lo
Page 43 and 44: 43 speakers are fluent in English a
Page 45 and 46: 45 The consul noted that the ICC wi
Page 47 and 48: 47 Ms. Katz confirmed that Hesed Me
Page 49 and 50: 49 Dnipropetrovsk. The relationship
Page 51 and 52: 51 It is very difficult to raise mo
Page 53 and 54: 53 are the daughters of local rabbi
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Page 57 and 58: 57 Vkontakte, to recruit students a
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59 seniors purchase in order to rec
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61 Rabbi Moskovitz noted, a busines
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63 writer met with George Faingold,
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65 males if they would willingly se
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67 utilities, petrol, transportatio
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Jewish Education and Culture 69 44.
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71 46. It is common in Ukraine and
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73 purchase new clothing. Donetsk,
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75 The fitness hall is a gift from
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77 National and International Jewis
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79 drain”, but she doesn’t yet
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Jewish Education and Culture 81 52.
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83 Surrounding the prayer hall are
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85 the program is very expensive to
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87 preschools. Authorities could fo
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89 in its generally poor neighborho
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91 connected to the Internet; howev
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93 60. Rabbi Yonatan and Mrs. Ina M
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95 accounting procedures require th
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97 Other individuals in Kyiv with w
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99 64. An organization bearing the
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101 group, but the young women them
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103 worked in Jewish schools and ca
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105 Lo Tishkach arranges all travel
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107 Ukraine in this period. They cl
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109 kashrut, and/or work in secular
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111 Odesa, said Rabbi Dukhovny, pro
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The writer observed 12 to 15 univer
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115 and funds simply do not exist,
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117 rightwing antisemites, i.e., ne
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119 songs, the Holocaust, Jewish he
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121 countries are eligible for aliy
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123 The JDC welfare caseload in the
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125 In response to a question, both
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127 Commentary 84. The Jewish popul
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129 accommodates modernity and thei
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(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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