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

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synagogue and to integrate into the Simcha community. Some older men attend
lessons at the synagogue in return for small payments, Rabbi Levenhartz said.
In response to a question, Rabbi Levenhartz said that most Simcha graduates remain
in Kyiv, attending local universities and colleges. Some also go to Israel, usually joining
one or another Jewish Agency program.
58. The ORT school was established in 2000 as a lyceum, an elite secondary 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.
Yuri Kinkov, the veteran principal of the lyceum, opened a discussion with the writer by
declaring that conditions at the school are הככ -הככ,
using the Hebrew expression for
“so-so”. The lyceum has existed for ten years, he continued, and just completed a
serious re-accreditation process. No major academic problems exist. Most teachers
remain at the school from year to year. World ORT
continues to support the lyceum and, through the Israeli
government Heftzibah program, the lyceum has found
an excellent new Israeli director of Hebrew and Jewish
studies to replace the former Heftzibah teacher who
returned to Israel after five years at the school. The new
Heftzibah teacher, he noted, is a native of Odesa.
Principal Yuri Kinkov, left, surprised the writer by using a few
words of Hebrew during an interview.
Photo: the writer.
The lyceum currently enrolls 258 youngsters in grades five through 11, 83 a decrease
of 20 from the previous academic year. The families of 241 of these pupils have
documentation proving that their children are eligible for emigration to Israel under the
Israeli Law of Return, that is, that these youngsters have at least one Jewish
grandparent; the remaining pupils, said Mr. Kinkov, may also be Jewish, but their
families lack documentation of Jewish heritage. 84 Mr. Kinkov stated that the reputation
of the lyceum is such that many non-Jewish families would like to enroll their children in
the school.
All pupils at the lyceum are from middle or lower class families, Mr. Kinkov said.
Wealthy families send their children elsewhere. In response to a question, Mr. Kinkov
stated that about 95 percent of school families have computers at home and most are
83 Schools with lyceum status are not permitted to enroll youngsters in grades one through four.
84 ORT schools frequently enroll some non-Jewish youngsters, especially from families in the school
neighborhood, for reasons of public/community relations.