Shavuot arrived in Ukraine along with tens of thousands of holiday packages delivered to cities, towns, and villages across the country! Children enjoyed ice cream parties and senior gathered to eat cheesecake. Families enjoyed fresh yogurt, cheeses, and other dairy products in the holiday food parcels we distributed.
“Our goal is to bring a little sweetness to the children and to Jewish families for Shavuot,” said one of the rabbis in Kyiv. “The families here are going through an unimaginable period, but we are not giving up on a single child or a single family.”
In Mykolaiv, the Jewish community celebrated Shavuot with a beautiful new Torah scroll dedicated to the city’s central synagogue. Hundreds of community members, guests, local dignitaries, and students from the city’s Jewish schools carried the scroll in a procession through the streets, with live music, singing, and dancing.
The celebration continued as the Torah scroll was welcomed into the synagogue, where the existing scrolls were taken from the Ark in honor of the new addition. A local choir performed as members of the congregation danced and filled the synagogue with joy. After the ceremony, the large crowd gathered for a festive meal, celebrating the dedication of the new Torah scroll.
The Shavuot treats and festivities offered a much-needed respite from the daily stress and strain of the ongoing conflict, and preserving religious traditions infuses a sense of normalcy into chaotic times.
Together we save lives and restore hope.
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