With many people in Ukraine ceasing to use the Russian language, shluchim have produced materials in Ukrainian including the weekly parsha, and a children’s book about Dovid Hamelech distributed in 37,000 copies.
As Ukraine prepares to celebrate Shavuos amidst the ongoing conflict, shluchim are gearing up to facilitate the reading of the Aseres Hadibros in dozens of cities across the country. This marks the third Shavuos celebrated under the shadow of war, continuing the tradition upheld for the past three decades since the fall of communism.
For the first time since Matan Torah, thousands of Jewish children in Ukraine will be able to read about Shavuos and Dovid Hamelech in their own language.
Due to the current conflict, many areas in Ukraine have ceased using the Russian language, a trend that has intensified. Consequently, many Jews no longer use seforim translated into Russian. In response, the “Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine” (FJCU), led by shliach Rabbi Meir Stambler, along with shliach and Rabbi of Kharkov Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz and Mr. Michael Shifrin, who owns a modern printing house in Kharkov, began translating the Torah into Ukrainian. Rabbi Akiva Nimoy oversees the translation project.
Until the translation is complete, a weekly booklet of the relevant parsha is being published in Ukrainian.
Ahead of Shavuos, the FJCU sent out 37,000 packages containing a children’s booklet in Ukrainian about Dovid Hamelech, an explanatory booklet about the holiday, and cosmetics gift sets, along with a bottle for making a ‘L’chaim,’ to thousands of Jewish households and remote communities across the country.
The children’s booklet is part of a series of accessible holy books translated into Ukrainian, designed to provide Jewish children in the country with Judaism in their native language from a young age. This project is overseen by shliach Rabbi Yossi Glick on behalf of the FJCU. In addition to Tehillim, the Haggadah, and other seforim, the FJCU is translating these texts into Ukrainian at the request of many Jews. The publication effort is led by shliach Rabbi Levi Engelsman.
Notably, President Volodymyr Zelensky has taken a personal interest in the translation of Jewish holy books into Ukrainian and has previously quoted verses from the translated Tehillim provided by the FJCU.
Credit: FJCU
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