Rocket Debris in Chabad Kyiv School Yard on First Day

School custodians opened the doors to Simcha Chabad, the school in Kyiv, on the first day of school, to find rocket debris scattered about the complex as a result of the previous nights bombardment.

The morning the first day of school started at Simcha Chabad, the Jewish school in Kyiv, security personnel found fragments of rockets on the school complex that had fallen during the night from heavy bombardment from Russia.

Kyiv Shliach Rabbi Mordechai Levenhertz, described the situation as a great miracle. “One cannot imagine what could have happened if this had occurred two hours later,” said Rabbi Levenhertz.

Undeterred, 200 Jewish children showed up to school to start the year. The school is currently in it’s 33rd year since its founding, and has continued operating through the last two and half years of intense fighting.

Simcha Chabad is one of dozens of schools under the ‘Or Avner – Chabad’ network that has over a thousand students learning currently. The students are trained to react in case of emergencies, and each school building and institute is equipped with bomb shelters and safe rooms in case of attack.

Over the summer, many of the students were invited to summer camps and retreats in nearby Poland, organized by the shluchim there to give the families in Ukraine a short respite from living in a war zone.

“This event highlights the challenging reality in which the Jewish education system in Ukraine operates, while trying to maintain a routine of studies under ongoing security threats,” said the local Chabad.