KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — A new educational initiative in Ukraine will try to bolster students’ knowledge of Jewish heritage.
The Jewish Forum of Ukraine, on the initiative of and with financial support from the UJA-Federation of New York, Genesis Philanthropy group and CAF Russia, launched a coordinated philanthropic effort to spread or bolster knowledge of Jewish history, tradition and culture among the Jewish and non-Jewish students in schools in Kiev and the region.
The program, Hevruta, was possible due to the Jewish Forum of Ukraine and its Grassroots 2009 program to provide target grants for Jewish educational programs. It will include lectures and seminars on Jewish history, culture and tradition, excursions and trips.
The organizers are planning to arrange a Jewish educational summer camp in the Crimea peninsula.
“The main aim of the program is to support the best local initiatives for the rebirth of Jewish identity and preservation of Jewish cultural heritage,” Arkady Monastyrsky, president of the Jewish Forum of Ukraine, told JTA. “The program is aimed primarily at developing the Jewish identity of young Jews, but we also engage non-Jewish students to learn Jewish history, tradition and culture.”
