Yevpatoria, Kerch and Feodosia in Ukraine.
Amy Goodman
reflected on her expe-
riences:
Ever since the Goodmans and the Wolfes first
arrived in the United States over 100 years
ago, our family has been celebrating Passover
together for at least five generations.
But for the Russian Jewish community,
there is a gap of two generations – at least 60
years during the Communist era – when Soviet
Jews could not freely express their identity.
Today, the young people of the FSU are
starting to get really excited about learning
about their Jewish heritage, even while the eld-
erly are still visibly cautious about
demonstrating too much Jewishness and the
middle-aged are somewhere in between.
We, as Jews in the United States, have al-
ways had that choice. Before this trip, however,
I never understood the power and importance
of a collective memory of Pesach. It was a re-
ally remarkable experience and in the future,
all of my Passovers and Pesach seders will con-
tinue to connect me with St. Petersburg, Tver,
and Russia.
The impact of HUC-JIR’s students was
confirmed by Alexander Haydar, Executive
Director in Ukraine for the World Union
For Progressive Judaism (WUPJ), who said,
32
| THE CHRONICLE
MEET HUC-J IR’S STUDENTS
REIMAGINING
PRAYER
I
n
midrash,
the ancient rabbis caution us
not to ask what came before Creation. If
we discuss the
tohu v’vohu
that existed be-
fore God began to create, then something
exists beyond God. This may enter danger-
ous territory for the rabbis of old, but as a
rabbi to be, envisioning God as master Cre-
ator, working with tools and colors to create
the ultimate masterpiece, presents a divine
notion.
Were we to envision God as architect
and artist, perhaps these raw materials be-
came tools used to produce the masterpiece
of Creation. Matisse, Rembrandt, and Cha-
gall all created masterpieces that feel almost
eternal. It is the lasting works of art that in-
spire generations, not the raw materials used
to initially create them.
Prayer is also created from raw materi-
als. Texts from various sources have been
PASSOVER IN THE
FORMER SOVIET UNION
or the seventh consecutive year, the HUC-
JIR
Pesach
Project brought 16 first-year
cantorial and rabbinical students to the
Former Soviet Union (FSU), where they
conducted
seders
for over 5,300 Jews in 28
cities in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Amy
Goodman,
N’13, and
Jordan Helfman
,
C’13, student co-coordinators of the
project, and Rabbi David Wilfond, project
supervisor and Regional Director for
Outreach and Admissions at HUC-JIR/
Jerusalem, were determined to ensure the
success of this program, particularly during
a period of diminished resources for the Jew-
ish communities of the FSU due to the state
of the economy.
The planning process for this annual
project began in Jerusalem at the start of the
academic year when HUC-JIR students and
World Union for Progressive Judaism repre-
sentatives met to work together. The
seders
,
which involved all generations, from kinder-
garten classes to senior citizens, took place
in Chelyabinsk-Tyumen, Lipetsk-Moscow,
JEEPS (Jewish English Speaking Expats), and
St. Petersburg-Tver in Russia; in Mogilev-Bo-
bruisk-Vitebsk, Gomel, Baranovichi, and the
Minsk cantorial festival in Belarus; and
Poltava, Lvov, Odessa, Cherkass, Simferopil,
“
The implementation of the
Pesach
Project
this year encouraged the continued devel-
opment and growth of Jewish life in
Ukraine, showing the members of our con-
gregations the size and importance of the
ReformMovement and the concern of both
HUC-JIR and the World Union for them
during such difficult times.”
Alex Kagan, WUPJ Director for the
FSU, agreed, saying, “I would like to express
my gratitude to the HUC-JIR staff and stu-
dents who took part in the project. Their
presence and enthusiasm was felt in the con-
gregations, and provided much needed
spiritual assistance to our six rabbis, en-
abling those living in the big centers and
periphery an opportunity to take part in the
holiday rituals and celebrations.”
Passover seder in Simferopil led by HUC-JIR students.
F
Jessy Gross, L ‘11,
Mandel Fellow
Jean Bloch Rosensaft
