(FJC.ru) Leaders of Jewish communities throughout Russia’s Urals region spent three days with representatives of the Federation of Jewish Communities for a seminar designed to strengthen their abilities to strengthen Judaism among their constituents.
Entitled “Shabbat with the Community,” the seminar in Chelyabinsk brought together lay leaders from communities without resident rabbis. All told, representatives from Magnitogorsk, Novouralsk, Kamensk-Uralskiy, Korkino, Kurgan, Kiyshtiym, Miass, Nizhniy Tagil, Troitsk, Chebarkul’ and Zlatoust came for the extended weekend to learn about the proper observance of Shabbat and how to teach other Jews about the holy day.
“In a decade of working with the Jewish community, this is the first time I have spent a genuine Shabbat,” explained Izya Yakovlevich from Magnitogorsk. “I have heard a lot about how one must spent Shabbat. I’ve read about it in books. But this was a real, living experience.”
The seminar was organized by Avraam Kashaev, the Federation of Jewish Communities’ representative to the Urals. It featured sessions led by Rabbi Zeyev Wagner, the organization’s traveling rabbi, and Rabbi Ariel Triger, the new Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Volzhsky.
During the seminar, participants not only learned about the laws governing Shabbat observance, but they also discussed the day’s spiritual significance and its prayer services. A concluding roundtable gave attendees the chance to share experiences from their respective communities.
“This seminar was so needed,” commented Elizabeta Yakovlevna from Troitsk. “By attending, we took part in Shabbat traditions: We lit candles, prayed in the synagogue and enjoyed a Shabbat feast” hosted by Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Meir Kirsh, the city’s chief rabbi.
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