- Title: Ukrainian orphans celebrate bar mitzvah at Jewish holy site
- Date: 11th April 2022
- Summary: JERUSALEM (APRIL 11, 2022) (REUTERS) 13-YEAR-OLD JEWISH BOYS, SOME OF WHOM ARE REFUGEES FROM AN ORPHANAGE IN ZHYTOMYR IN UKRAINE, ARRIVING AT THE WESTERN WALL WITH MEMBERS OF THE JEWISH ORGANISATION CHABAD, TO CELEBRATE THEIR BAR MITZVAH, COMING OF AGE JEWISH CEREMONY VARIOUS OF BOYS AND CHABAD MEMBERS DANCING AND SINGING AT THE WESTERN WALL PLAZA VARIOUS OF MEN PLAYING MUSIC BOYS AND CHABAD MEMBERS DANCING AND SINGING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 13-YEAR-OLD TIMA KOBAKOV, FROM AN ORPHANAGE IN ZHYTOMYR IN UKRAINE, SAYING: "I feel great here. There are a lot of Jewish people, Jewish community, they are so helpful. I'm excited. I can't express my feelings just with words because this is a huge celebration and I love this." CHABAD MEMBER OPENING A BAG OF TEFFILIN -- LEATHER STRAPS AND BOXES CONTAINING SACRED PARCHMENTS AND USED FOR JEWISH PRAYER VARIOUS OF CHABAD MEMBER WRAPPING TEFFILIN AROUND KOBAKOV'S ARM CHABAD MEMBER AND BAR MITZVAH BOY RECITING A PRAYER KOBAKOV READING A PRAYER (SOUNDBITE) (English) RABBI SHLOMO DUCHMAN, DIRECTOR OF COLEL CHABAD, SAYING: "To be part is beyond special. We make this event once a year for orphans and we are with the orphans consistently 365 days a year, guiding them, helping them to go through the traumatic experiences that they've gone through. Of course, right now with the Ukrainian crisis, with the Ukrainian refugees, many of us who are parents of grandparents or are refugees themselves, when we hear the word 'refugees' we wake up, we jump up. To be able to welcome refugees and to be part of them and to lead them into your events and to your curriculum, that's something that is truly beyond." BOYS WALKING TOWARDS WESTERN WALL / BOY LEANING HIS HEAD ON WALL BOYS PRAYING, TOUCHING WESTERN WALL
- Embargoed: 25th April 2022 14:06
- Keywords: Israel Jerusalem Russia Ukraine Western Wall bar mitzvah crisis orphans
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Middle East
- Reuters ID: LVA001094811042022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Four orphans from the Ukrainian city of Zhytomyr celebrated their bar mitzvah - a Jewish coming-of-age ceremony, usually held at the age of 13 - at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday (April 11).
Accompanied by members of the Jewish organisation Chabad, the 13-year-old boys were welcomed into the Western Wall plaza with live music, singing and dancing.
They later prayed alongside their Israeli peers at the ancient wall and placed prayer notes into its cracks.
Chabad organised the bar mitzvah for orphans the organisation cares for.
The Ukrainian orphans, part of a larger group whose ages range between 2 to 12, arrived in Israel on March 3 from war-torn Ukraine after a journey through Romania.
The KKL-JNF (Jewish National Fund) has taken care of their hosting and wellbeing in Israel, the organisation said.
The Western Wall is a remnant of the compound of the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD.
It stands today beneath a religious plaza known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount.
(Production: Ilan Rosenberg, Lee Marzel, Lianne Back) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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