Orphans from Ukraine Celebrate Bar Mitzvahs in Holy Land

Stand for Israel  |  April 12, 2022

Last month, we shared with you the story of Jewish orphans who The Fellowship helped escape from war-torn Ukraine to start new lives in Israel. And now, The Jerusalem Post’s Zvika Klein reports that these young men have now celebrated a milestone – their bar mitzvahs at the Western Wall in Jerusalem:

Just weeks after being forced to flee their homes in the town of Zhytomyr, Ukraine, a group of 13-year-old boys participated in an emotional bar mitzvah celebration at the Western Wall on Monday.  The boys and their classmates, all of whom lived in an orphanage in the town near Kyiv, were part of an annual bar mitzvah ceremony for orphan boys made possible by the Colel Chabad social services organization in Israel.

The boys from Ukraine are among the more than 100 children who were evacuated to Israel and are currently living in the village of Nes Harim outside of Jerusalem…

Among the bar mitzvah boys who came from the Zhytomyr orphanage was Tima Kobakov who described in English how happy he was to be at the celebration and that he was appreciative of Israel for providing a home for him and his siblings in the face of the ongoing challenges in Ukraine.  “I don’t know how to explain what I am feeling but I can only say I am very happy and this is a special day.”