Chernivtsi community of conservative Judaism “Aviv”
The conservative movement is represented in Ukraine by 1991 year. Today there are communities in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Chernivtsi.
The Chernivtsi community has about 100 families. Community members meet weekly to celebrate Shabbat, at a lecture on the history and culture of the Jewish people, Torah study and various groups.
Several times a year, we take part in volunteer projects together, and we also go out into nature, and we go to the mountains.
Every year, the children of the community go to the Rama Yahad summer camp, where they continue to get acquainted with the Jewish structure and culture, study the basics of religion more deeply and definitely play, are dancing, have fun and interact in nature in every way.
Community “Aviv” was founded in Chernivtsi in September 2012 year. The first premises were located at the address of Chernivtsi, St. Bohdan Khmelnytskyi bldg. 52. Its first director was Bernthal I.O.
Today, the community is based on the 1st Sahaidachnoy Lane, was. 3. The director of the Chernivtsi community is Kleiman Lev Aronovych.
The central management office is located in Jerusalem, in Israel.
In connection with the war in Ukraine, the community accepts and helps immigrants from different cities of Ukraine, including members of conservative communities in Kyiv and Kharkiv, who were forced to leave their homes.
Community activities
Hebrew courses are held on the basis of the community throughout the year (ulpan), lessons in the tradition and history of the Jewish people, meetings of the NOAM youth club, guitar playing circle, drawing lessons for younger children.
The community's volunteer projects concern the care of the Jewish cemetery, founded in 1866 year. Currently, the Chernivtsi Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest preserved Jewish cemeteries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Community members took part in creating a book of Jewish fairy tales “Shemesh”, Yulia Yurkovetska was the head of it. The tales reveal all the diversity of the Jewish world and encourage the reader to ask questions and explore more on their own the rich culture of the Jewish people, unraveling the souls of the heroes.
The second book was aimed at dialogue between different generations. The book reveals the stories of Jewish women in the city of Chernivtsi and is supplemented with children's drawings, which they drew, listening to these stories.