Just several weeks after being forced to flee their homes in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, due to the Russian invasion, a group of 13-year-old boys celebrated their bar mitzvah at the Western Wall on Monday in an emotional ceremony.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The event was organized as part of an annual bar mitzvah ceremony by the Colel Chabad social services organization in Israel.
The boys from Ukraine, all of whom lived in an orphanage in a town near Kyiv, 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.
Organizers of the bar mitzvah say that while the children all live with the dream of returning to Ukraine as soon as possible, the ongoing war makes their future uncertain.
"Our goal with this event is to provide each and every boy here today, all of whom have experienced their own individual traumas, with the understanding that this special point in their lives has not been forgotten," Director of Colel Chabad Rabbi Sholom Duchman said. "There is something incredibly rewarding to know that these boys whose lives were in complete turmoil amidst a brutal war just a few weeks ago are now blessed to celebrate their bar mitzvahs at this holiest and most special of places."
The annual Colel Chabad event – held annually around the birthday of the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty, Menachem Mendel Schneerson – provides a complete bar mitzvah experience for boys who have lost a parent to disease, accidents, terror attacks, or other events.
The boys are gifted a brand new set of teffilin, gift certificates for new clothing, along with other presents. At the Western Wall, they are danced down to the Wall where volunteers help them put on their new teffilin and celebrate the coming of age.
After the Kotel ceremony on Monday, the boys and their families were taken by bus to the Jerusalem Convention Center at Binyanei Hauma for a fully-catered celebration accompanied by musical entertainment and other surprises, supported by the Meromim Foundation and the Goldman Family.
A separate event was held for bat mitzvah girls last month.
"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," said bar mitzvah boy Tima Kobakov, who described in English how happy he was to be at the celebration and that he was appreciative to know that Israel had provided a home for him and his siblings in the face of the ongoing challenges in Ukraine.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
