On the Hanukkah eve, Petropavlovsk Hesed "Polina" was visited by the Chief Rabbi of Omsk and the Omsk Region Osher Krichevsky. This was his second visit to the north of Kazakhstan, the first visit was last autumn.

The Pzetropavlovsk community was eagerly preparing for the holiday. The children rehearsed Hanukkah songs and skits with candles. They were very interested to listen to the familiar story of Hanukkah but narrated by the Rabbi! Such a meeting will be remembered for a long time. Osher brought Jewish calendars and a few Hanukkah candles as a gift.

On December 5, we held a celebration in the community. Many people gathered and were looking forward to the beginning of the event. The Chairman of the community Rashbil Ilhananovich Yevdayev and Director of Hesed "Polina" Svetlana Makarovskaya addressed the guests with welcoming remarks. The Chairman of the community handed envelopes with a small financial incentive to our finalists of the quiz "From Time Immemorial" Simon Guretskiy and Pavel Rogachev.

We also celebrated such an important event as the anniversary of the singing group "Shalom." For the past ten years, our "grandmothers-singers" have been pleasing us with songs in Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, and Kazakh languages! Musical Director is Gennady Plotnikov and Art Director is Nina Michelson.

The holiday traditionally began with the holiday story told by Julia Soroka. Then we lit the candles. As always, our children Pavel Rogachev, Simon Guretskiy, Dima Almazov, Dinara Hakimzyanova, Natasha Druchinina, Katya Bushina, Julia, Victor, and Nastia Bychkovs, Ilya Lipin, Xenia Slavutskaya, Christina Partenadze made us happy by their rousing dances and songs. The children were supervised by Musical Director Tatyana Falaleeva.

After the official part of the celebration we had many contests including the dancing ones. Nobody remained indifferent. While the parents were dancing the children were drawing candles and Hanukkiahs on a new plastic board. Traditional "Hanukkah Gelts" were handed as prizes.

I’d like to say that Hanukkah in Petropavlovsk was a success despite the bitter cold and blizzards. And the next morning (it's already became a tradition) Kathya Bushina’s mother, Svetlana Bushina, came to share her good impressions about the holiday!

Julia Soroka