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One Day Out Of Life Of Jewish Schoolchildren. Serious and business-like spirit reigned on 3rd of September in the Jewish school "Chabad Lubavitch". Children, teachers and parents gathered together in the assembly hall of the school for a solemn event dedicated to the beginning of the academic year. 
Rivka Glazman is congratulating those present:
" It is the month of Elul now, the month of Divine goodwill, repentance and return to the way of truth. This is time of preparation for days of Judgement – Rosh Ashana and Iom Kipur. There is still a possibility for each of us to look at his/her life honestly and without self-justification, try to understand what was done not as it should have been done and what was not done at all. This is a month of all-forgiveness, remember it. I congratulate you with this holiday and wish you successful studies."
Rabbi Kot is blowing shofar calling to remember unreturned debts and unforgiven offends. After that the director of the school Edith Bloh spoke: "We are very pleased to see you all today in this hall. It is already the eighth time that we begin an academic year here, in these walls. But how can we begin a new academic year without its main heroes?" The most solemn minute of the holiday is coming. First-year schoolchildren are on the scene. Smart, solemn as they are they gathered together in front of "Golden gates" into the World of Knowledge. What is awaiting them? Their first teacher Inna is explaining to them that for the time being they are just children, but as they cross the porch of "Golden gates" they will become pupils, and she takes each of them through the gates. The audience is watching the ceremony of ordaining into first-year schoolchildren holding its breath. And here they are – new pupils have widened the rows of schoolchildren. Everybody is congratulating them and giving them presents. The first bell is ringing. But the children are not going to sit down. According to an old tradition, children of two Jewish schools tjgether with their parents and teachers gather together at the memorial of the Big choral synagogue which was burnt by fascists in the first days of war. Visiting sacred places – the Memorial of fascism victims – leaves a special imprint. The children are saying words from Tora. We are in the synagogue. What a synagogue is? Synagogue is people who have come here and it means – us. Synagogue is a place uniting us spiritually. Here we celebrate all Jewish holidays, get Jewish names, put on tfilin for the first time. And today, in the month of Elul, shofar is blowing, opening us a way into future. 
The Chief rabbi Natan Barkan, rabbi Mordechai Glazman, the head of Riga Jewish community G.Krupnikov, the First secretary of the embassy of Israel Nachum Gal, the director of Dubnov RJS Birk Mark, the director of "Chabad Lubavitch" RJS E.Bloh spoke in front of those present. They told the children that before the war there was a tradition in Latvia for all Jewish children to gather on the first day of a new school year in the Big choral synagogue for a holiday. We want to revive this tradition, that is why we are here.
Everybody wished the children success on a difficult way of getting knowledge, spoke about the trouble that had struck Israel, where bombs are falling and children are dying. In the end of the holiday everybody went to "Chabad Lubavitch" school, where in the yard holiday tables were laid. Concluding the result of the first day the school director Edith Bloh said: "Today we gathered here together, so smart and beautiful. And we are so many! We are reviving one more tradition of Riga Jewry. We are lucky that it is just us and we want it to exist. Looking at you I understood that we have a great future. It depends on us, what this year brings and what it will be like. It is great that we all gathered here together!" back |
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