- September 10, 2024
- 6:59 pm
- Ukraine
Two seriously wounded Jewish soldiers – one on the Ukrainian front, the other on the Gaza front – joined students at a Jewish school in Odessa for the start of the school year. The opening ceremony was held as part of the Or Avner-Chabad network of schools amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
He told about this Chabad Odessa. “During the celebration, the 20th psalm for improving the situation in Israel and Ukraine was read by a lyceum graduate, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Viktor Kovchak.”
Viktor Kovchak, a Ukrainian-Jewish soldier wounded on the front lines, attended the event on crutches, accompanied by the chief rabbi of southern Ukraine, Avraham Wolf. Despite his injuries, which left him paralyzed from the waist down, Kovchak spoke to students and parents, taking the microphone to recite Psalm 21.
“Victor, whose legs are completely paralyzed after a miraculous survival, took the microphone and slowly and clearly recited Psalm 21, praying for healing for all the wounded and for a new, healthy and peaceful year,” the press release said.
Kovchak is a graduate of a Jewish school in Odessa that recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. His prayer marked the start of a new school year despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In addition to Kovchak, another Jewish soldier and Odessa school graduate, Yosef Yitzhak Tudoran, who was wounded on the Gaza front, participated in the ceremony remotely. He joined the event via video link, reciting a Psalm for Israel's victory. “Parents, staff, and all participants were moved to tears,” the press release noted.
The Or Avner-Chabad network of schools operates in cities across the former Soviet Union, including Ukraine. Despite the challenges posed by conflict, schools in cities such as Zhitomir and Kyiv have begun the new school year. In Kyiv, classes resumed just hours after rockets fell near the school grounds.
The opening of the school year was marked by emotional celebrations, with students in some places receiving new tzitzit (ritual tassels).
In response to the realities of life under war, thousands of students in Ukraine received reflective bracelets from the Chabad JRNU network on the first day of school. The bracelets were designed to increase children’s safety during the frequent power outages that have become common due to the ongoing conflict.
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