JDC Bar/Bat Mitzvah program sparking Jewish life

Dasha Mazanik (left) with a fellow participant at the JDC Bar/Bat Mitzvah program in Siberia. Photo courtesy of JDC. Looking at Dasha Mazanik, one would never know that at one time her only Jewish experience was limited to what her grandmother and sole guardian, Tamara, shared.

And yet today, Dasha, who was abandoned by her alcoholic mother after the death of her father, is an active participant in the Ulan-Ude JCC in Eastern Siberia, a program supported by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) that teaches Jewish tradition to youngsters. She also participates in the JCC's Shalom dance group, and even became a bat mitzvah in 2007.

This summer, Dasha served as a "madricha"

counselor) at JDC's weeklong Bar/Bat Mitzvah program for young Jews and their families in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. For those Jews, who live far from the traditional centers of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union, this program was an opportunity to renew ties to their Jewish heritage and have their own bar/bat mitzvah.

The JDC Bar/Bat Mitzvah program includes lectures, games, prayer, study, and discussions, culminating in a ceremony led by madrichim from the region who, like Dasha, participated in past programs, and rabbinical students from California-based partner, the American Jewish University (AJU).

For Dasha, being able to return to the program as a counselor was a truly meaningful experience.

"Everything was super," said Dasha. "It was amazing how we became a real community during a week in retreat."

Contributions to the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey Annual Campaign support the work of JDC in the former Soviet Union and 60 countries worldwide.

You can help insure that this and hundreds of other life-enriching programs continue in our community and around the world by making a contribution today to the 2009 Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. Donate online at www.jewishsouthjersey.org or call 751-9500, ext. 214. .

This story was adapted from an article provided by the American Jewish Joint

Distribution Committee (JDC).