“Dialogue of Generations” is a project founded in 2013 by Vyacheslav Nagnybida, a participant in the “Metsuda” project, which is designed to establish close ties between the younger and older generations of the community for the best understanding and support of each other. A new stage in the life of the project began in March, when the center of the All-Ukrainian volunteer network “Community” began operating in Khmelnytskyi, and the teenage club of the KhBF “Hesed Besht” began cooperation with the organization “AJT”. The result of this symbiosis was a great Shabbat between representatives of different generations.
“It was not so much the Jews who preserved Shabbat as the Shabbat preserved the Jews,” says one of the favorite sayings about this weekly sacrament. The “Dialogue of Generations” project, among other aspects, gave priority to joint meetings of the Queen of Saturday by young people and the elderly. After all, that is what traditions are for, to be passed down from generation to generation. Both sides of the dialogue, which are hospitable community members on the one hand and participants of the teenage club on the other, accepted this idea very enthusiastically. Employees of the Khmelnytskyi Charitable Foundation “Hesed Besht” acted as mediators, helping the owners of the homes where Shabbats were held to prepare food and introducing them to the young visitors. The Shabbats were held in five homes, brought together about three dozen community members, and were extremely warm and heartfelt for all participants.
An article in the Khmelnytskyi City Council newspaper "Proskuriv", which was published on the eve of the meetings, also played a major role in better understanding (link to the electronic version). It was about the event “Stilaga-party” at the Community Center “Thia”, which was organized by the children themselves. Since our older people are used to reading newspapers, almost everyone knew about this event, saw a group photo of its participants. Thus, people were extremely interested to see in their homes young people who, at their age and for their good deeds, had already made it to the pages of a respected publication in the city.
In each family, Shabbat was celebrated differently. That is, the atmosphere and content were different, not the traditions common to all Jews. For example, in Mrs. Popenko's home, young guests were told many interesting and informative stories about the origin of Shabbat traditions, in the Voskoboynik family, conversations were mainly about family ties, when older people talked about meeting the parents or relatives of the children present with them. And in the Mazuryk family, young visitors, who were already well-versed in rituals, learned how difficult it was for Jews during the times of the struggle against religion to even get together, let alone spend Shabbat.
The practice of holding joint Shabbats will continue in the future. This is an extremely positive experience for both sides - young people and older people. Such meetings not only warm hearts with warmth and illuminate with the lights of Shabbat candles - they strengthen the community, preparing a good foundation for further development and prosperity.
