• Temple teachings for Russian children

December, 2010

With assistance from MCF, classes “Studio of young broadcasters and television presenters- "JUDITH" for Russian speaking children took place in the summer and autumn of this year in Jerusalem.

The children are taught to read and write in Russian with assistance of customized material. The initial stage of teaching of Russian language is based on Russian folk tales, but gradually it is replaced by stories from Bible and Talmud as well as with stories about Jewish holydays. Activities with clay, paper, drawings, painting etc are also taught.

The teachings are conducted jointly by Michael Polsky and Larissa Rozenkevich. Unfortunately, the quality of the literature on Jewish tradition for children 5-6 years is almost non- existent, hence children's books in Hebrew were used. Two of them need to be mentioned: richly illustrated album by Mordechai Halamish ("Èl′hanan and Haim go up to Jerusalem"), which contains an excellent presentation on the Temple in the form of comics. It was read in Hebrew and immediately translated into Russia. Plans are in workings to translate it into Russian. Another book is by Shay Elboim ("Gates of wonder") which contains poetic retelling of the Talmudic story about the miracle of the Temple gates. It has been already translated into Russian.

Methodical and practical work to spread knowledge about our Temple among Russian-speaking children and adolescents is in constant progress.