It’s not every day that you witness Rabbis from remote parts of Ukraine, leave their families and congregate for one reason: to learn and master the Halachot of the Jewish home.

At first, I thought to myself, the amount of Rabbis participating in the course might be a few dozen, but they actually represent hundreds and perhaps thousands of Jews. They had to travel thousands of miles on a freezing train to arrive in Odessa.

As one that is familiar with the history of Odessa, I didn’t dream Id live to see the day when I will see blazing Chassidic torches burning through the Ukrainian winter. Their hearts are on fire as the head Shaliach to Odessa Rabbi Avraham Wolf lead them through the course.

One after the other, each from disperse cities, entered the lecture hall to learn important Halachot concerning the Jewish home. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Raskin Dayan of the Lubavitch community in London, U.K. and member of the Rabbinical Council of Europe presented a review on the basic general laws of Taharah and the Purity of the Jewish home.

The main part of the course was applied by hands-on learning. All the participants got involved and gave their own opinion, discussed, heard other opinions and learned from the reality. The Rabbis clearly understood the major responsibility sitting on their shoulders as the community depends on their ruling.

Rabbi Dr. Eli Shusheim, Chairman of the ‘Efrat’ organization and physician of many great Rabbis, participated in the course and lectured about the bonding of the  medical world and the holy Torah when it comes to  Taharah and the purity of the Jewish home. He described several medical procedures that can help assist in Halacha.

Rabbi Wolf, Rabbi Shneur Vigler, and Rabbi Yaakov Neimark invested much time and effort beyond expectation to assure that the course ran smoothly, and the Rabbis could concentrate on their learning.

The intense and significant course proves that the Jewish communities are flourishing in the Ukraine. The RCE recognized the high priority of this development and understood the need to establish courses as these with for the benefit of the Rabbis and their communities.

Rabbi Raskin, Rabbi Wolf and other Rabbis that participated in the course thanked the RCE for their support in the community Rabbis by providing an efficient course full of important content.

Personally, I felt a very special feeling and did not want the course to end as I saw the thirst in the eyes of the Rabbis who participated and wanted to continue and absorb more halachot about the Jewish Home. These are Rabbis who represent thousands of our nation and are demanded to be fully versed in the absolute pure Halacha.

How fortunate you are to have such devoted Rabbis leading your communities! How fortunate we are to part of such a great nation! Hashem should bless you with success in whatever you do and wherever you go to increase more soldiers for the sake of Torah. Amen