Ханука глазами юных художников

Volunteers are the heart and soul of any Jewish community. This is also true about Minsk Jewish Campus. It is hard to give an exact number of MJC volunteers, but some 800 people of different ages donating their time and effort to the community can proudly call themselves volunteers of MJC.
There are volunteers dedicated to the Jewish History and Culture Museum of Belarus. One of them is Mikhail Izrailsky (Belen’ky). Having come to the “Mogilev Ghetto” exhibition opening in 2002 he fell in love with the museum and the work done there, and his heart is still in it.

The story of Elena Vakulchik resembles the story of many women who faced betrayal of the person trusted and hoped to build a strong family with. In 2003 Elena gave birth to twin boys. As they were born prematurely, the boys were very weak and doctors fought for their lives. The situation got even worse, when one of the kids, Misha, turned out to have congenital malformation: sensor neural deafness and speech underdevelopment. While Elena and Misha were in hospital, the father of the children filed for divorce and paternity suit. Although court decision was positive for Elena, it didn’t help the situation: the father abandoned the family and does not participate in the life of his children.

One who has ever met Krupenkovy family, will never forget this bright, unusual couple. These particular people are associated with the classic example of the Jewish family: educated, talented and active.
Krupenkovy family has been attending JCC “Emunah” for 10 years already since its first days. They were the first members of Keshet family club and were one of the most active participants. Their son Misha became JCC client as a lovely baby with fluffy hair, now he is a serious young man, a third-year student of physical faculty and an active participant of Hillel and JCC Youth Leadership School.