Dear friends, today I would like to tell you the details of my visit to western regions.

During the visit I met not only the government officials, but also representatives of the Jewish community, visited the sightseeing, talked with the representatives of the clergy.
The first of a series of such meetings was the visit to the synagogue in Ivano-Frankivsk. A very interesting building, in architectural terms, experienced a difficult history, like many other religious buildings did. The Rabbi of the Frankivsk synagogue Moshe Leib Kolesnik told us that the Jewish community by joint efforts is restoring lost cultural wealth of the region now.
Chernivtsi, along with Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, is one of the most beautiful cities of Ukraine. And it's not only about the architectural style, but the city gives the atmosphere of comfort and tranquility. It is a great pleasure to work, walk and just be there. And the most important thing is that people are very sincere and friendly in Chernivtsi. And they are very enterprising. Chernivtsi residents carefully preserve the traditions of their city and respect the traditions of all communities living together.

As I have already said, Chernivtsi was once called the most Jewish of all cities. For centuries, Jews lived here, preserving their cultural traditions. Here they were able to transfer them to their descendants freely, conduct traditional Jewish life openly. By 1940 there were 47 synagogues in the city, and centers that helped the poor members of the community, also there were Jewish hospitals, orphanages, schools, etc. There is still a large number of centers of Jewish culture, education and religion in Chernivtsi.

During my visit to Chernivtsi I also visited some of the important places. In particular, I visited the central synagogue of Chernivtsi where Rabbi Menachem Mendel Glitsenshteyn told me about the synagogue as a religious and cultural center. Personally, I was impressed by the architecture of the local synagogue and that how difficult it was for local congregation to restore the building abandoned for decades.

Later, there was another visit, one of the most enjoyable for the whole journey. Together with the Ambassador of Israel Eliav Belotsercovsky, we visited ORT specialized school, where children learn Jewish traditions, culture and language. In addition to studying Jewish traditions, the aim of this school is to form among the students the basics of life in the community: self-management, social activity. This school also supports the introduction of high technologies in the education system, using the Internet everywhere, developing information technology. In my opinion, such schools are an example to follow. And they do not have to be Jewish. The school maintains close ties with the Jewish community of the city, representatives of which also came to the meeting with us.

We got acquainted with the organization of the educational process of the school, attended Hebrew lessons and met with the students’ parents. These schools are a bright example of the unique symbiosis of education and technology, a combination of studying the cultural traditions and achievements of modern science. One of the most important features of the Jewish people is the ability to respect the traditions, history and culture. In fact, because of this there are Jewish people. I think it is the right time to introduce into Ukrainian schools the same rational combination - to support Ukrainian culture, history, to teach children the traditions. But at the same time, it is necessary to maintain and implement modern principles of education and science.