Torahthon and Shavuos a smashing success!

Shavuot in Ulyanovsk has been extremely inspirnig!

This year over 30 Jews came to the Synogogue in Ulyanovsk to our Torahthon - to learn Torah from 6:00 pm till midnight. Ten people stayed all through the night till 6:00 in the morning! "To be honest," says Rabbi Marozov, "I did not think many people would show up, and for those who did, I was sure that by 11:00 pm I would be the only one left in the Synogouge. That's why I only arranged for 5 lectures. To my surprise, many people wanted to continue learning, so we opened a Gemara and learned till 6:00 in the morning, afterwards we prayed and went home.

The next afternoon, we had a grand Shavuot festival for the whole community! Over 100 people listened attentively to the lecture given by the Rabbi, followed by the reading of the "Aseres hadibrois". Afterwards, the crowd went outside to a delightful dairy buffet with delicious hot dishes, cakes and salads, that was cooked and baked by Rabbanit Sara Marozova. Buffets are not common in Russia; for most people this was a first timer. Many people were overwhelmed by the amount of food, and the idea that you may take whatever you want, how much you want, how many times you wish!

An Ice cream party was attended to by over 20 children! They made a "har sinai" mountain out of ice cream and then ate it.

We truly hope and pray that this Shavuos will be a beginner for the many Jews living in Ulyanovsk to make learning Torah a regular activity in their lives.