By Anna Grinberg and Rebecca Neuschatz
Special to JUF News

The most memorable aspect of any international trip is the connection you make to the residents of your host country. Holding true to this philosophy, six Chicago-area Hillels of Illinois students experienced a unique, and deeply meaningful, Passover this year in Ukraine.

With a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Eitan Gordon, Anna Grinberg, Vladimir Gutkovsky, Ydidya Levin, Rebecca Neuschatz, and Abraham Saiger spent over a week celebrating Passover in Ukraine. We were joined by 14 Ukrainian Hillel (or Gillel as the word is translated in Ukrainian) students, two Canadian Hillel students, and four Israeli students. For Vladimir and Anna, the trip marked their first return to Kyiv since their families emigrated to Chicago over 10 years ago. The other students were motivated to participate in the program by a desire to connect with their genealogical roots and enhance their personal Jewish identity. Misha Zilbermint, a fellow of Hillels Around Chicago Jewish Campus Service Corps (JCSC), acted as the Chicago program coordinator and accompanied the students on the trip.

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