A solemn ceremony dedicated to the tenth anniversary of "Simkha - KhaBaD" school has been held in Kiev.

This educational establishment was started in 1992 by Rabbi Dov Ber Karasik. Nearly 700 pupils attend it. The school is funded by the organization "Tseirei KhaBaD" and Israeli Bureau on connections, which also directs its teachers here. So, "Simkha KhaBaD" is a state general Ukrainian school with extended learning of Hebrew and Jewish traditions. The school is also supported by "Joint" and "Sokhnut".

The representatives of municipal and executive authorities, of Israel's embassy, leaders of different Jewish organizations attended the ceremony. One of the honorable guests declared, "This very day 50 years ago I also became a first form pupil, but we had no opportunity then to learn our mother tongue".

A Kiev city administration's representative Anatoly Timchik underlined Jewish education in Ukraine progresses owing to country's independence and final breaking with totalitarian past.

According to a school administrator Gabriel Gordonov, "Simkha - KhaBaD" is one of the best schools in Ukraine and one of the biggest in CIS.

Pupils' faces were shining with joy. We wish them and their teachers many happy moments the whole year through, as should be the case with a school named "Simkha".