EDUCATION
On September 1, after summer break, the Jewish Institute of Queens, part of the Ohr Avner educational system, reopened its doors, and my two grandsons returned to JIQ’s Queens Gymnasium, which has become a home away from home—not only for them, but for thousands of Bukharian Jewish children in New York.
My older grandson, Adam, began attending the yeshiva for boys on Utopia Parkway.
The personal project of the president of the World Congress of Bukharian Jews was revolutionary for American Jewry when it opened its doors in 2002. For the first time in New York, a private school was established where the children of Jewish immigrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Russia, and Israel could study free of charge. In addition to the investments spent on setting up the yeshiva and paying the teaching staff and administration, substantial funds were allocated to meet the students’ needs.
As a result, each family was able to save at least $10,000 on their children’s education. For that time, this was a substantial amount that provided much-needed support to our immigrant families.
«At our yeshiva, which is part of the JIQ educational system, 550 children are enrolled, and at the boys’ yeshiva located on Utopia Parkway, there are 300,» reported with pride the principal, Batya Zavulunova, who has worked for many years alongside Jennifer Seidman.
Twenty-four years have passed, and thanks to Lev Leviev’s efforts, our community has gained not only the Queens Gymnasium but also Ohr Chana for girls, a complex on Utopia Park Avenue, and Ohr Avner summer camps—in short, a well-established Jewish educational system that includes not only wonderful students and teachers, but also donors and sponsors ready to keep alive the flame that was once lit by Lev Leviev.’
For our community, Jewish education is about much more than what children learn in the classroom. It is how we pass our faith, traditions, history, and values from one generation to the next, giving our children a strong Jewish identity while preserving the unique heritage of Bukharian Jews. Seeing my own grandsons continue their education at JIQ reminds me that the future of our community depends on what we teach our children today.
Chagit Leviev-Sofiev, President of the Congress of Bukharian Jews of the U.S. and Canada and also President of JIQ, sent her congratulations to the directors of the yeshivas, wishing them success in this noble endeavor, and also noted that the new fund established by Lev Leviev is ready to support parents who decide to transfer their children from public schools to the JIQ yeshiva.
Photo from the JIQ archives
By Rafael Nektalov Editor-in-Chief of The Bukharian Times