The Bukharian Jewish community of Aurora, Colorado celebrated Purim this year with special joy, as the festive gathering coincided with the dedication of a new Sefer Torah donated by the Kandinov family.
Each year, the Ohr Avner community hosts a large Purim celebration, drawing between 200 and 250 participants from the growing Bukharian Jewish population in the Denver–Aurora area. “It’s a big party and something we do every year with Ohr Avner,” Ruben Bachayev, president of the community, shared with The Bukharian Times.
This year’s celebration carried special meaning with the completion of a new Torah scroll. The Sefer Torah was donated by Binyamin and Mila Kandinov together with Binyamin’s father, Eliyahu Kandinov. The Torah was written in Israel and brought to Colorado for the occasion.
During the celebration, members of the community had the opportunity to participate in the traditional ceremony of completing the final letters of the Torah, a cherished mitzvah often shared among congregants and supporters. According to Bachayev, several of the last letters were symbolically “sold” to members of the community so they could take part in the merit of the mitzvah.
“With gratitude to Hashem, the Ohr Avner community of Colorado had a wonderfully joyous celebration of Purim along with a generous donation of a new beautiful Sefer Torah from the family of Binyamin and Mila Kandinov and his father Eliyahu Kandinov,” Bachayev wrote in a message following the event.
The Torah was dedicated in memory of the Kandinov family’s mother, Tamara Kandinov. Several family members traveled from New York to join the celebration, including Binyamin’s brother, sister, brother-in-law, and son.
Binyamin Kandinov plays an active role in the synagogue as the gabbai of Ohr Avner. “Binyamin is the Gabbi of Ohr Avner and along with his wife contributes so much to the Ohr Avner community with their time and effort and support,” Bachayev noted.
He also praised Eliyahu Kandinov’s longstanding contributions to Jewish communal life. “Eliyahu Kandinov is an esteemed and respected member of the New York community and has helped so many Jews,” Bachayev told The Bukharian Times.
Founded more than 25 years ago, the Ohr Avner community in Aurora now includes over 250 Bukharian Jewish families. The annual Purim celebration has become one of the community’s largest gatherings of the year — combining tradition, festivity, and communal unity.
Bachayev concluded his message with a heartfelt blessing for the donors: “May Hashem bless them with health and happiness and parnassa and long healthy lives, and may they have nachat from their children.”
Erin Levi