Jewish radio station, an arts and crafts charity fair and a community photo exhibition were among the projects presented by EnerJew activists at the social projects competition, a part of EnerJew’s motivational seminar happening this week in Jerusalem and around the country.

Teams from the youth movement’s 20 cities across Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Azerbaijan participated in the competition aiming for the prize – a mini-grant that would enable the winning team to make a pilot of the project and try it out in the real world.

After two rounds of votes, the jury, comprised of seasoned Jewish educators, picked the winner – a smart-phone application for mapping historical Jewish places in the area of Chernovtsy, Ukraine. The area is saturated with Jewish history, but tourists and even locals are having an increasingly hard time navigating it, as landmarks become converted for other purposes or simply wither. “The application will help us support our city’s rich Jewish history and preserve it for others,” said Artyom K., part of Chernovtsy’s team.

Abundance of Jewish initiative is one of the prime goals of the movement itself and the enthusiasm that permeated the air of the competition hall was a reflection of what EnerJew aims to reach in the FSU as a whole – grass-roots initiative and action springing forth from fertile community ground.

“These kids are the future of Russian Jewery,” said Konstantin Shulman, EnerJew project director. “We want them to learn to take an active part in it.”

The projects competition is just one part of an incredibly intense and activity-packed seminar schedule that includes workshops and discussion, memorable visits and holy places tours. “The seminar is intended to inspire these kids for the coming year and they are really making the best of it,” said one of the project mentors, Vladimir G

EnerJew is a program developed by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC) with the support of Finger Foundation, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the L.A. Pincus Fund.