On October 30, Scott Smith of Pine Brook and Dima Kats of Cherkassy, Ukraine, will each become a bar mitzva.

Although life is very different in New Jersey and Cherkassy, a partnership community of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, the two 13-year-old boys are looking forward to the big day with a similar mixture of enthusiasm and nervousness. Both will be cheered on by their parents, Gail and Ed Smith and Inna and Alexandr Kats, and a younger sister.

Scott will be a solo bar mitzva at Pine Brook Jewish Center, while Dima will join some 15 other young people to celebrate a community b'nai mitzva. As his mitzva project, Scott has collected large quantities of toiletries for the less fortunate residents of Cherkassy. To accomplish this, he set up a bin in the synagogue and also wrote to some pharmaceutical companies. Several duffle bags of toiletries have already been sent, and the remainder will be delivered by MetroWest's community leadership mission, during their visit at the end of October.

The Cherkassy b'nai mitzva ceremony will be held while the MetroWest community mission is in Cherkassy and will be conducted by a mission participant, Rabbi Amy Joy Small, spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Hatikvah, Chatham, and president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. The b'nai mitzva is a regular feature of the community missions to Cherkassy and always a highlight of the mission.

The twin b'nai mitzva and the mission are two more links in the partnership between MetroWest and Cherkassy, which began in 1996 through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Various programs have developed since then, focusing on fostering Jewish identity, providing Jewish education, and aiding the elderly. They operate from the Hesed Center.

Last summer, Dima and his family enjoyed a vacation at a family summer camp, one of the most significant Jewish educational opportunities for the residents of Cherkassy.

The b'nai mitzva is one of the ways in which the Cherkassy Jewish community is reclaiming its heritage. Some families have even made aliya to Israel through the Direct Absorption project, a unique partnership of UJC of MetroWest, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and the municipality of Rishon LeZion, one of MetroWest's partnership communities in Israel. The October mission will include a former Cherkassy resident now living in Israel.

Scott and Dima are getting to know each other through e-mail and have exchanged photos. Dima has been able to get on the internet through a computer at the Hesed Center. "Scott is blown away knowing that here's a boy thousands of miles away, doing a bar mitzva like him," said his mother. "On October 30, both boys will be reading the same haftara. It's been a wonderful experience for Scott, and he's learned a lot."

As Scott and Dima become b'nei mitzva and the MetroWest mission meets with the people of Cherkassy, they celebrate the personal, cultural, and religious ties that bind together our Jewish people, wherever they live.