ON THE COVER

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22 | MARCH 10 • 2022 

“If Zelensky has now become synonymous 
with the blue-and-yellow flag of his country, it 
might signal an unexpected outcome of this con-
flict that has found Jews feeling finally, improba-
bly, one with a land that has perpetually tried to 
spit them out,
” wrote Gal Beckerman, the author 
of a book about efforts to liberate Jews from 
oppression in the Soviet Union, in The Atlantic. 
This history is part of what Fox said was so 
inspiring about seeing Zelensky in charge.
“In 1941 over 33,000 Ukrainian Jews were 
murdered in a two-day span in the Babi Yar 
ravine marking one of the deadliest massacres of 
the Holocaust,
” Fox wrote, referring to the mass 
shooting — first reported by JTA — that was 
organized by Nazis but supported by local collab-
orators. “For Ukraine to have a Jewish president 
descended from a Holocaust survivor standing 
up to a dictator is really empowering.
”
At the same time, Zelensky’s steadfastness in 
the face of acute danger — and offers of evacu-
ation — would appear to undercut a dangerous, 
age-old stereotype about Jews, that they are not 
fully committed to the countries in which they 
live.
“Now is a good time to dispense with the idea 
that Jews aren’t really loyal to the country of their 
birth,
” tweeted Elizabeth Picciotto, a writer on 
Long Island.
Unusual in a moment of extreme polarization, 
Zelensky is drawing praise from Jews across the 
political spectrum.
“Fawning over politicians, especially around 
militarism, makes me uneasy. That said, we 
should probably get Zelensky this @truahrabbis 
shirt,
” wrote Sophie Ellan-Golan, the director 
of strategic communication at Jews for Racial & 
Economic Justice, a liberal Jewish activist group. 
She pointed to the rabbinic human rights group’s 
swag, which reads: “Resisting tyrants since 
Pharaoh.
”
(The mention of Pharaoh conjures a second 
comparison to a legendary Jewish leader, Moses, 
who delivered the Israelites from slavery in 
Egypt; others have likened Zelensky to Mordecai, 
the Jew who defeats a wicked, murderous leader 
in the story retold on Purim.)
Meanwhile, David Suissa, the editor of Los 
Angeles’ Jewish Journal, which frequently decries 
progressive ideology on its editorial page, wrote 
that he saw a different element of Jewish tradition 
reflected in Zelensky’s resolve not to leave his 
native country.

“Thousands of years after our biblical patriarch 
Abraham’s poignant cry to God of ‘Hineni’ (‘Here 
I am’), the ultimate expression of responsibility, 
a Jewish president in the midst of war uttered a 
similar message: “Listen. I am here,
’” Suissa wrote. 
“In the face of such courage, it’s hard to think of 
more essential words to embody the miracle of 
Jewish survival.
”
Suissa connected Zelensky’s leadership to 
Israel, which he called “the ultimate example of 
Jews telling the world, ‘Listen, we are here. We’re 
not running. We’re not hiding.
’”
Politics are emerging in some of the Zelensky 
valorization. In a third and more charged meme, 
JewBelong, a group that has recently posted 
provocative billboards in multiple cities drawing 
attention to antisemitism and what it says is Jews’ 
need to fight against hatred of them, juxtaposed 
an image of Zelensky in army fatigues next to the 
famous image of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders sitting 
with his arms and legs crossed and wearing large 
mittens at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration.
“What type of Jew are you?” the meme asked 
— a message that confused some who saw it 
but left others with the clear impression that the 
group, which is ardently pro-Israel, was sug-
gesting that Sanders compared unfavorably to 
Zelensky.
But for the most part, as Zelensky seem-
ingly single-handedly alters the way the world 
responds to his beleaguered Ukraine, Jews are 
expressing one sentiment over and over again.
“The only good thing to come out of this 
humanitarian crisis is to see such an admirable 
and heroic Jewish president,
” wrote Marion 
Haberman, who goes by My Jewish Mommy Life 
online, on Instagram this weekend.
Using the congratulatory Hebrew term mean-
ing “all the honor,
” she added, “Kol haKavod to 
President Zelensky.
” 

one of the largest massacres 
of the Holocaust. The Jewish 
Telegraphic Agency provided 
the first news report of the 
massacre.
The ravine, a large open 
area with low-growing vege-
tation, is littered with multiple 
mass graves of Jews and 
other victims executed there. 
In recent years, a memorial 
museum site with several 
accompanying structures, still 
under construction before 
the Russian invasion, was 
constructed in the ravine.
The March 1 attack 
appeared to center on the 
TV tower, knocking out state 
broadcasting, but it also 
resulted in damage to the 
memorial complex, according 
to the museum’s Facebook 
page.
“To the world: What is the 
point of saying ‘never again’ 
for 80 years, if the world 
stays silent when a bomb 
drops on the same site of 
Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. 
History repeating…” Zelensky 
tweeted immediately after 
the attack, which drew wide-
spread condemnation from 
Jews and others. 

— Philissa Cramer, JTA

“WHAT IS THE POINT OF 
SAYING ‘NEVER AGAIN’ IF 
THE WORLD STAYS SILENT 
WHEN A BOMB DROPS 
ON THE SAME SITE OF 

BABYN YAR?”

— PRESIDENT ZELENSKY

A missile strikes the main TV tower 
in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 1, 2022. 

continued from page 21

ILLIA PONOMARENKO/TWITTER VIA JTA

