OUR COMMUNITY

U

kraine is home to some
350,000 Jews. Now, Chabad-
Lubavitch is tapping its
sprawling international network
to help keep them safe during the
Russian invasion.
“We’re in touch very much with
what’s going on in Ukraine,
” says
Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov of The
Shul-Chabad Lubavitch in West
Bloomfield. “There is a very active
effort right now of a very large pro-
portion on many levels.
”
The Shul is one of
many Chabad loca-
tions organizing a mass
donation campaign to
raise money for work in
Ukraine. These dona-
tions, Rabbi Shemtov
explains, are essential to
saving lives and getting
people out of harm’s way as Russians
advance.
Present in 35 cities and towns
across Ukraine, Chabad has mobi-
lized its entire community to provide
food, shelter, transportation and
medical care to Ukrainian civilians.
Rather than leaving the country for
safety, many Chabad contacts remain
onsite in the midst of war, putting the
needs of the Jewish community and
beyond first and foremost.
“
At this point, there are 15,000
Jewish refugees that have made it
out of Ukraine,
” Rabbi Shemtov says,
“but there are still about a quarter of
a million Jews in Ukraine that need
help.
”

A “TREMENDOUS” EFFORT
Shemtov explains that many
Ukrainian Jews have opted to wait
out the war. Some cannot physically
leave, while others don’t want to cross

the border without men in their fam-
ily who are of fighting age between
18-60 and kept in the country by
martial law.
Others, he says, don’t see the pos-
sibility of going to a foreign country
and starting a new life, especially
without time to prepare. Therefore,
getting real-time help on the ground
in Ukraine is crucial. Right now, civil-
ians and volunteers alike are forced to
work with cash only as banks remain
closed, which makes the situation
harder to navigate.
Food is also being distributed by
Chabad where possible, though some
channels are becoming more narrow
as Russian forces lay siege to large
cities. The network is also assembling
buses to transport civilians to safety
or getting them train tickets to go
west.
Rabbi Shemtov says that Chabad’s
budget of $12 million to help Jewish
refugees in Ukraine is expected to
double or triple very quickly. “It’s a
tremendous amount of effort,
” he
explains. “There are very dedicated
people that are going beyond the call
of duty.
”
Many Chabad centers across
Ukraine have been converted into
shelters. They’re now refugee centers,
complete with cooks preparing food,
beds to sleep in and medical care. At
these shelters, Jews from across the
country gather in safety, working on
fortifying their cities to protect them
from Russian attacks.
For Ukrainians who manage to
cross the border into neighboring
countries, Chabad is utilizing its
networks in countries like Germany
and the Netherlands, among others,
to organize evacuation and housing
plans for refugees.

Across the world, the Chabad network
is saving Ukrainian Jews.
Real-Time Help

Rabbi
Kasriel
Shemtov

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

26 | MARCH 17 • 2022

Some examples of Chabad’s work in Ukraine before
the Russian invasion. Today, Chabad is concentrating
its efforts on helping Ukrainian Jews with basic
necessities. TOP: Teen volunteer gives a Chanukah
menorah kit to an elderly Ukranian Jew. MIDDLE: In
Sumy, Ukraine, a small town near the Russian border,
Rabbi Yechiel Shlomo Levitansky serves a Jewish
community of about 3,000. BOTTOM: Children at the
Mishpacha Orphanage in Odessa.

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