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.

CHABAD.ORG

