PURELY COMMENTARY

14 | FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 J
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Ukraine is expected to 
increase this year to 160, from 
120, Rabbi Gritsevskaya said; 
despite the war, normal Jewish 
activities continue. “We are 
trying to lead a Jewish life.”
As the second anniversary 
of the Russian invasion 
approaches, as the war grinds 
on, as a military stalemate is 
likely to continue this winter, 
as the number of soldiers 
killed in battle increases, 
as the needs of Jewish and 
non-Jewish residents grows, 
Ukrainian Jews reaching 
out to other people living 
under the shadow of war 
is a sign of the resilience 
of a community whose 
own financial and physical 
struggles have not ended, the 
rabbi said.
The bottom line: two wars, 
one people.

PEOPLE WANT TO HELP
In addition to the money 
raised among Ukrainian 
Jewry through Conservative 
institutions, many Ukrainian 
Jews have “spontaneously” 
initiated and participated 
in prayer vigils under the 
auspices of Chabad on behalf 
of the Jews of Israel since 
Oct. 7, said Judi Garrett, 
chief operating officer of 
the Virginia-based Jewish 
Relief Network Ukraine. She 
said Ukrainian Jews have 
expressed “great feelings for 
wanting to help people in 
Israel.”
The Ukrainian Jewish 
community has announced 
“no particular plans” to 
mark the upcoming painful 

anniversary of the start of 
the war in Ukraine, which 
has killed about 6,900 
Ukrainians and displaced 
another 10 million, said 
Rabbi Gritsevskaya, the 
Jerusalem-based circuit rabbi 
of the Schechter Institutes 
and executive director of its 
Zionist-oriented Midreshet 
Schechter Ukraine.
For sure, she said, 
Ukrainian Jews on that 
date will recite the prayers 
for Israeli soldiers, and 
for Ukraine, which the 
community has recited at 
every worship service during 
the last two years.
That, in addition to the 
money that Ukrainian 
Jews have contributed to 
send to Israel through the 
international Emergency 
Campaign, which is separate 
from the Ukraine emergency 
fund that the Schechter 
Institutes established after 
the Russian invasion.
The funds from Ukraine, 
brought to Israel by Rabbi 
Gritsevskaya, (converted 
first into dollars for safety’s 
sake), go to such programs 
as a “spiritual care hotline” 
serving people affected 
by the Hamas terrorism, 
rabbinical students 
dispatched to the devastated 
communities, and financial 
assistance for the southern 
city of Ofakim.
The Schechter Institutes 
call the phenomenon of Jews 
in a country at war helping 
people in another country 
at war hafuch al hafuch, 
Hebrew for upside down 

(literally a twist on a twist).
The attitude of Ukrainian 
Jews was “we can’t stand 
aside when something 
happens” to other people in 
need. “It was time to help,” 
said Lev Kleiman, leader of 
Chernivtsi’s Conservative 
Jewish community. “They 
said they were sorry they 
could not give more,” 
Kleiman said in a recent 
Zoom interview, his words in 
Russian translated by Rabbi 
Gritsevskaya. 

RELATIVES IN ISRAEL
For the Jews of Ukraine, the 
Gaza War is personal, Kleiman 
said — many have relatives in 
Israel, some living there for 
several years, others since the 
war in Ukraine began; among 
them are soldiers in the Israeli 
army.
Chernivtsi (formerly 
Czernowitz), once the site of 
a major Jewish community, 
was known as “The 
Jerusalem upon the Prut 
[River].” The city’s estimated 
Jewish population was 2,000 
before the war in Ukraine.
The amount donated to 
the Emergency Campaign by 
Ukrainian Jews so far is small, 
said Rabbi Gritsevskaya, who 
declined to give a total figure. 
“It’s not a lot of money, but it 
represents money they don’t 
have,” she said. The fact that 
Ukraine’s Jews, “of all ages,” 
volunteered to share any of 
their meager incomes is what 
the rabbi considers most 
significant.
Rabbi Gritsevskaya said 
the message of the Ukrainian 

Jews’ generosity is the 
principle, not the principal. 
The principle: “Kol Yisroel 
averim zeh et zeh,” a Hebrew 
expression that means every 
Jew is responsible for each 
other. “It’s moral support 
that’s important.”
The rabbi said she (during 
her recent visits to the 
four major Conservative 
communities in Ukraine) 
and Kleiman (now studying 
for the rabbinate) in 
Chernivtsi, did not need to 
go the homes of Ukrainian 
Jews to solicit funds for the 
Emergency Campaign. 
“They came to us,” 
Rabbi Gritsevskaya said — 
immediately after the Hamas 
bloody attack on southern 
Israel, members of the 
country’s Jewish community 
showed up, unprompted, 
at institutions of the 
Conservative movement, 
putting their Ukrainian 
coins and bills into pushke 
collection boxes earmarked 
for the pro-Israel drive.
Contributing to the 
Emergency Campaign, as a 
citizen of a country under 
attack from Russia, helping 
people under attack from 
Hamas, was an easy decision, 
Sherbak said. “People should 
always help each other in the 
fight against evil,” she said, 
“no matter what the evil is 
called.” 
 

Steve Lipman was a staff writer 

at the Jewish Week in New York in 

1983-2020. For information about 

the Schechter Institute’s Emergency 

Campaign: schechter.edu/schechters-

activity-during-the-emergency.

