“Once I return, I will kiss our Torah scrolls.” Leaders of Ukraine's Jewish community discuss the humanitarian crisis

Armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine has been ongoing for more than ten months. During this period, according to UN data, approximately 9.3 million people have fled the country. Meanwhile, according to the report of the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, about 14,000 Jews with the right of return arrived in Israel from Ukraine. Notably, before the outbreak of hostilities, average estimates placed the country's Jewish community at around 200,000 individuals eligible for repatriation. The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress continues to provide vital humanitarian aid to the civilian population. A special humanitarian aid fund for the Jews of Ukraine operates under the auspices of the Congress. Anyone wishing to contribute can make a donation via bank transfer or on the website. In March 2022, the EAJC press service interviewed leaders of the Jewish community in Ukrainian cities experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis. Eight months later, we spoke once again with representatives of Ukrainian Jewry to discuss what has changed since then and how they have adapted to the conditions of war.

Yosef Axelrud, Director of Hillel CASE, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress

“Over these months, ‘Hillel’ in Ukraine has strictly adapted to a new operational reality. One of our key areas of activity—volunteering—has experienced exponential growth. Today, in all Ukrainian cities where ‘Hillel’ operates (including the ‘Hillel’ office in Chisinau), our young people volunteer 24 hours a day. This is currently the most urgent need of the Jewish community—for youth to provide hands-on assistance.

Furthermore, in the Kharkiv office, which was completely destroyed by bombing, the students still gather on Fridays to conduct Kabbalat Shabbat. The Kharkiv office is located in a municipal building. Our main objective, as soon as it is safe to return to Ukraine, is to fly in on the very first flight and restore the premises of the Kharkiv ‘Hillel’. If feasible, we will rebuild the facility with the assistance of the local authorities. If not, we will construct a new one. While the bombings continue, we are unfortunately unable to take active steps. Since the start of the conflict, most of the Kharkiv Hillel students relocated to Lviv and are actively working alongside the Lviv ‘Hillel’. However, some Hillel students have remained in Kharkiv as well.

Only a few have departed. As for the staff, only the program director, two Hillel directors, and myself have left—everyone else remained on site. The vast majority of our students stayed; young men are legally restricted from leaving Ukraine, but very few of the young women left either—about 80% remained in place. The number of Hillel students has barely decreased. New participants are joining and bringing their friends. The youth have felt highly valued and needed... For example, our students in Kyiv use their own cars to deliver food supplies and do not request any financial compensation, despite severe gasoline shortages in the city. They feel at the center of critical events: they arrive, package food boxes, deliver them, and make no complaints.

In addition to volunteer work, we run regular programs combining offline and online formats. For instance, the signature event of ‘Hillel’ is the ‘Intellectual Games’. This is a major project that was held annually in Odesa, attracting around 150 students from many countries. This year, we were unable to host it in person, so we conducted it online. Over 200 people participated—even more than in previous years.

At present, despite the fatigue accumulated over the years from Zoom and online projects, in such a dire time there is a clear need to gather together. Therefore, we hold events whenever possible. We have a project—the summer student forum. This year, we divided it into five mini-camps. Separately in the Caucasus, in Moldova, in Crimea and Belarus, and in Western Ukraine. It brought together over 80 participants, which is more than in previous years.

We are in dire need of financial support. First, we have lost a portion of our budget from internal sponsors. Our board of trustees cannot support us for obvious reasons. Furthermore, there is severe inflation in Ukraine; the salaries we previously paid to ‘Hillel’ staff are simply no longer viable today, making it impossible to survive on them.”

Moshe Reuven Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine

(At the time of publication, he had returned from Israel, where he spent several weeks meeting with Israeli politicians and public figures. Following this, Rabbi Azman traveled to the Kherson region, which is currently engulfed in military confrontation, to assist in delivering humanitarian aid to the local population).

“Over the past few months, the situation has shifted significantly, and our priorities have changed. At the beginning of the war, we focused on evacuation, helping tens of thousands of people flee. We had to establish logic and logistics to ensure everything moved quickly, even under conditions where safe routes were entirely unclear. Now—not that things have quieted down, as the war certainly continues—we have managed to systematize this work. However, reality constantly forces adjustments. Today, volunteer work consists of distributing food packages, medicines, and generators. This is required not only by the Jewish community; we assist all people who have been left homeless. In the southeastern regions, there are severe water shortages. The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, through its president, donated units that extract water from the air. Recent missile strikes have heavily damaged municipal infrastructure. There has been a sudden, urgent demand for equipment that generates electricity and heat, large-scale generators, and wood-burning stoves. Otherwise, people face the real threat of freezing.

We also provide assistance to individuals who have relocated to Israel. My son, Shmuel, established a dedicated center that helps new immigrants. Many are currently in Europe. Some began to return when the situation in the capital stabilized to some extent, though I cautioned that returning was premature, as security dynamics can change rapidly. We witnessed this on the first day of Sukkot. My wife returned with the young children, as did my son and his children—and missiles struck the very center of Kyiv. The next day, Kyiv emptied again, and we sent our relatives back to safety. The situation remains highly volatile; therefore, I do not advise returning. The Kyiv administration warns that a severe winter lies ahead. Already, homes are without electricity for most of the day. There is no water or sewage system. This compels us to act swiftly. For example, elderly citizens live on the tenth floor of buildings where elevators do not function. Volunteers must carry food up ten flights of stairs on foot.

Recently, new people who were not previously connected to the community have begun coming to the synagogues. With the onset of the war, their connection to Jewish identity has strengthened. In this grave situation, the Jewish soul and self-awareness have been awakened. People come wishing to help, though the majority require assistance themselves. Even non-Jews are approaching us. I speak about Judaism and spiritual matters on my social media social channels, and tens of thousands of Ukrainians follow me. I speak about the Seven Laws of Noah for all humanity. They listen to my words, although they naturally seek to hear the word of the Almighty. There is no visible anti-Semitism. God willing, may it always be so. There is a strong sense of unity within the community. Even if some individuals were not on good terms before the war, many have reconciled during this crisis. When lives are at stake, there is no place for petty disputes and rivalries. Former adversaries have become friends and are helping each other.”

Mikhail Gold, journalist, editor-in-chief of the Jewish newspaper “Hadashot” (Kyiv)

(Since mid-March, Mikhail suspended his primary editorial duties to focus on documenting the testimonies of Jewish refugees, publishing them on his Facebook page. To date, he has interviewed approximately 150 individuals from fifteen Ukrainian cities. The project is set to culminate in the launch of the Exodus-2022 portal, which will host these stories, photographs, and video materials in Ukrainian, Russian, English, and Hebrew. There are also plans to publish a dedicated Book of Testimonies featuring the 50 most dramatic refugee accounts).

“Observing the exodus during the initial days of the war, I felt it was of paramount historical importance to record this period, as the world has not witnessed such a flow of Jewish refugees since the Second World War and the establishment of the State of Israel. This serves as a significant identity boundary for the Jewish community of Ukraine on one hand, and the Russian-speaking Jewish world on the other. With the exception of one Ukrainian-speaking religious Jewish woman, all of my respondents chose to communicate in Russian. Yet, the majority of them view themselves today not merely as Russian-speaking Jews, but as Ukrainian Jews who happen to speak a familiar (Russian) language for the time being.

The last thing I wanted was to act as a journalist broadcasting my own perspective, although I certainly have one. The goal was to give a voice to those who survived artillery shelling and aerial bombardments, often in cellars without electricity, gas, communications, and with minimal food and water, having endured the tragedy of evacuation and the pain of losing loved ones. I urged them to focus strictly on their personal experiences—not on accounts heard from third parties or read in the media, but on events in which they were direct participants and witnesses.

The overwhelming majority of my interlocutors did not expect war. More precisely, they did not believe it would begin. And when it did, they hoped it would conclude quickly, reasoning that we live in the 21st century after all... Another common sentiment was that 'there was no need to liberate us from anyone.' This does not mean that every single respondent held an active pro-Ukrainian political stance, but without exception, the Russian invasion was perceived as an explicit evil and an act of unconditional aggression. It is crucial to understand that the primary impact was borne by the eastern and southern regions of the country, where pro-Russian sentiments had been quite strong not long ago. 'What kind of compatriots are they to me?!' asked a retiree from Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, whose home was destroyed at three in the morning by two Iskander missiles. This man's grandparents were shot by the Nazis in a ghetto; his father was Jewish, and his mother was Russian.

Everyone has their own 'Jewish' experience of the war. One woman recalled how, on the eve of Passover, she baked matzah on an old Soviet portable stove and felt for the first time that she was 'here and now departing from Egypt.' Another, when the electricity was cut off, used a Hanukkah menorah as a light source to administer an insulin injection to her paralyzed mother. A third, after the occupation of Mariupol, hid her Star of David for the first time in her life.

These 150 individuals cannot be reduced to a single denominator. They include students and retirees, the secular creative elite and rabbis, successful entrepreneurs and clients of 'Hesed'. There are individuals who knew next to nothing about their Jewish heritage (one respondent was informed just three months before the war that her biological mother was Jewish) and a Chabad family from Odesa with 13 (now 14) children, community leaders, and directors of Jewish organizations.

Why did many choose to immigrate to Israel? Some have relatives there, some had sent their children to study under youth programs, and for others, it was the only viable path—from Mariupol, for instance, evacuation was extremely difficult, so Jews were transported to Russia and then, occasionally via Georgia, flights to Israel were organized. There are stories so complex they resemble detective novels and are worthy of cinematic adaptation. However, given the current pace of life and the saturated media landscape, I do not harbor the illusion that the world will not eventually forget what these people endured. This makes preserving these invaluable testimonies all the more critical—while there are still those ready to speak, and those willing to listen.

I maintain contact with many of my interlocutors to this day. For instance, with a woman from Izium, Kharkiv region, whose entire family (mother, husband, and son) perished in a missile strike on March 6, while she herself was severely wounded and lay for 8 days in a roofless house at -10°C before being found by neighbors. She is currently in Netanya, still walking with a cane, and only recently discovered the burial sites of her family... I also continue to speak with a refugee from Mariupol who was well known in the city's Jewish community, whose children received a Jewish education (her daughter was accepted into the Beit Ulpana religious school in Jerusalem), but who is struggling to obtain formal repatriation status. There are such narratives where, unfortunately, challenges do not end upon arrival in Israel but merely take on a different character. However, that is a different story.”

Yosef-Yitzchok Wolff, Chief Rabbi of Kherson and the Kherson Region

(At the time of this interview with the EAJC press service, Rabbi Wolff had temporarily left Kherson with his family due to personal circumstances, but hoped to return soon. Throughout this period, he continued to manage the affairs of the region's Jewish community remotely. Prior to the hostilities, the community comprised approximately 3,000 families)

“Following February 24, as is well known, Kherson rapidly came under the control of Russian forces. Initially, the most critical issue was the acute shortage of food and medicine. Consequently, we worked to save people from starvation, and we continue to do so to this day. Currently, following the withdrawal of Russian troops, the situation remains precarious. The city is subject to constant shelling. There has been no electricity or water for several weeks; the city is completely without power. You can imagine the difficulty of this situation as temperatures drop below freezing. We continue to advise those facing severe hardship to relocate to safer areas. The authorities also recommend evacuation, as it is evident that restoring municipal infrastructure, water, and power remains a significant challenge.

While life is extremely difficult, the community assists with food supplies. Flour, grains, canned goods, water, household chemicals, and hygiene products are available for people to collect. However, it is growing colder, and indoor temperatures are dropping daily. Those who chose not to leave did so for various reasons. Some stayed due to elderly parents, while others find physical relocation too difficult, given the arduous journey. The standard routes are unusable, and travel now takes a full day. Some cannot bring themselves to abandon the city during such a difficult time and have therefore remained. Our duty is to assist these individuals in enduring these circumstances.

During such periods, everyone seeks a measure of support and warmth. Indeed, individuals who were previously inactive within the community have now become highly engaged. I am eager to return, but I must remain with my family for a short while longer. As soon as the opportunity arises, I will depart. The first thing I will do upon my return is kiss our Torah scrolls. After that, I will embrace the people who are waiting for our support.”

Liron Edery, Head of the Association for the Development of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Rabbi of Kryvyi Rih

“Every day brings new developments and challenges. The past two months have unfolded very differently from the preceding period. Initially, there was widespread urgency; staff worked 24/7, including on Shabbat. We assisted with evacuations and secured food, medicines, and other essentials. Then came the influx of refugees. Recently, eight months into the conflict, the situation changed dramatically once again. Due to missile strikes, water, heating, and electricity were cut off, and service availability remains highly unpredictable. This is no longer merely a question of food supply; it is a fundamental question of how to function daily. While we can recall yesterday's events, assessing how life has changed overall is almost impossible.

In the public consciousness, there have been several phases of perception: the first phase was flight. The second phase was euphoria: we are prevailing, everything is progressing well, and things are positive. People began returning to their homes and attempting to resume pre-war routines. The third phase is currently underway: a sober understanding that while we are prevailing, the cost will be exceptionally high. From this perspective, everyone must make a personal decision—whether to remain in the city despite the absence of heating, water, and electricity, or to relocate temporarily to a more stable area. Fortunately, most Jewish communities possess generators, water wells, and alternative heating systems. Consequently, we are currently able to provide our people with shelter, water, and power. For instance, while we did not manage to complete a water well at our synagogue in time, we have generators. We are therefore offering community members the option to reside in the synagogue, where we of course set up beds for him or her.

Significantly more people have begun participating in community life. My synagogue is filled to capacity—a phenomenon not seen previously. New individuals are arriving to observe Shabbat and holidays. The discussions here range from basic physical challenges—such as the inability to secure water at home, take a shower, or use an elevator—to a shared sense of heightened unity and resilience. People are capable of enduring far more now. At the same time, the objectives of the opposing side remain entirely unclear to anyone.”

Dr. Michael Mirilashvili, President of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress

“We are living through exceptionally difficult times. Ukraine is in a highly critical position. This devastating war has continued into its ninth month, claiming countless lives and destroying futures. We encounter tragic realities almost daily, and many victims require our support. The humanitarian aid provided and maintained by the organized Jewish world, including the Euro-Asian and World Jewish Congresses, is of vital importance. Helping and serving our people is our principal mission.

We maintain the firm position that military conflict is almost never justified and that bloodshed must be halted. As major international Jewish organizations with no political affiliations, we reiterate our readiness to act as potential facilitators in peace negotiations. We will continue to employ all resources at our disposal to prevent further potential tragedies resulting from this conflict.”