In advance of the third year of war that Russia launched against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is urging the public to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, including life-saving aid and services for tens of thousands of the most vulnerable Jews impacted by ongoing devastation, rolling blackouts, frigid temperatures, and skyrocketing inflation and unemployment.
The worsening situation for the neediest Jews of Ukraine, including poor elderly and families, the displaced, and the new poor, requires greater support to help them survive and ensure that they have a future when the conflict ceases, notes the global Jewish humanitarian organization.
Among the most urgent needs are winter relief and trauma support.
“We are almost three years into this heart-rending conflict and the situation is only worsening for needy Jews and Jewish communities plunged into greater vulnerability,” said Ariel Zwang, CEO of the agency. “We cannot permit our fatigue with global emergencies to hold up efforts to address these needs and ensure these poor, displaced and suffering Jews have the support they need.”
JDC continues to provide essential food and medicine; housing assistance; homecare for the elderly; trauma support; online and in-person educational opportunities; and financial and employment assistance to more than 38,400 of the neediest Jews in Ukraine. It also supports some 9,000 Jewish refugees with ongoing assistance through local Jewish communities in Europe.
“We must bolster the resiliency of Ukraine’s vulnerable Jews and Jewish communities now so that when the devastation ends—and we pray that happens soon—we can focus on the substantial task of rehabilitating Jewish lives and rebuilding Jewish life for a better tomorrow.”
