Diaspora Jewry
“It is incredibly special to finally be here, and we are looking forward to beginning this new chapter in our lives,” said Charley Smith.
Some 80% of young Israelis and 70% of American Jews think that a strong Israel is necessary for the survival of the Jewish people.
The assistance offers a minimum of four months of tuition and a living stipend; researchers are also being matched with faculty members.
In addition to helping with evacuations of Ukrainians, the organization’s team members in Ukraine and neighboring countries are helping to meet the needs of the aged and vulnerable, including providing them with Passover supplies.
Kyiv Chief Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch was forced to flee Ukraine shortly after Russia invaded. Although the war turned him and his wife, Ina, into refugees, the two continue to spare no effort in helping Jews in the Ukrainian capital with food, accommodations, medicine and more.
With branches on both coasts, Hebrew Public is welcoming newly arrived children with a Ukrainian Jewish administrator leading the initiative.
“I don’t know how to explain what I am feeling. I can only say I am very happy, and this is a special day,” said 13-year-old Tima Kobakov.
Yulia Dor, deputy director general of Nativ, an Israeli government agency assisting immigration efforts, estimates that the Jewish state could see as a many as 50,000 immigrants from Ukraine.
Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich said “as we recite in the opening passage of the Haggadah, ‘Whoever wants, come and celebrate Pesach; whoever needs, come and eat.’ ”
NATAN, which has stationed doctors and social workers on the Polish-Ukraine border to aid refugees since the war started, is organizing the “Passover in Przemyśl.”
Aliyah and Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata is in the region with a delegation of Jewish Agency and Keren Hayesod leaders.
Since most people will not be able to leave their homes, Chabad-Lubavitch’s Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine has prepared more than 50,000 seder kits complete with shmurah matzah, grape juice, bitter herbs and Haggadahs.
