JDC
Hatzolah Air flies staples, emergency equipment to Chabad of Jamaica as other disaster relief on way
“It’s so beautiful that neighbors in our community we never knew are here. Everyone is caring and looking out for one another,” in the wake of Hurricane Melissa, Rabbi Yaakov Raskin told JNS.
Among the most urgent needs are winter relief and trauma support.
“The grim impact of Oct. 7 on Jewish communities in Europe is fully reflected in this study,” said Ariel Zwang, CEO of the JDC.
“Losing jobs, family members and continued displacement is combined with the harshest reality that people face: increased sirens, alerts and attacks,” says Inna Vdovichenko, JDC’s representative in Odessa.
Hundreds of the neediest Jews across the former Soviet Union will also receive such packages for the holidays, starting before Rosh Hashanah.
“The Jewish community became a center for everyone. It is a light to the nations,” Rabbi Yosef Wolff, director of the Jewish Community of Kherson Chabad, told JNS.
On the ground, Internet access and cash are luxuries, and “life happens between sirens,” Inna Vdovichenko, JDC’s representative in Odessa, told JNS.
The group has already distributed more than $30 million and helped 5,000 Jews immigrate to Israel.
More than 5,000 olim have made aliyah from Moldova since the start of the war.
“In the midst of all this wreckage and all of this ... wetness and dirt and smoke and dust, you see this glimmer of hope,” Jewish disaster-relief expert Leora Wine tells JNS.
“Immigrant absorption is at the very heart of Zionism and we will do everything possible to welcome these olim with love and open arms,” said Jewish Agency Chair Doron Almog.
Celebrations are planned in Jewish refugee communities throughout Europe.
