JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE.April 2002 · JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE Report of a Visit April 12-28, 2002 This report reviews a visit by the writer to eastern

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JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE

Report of a Visit

April 12-28, 2002

This report reviews a visit by the writer to eastern Ukraine from April 12 to April 28, 2002. The cities visited include three of the five largest in Ukraine -- Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk.1 The writer also traveled to Zaporizhya, Krivyy Rig, and Dniprodzerzhinsk in the same region. Collectively, more than 100,000 Jews live in this area, a number larger than that of the Jewish population living in Kyiv and the area surrounding the Ukrainian capital. Although estimates of the size of the Jewish populations in these and other Ukrainian cities vary, many observers believe that the Jewish population of Dnipropet-rovsk is between 40,000 and 46,000, second in Ukraine only to that of Kyiv (perhaps 70,000 to 80,000). The Jewish population of Kharkiv may number 30,000 to 36,000, and that of Donetsk may be 14,000. Between 7,000 and 8,000 Jews reside in Zaporizhya and in Krivyy Rig. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews probably live in Dniprodzerzhinsk. Eastern Ukraine has long been the industrial heartland of Ukraine (and, earlier, a critically important industrial center of the Soviet Union). Few regions of comparable size elsewhere in the world are so well endowed with mineral 1 The capital city of Kyiv has the largest population, estimated at 2.6 million. Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk rank second, third, and fourth with populations estimated at 1.5 million, 1.1 million, and 1.0 million respectively. Odesa, which the writer did not visit on this journey, also has a population of about one million. The populations of Zaporizhya, Kriviy Rig, and Dniprodzerzhinsk are estimated at 875,000, 715,000, and 280,000 respectively.


resources: coal in the area around Donetsk, iron ore in and between Kriviy Rig and Dniprodzerzhinsk, manganese to the east of Krivyy Rig, uranium near Dniprodzerzhinsk, and mercury near Donetsk led to the development of major industries in iron and steel, armaments, machine construction (agricultural, transportation, oil refinery, turbines), and chemicals. A series of dams and power plants along the Dnipr River provides hydroelectric power in the region. Over time, some of these resources have become severely depleted; further, a substantial portion of industrial production in the area now is obsolescent. Investment in new technology and design is negligible, reflecting, in part, reluctance of business to advance capital in a country with an immature legal system, pervasive corruption, and a dysfunctional government. The con-centration of heavy industry in the region without environmental safeguards has created dangerous ecological conditions. Notwithstanding economic dislocation, eastern Ukraine continues to wield considerable political clout throughout the entire country. Dnipropetrovsk is the most powerful political locus, following Kyiv, in all of Ukraine; it has been a critical source of leadership for the former USSR and for contemporary Ukraine. Leonid Brezhnev, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko, and current Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma all spent significant portions of their careers in the city. Donetsk is the third center of political and economic power in Ukraine. Equally, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk are among the most significant centers of Jewish community life in Ukraine and in the entire territory of the former USSR. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk, is widely considered the most effective community rabbi anywhere in the post-Soviet states, developing a community infrastructure that is without peer. Due to its smaller Jewish population, the network of Jewish institutions in Donetsk is more modest, but Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski, Chief Rabbi of Donetsk, also is deemed among the most capable community rabbis in the successor states.2

2 As noted in the author’s Jewish Life in Ukraine at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, Part One (Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 2001), p. 4, rabbis usually are the most effective Jewish leaders in post-Soviet Jewish population centers. They bring knowledge and skills, as well as stability and continuity, to Jewish populations long bereft of such capacity. Whereas individual emissaries of the Jewish Agency for Israel or the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee also may exhibit strong leadership skills, their tenure in any specific locale usually is no longer than three or four years and most are conspicuously constrained by the distinct agendas of their respective agencies. Community rabbis, however, promote and participate in multiple activities, including those that are primary on the programs of specialized Jewish organizations. Rabbi Kaminezki has been in Dnipropetrovsk since 1990; Rabbi Vishedski arrived in Donetsk in 1993.


The writer’s visit to the region, in mid- and late April of 2002, occurred shortly after some of the worst episodes of current Palestinian violence against civilians in Israel, including, as many have noted, a large number of recent olim (immigrants) from Ukraine and Russia. Concern for the welfare of the State of Israel and for Israelis was extraordinary, expressed in almost every conversation with local Jews and visible in attendance at celebrations mark-ing the 54th anniversary of Israeli independence. The majority of Jews in Ukraine have relatives in Israel and many are considering their own aliyah (emigration to Israel) at some point in the future. Ukraine has been the greatest source of post-Soviet aliyah, surpassing even Russia, which has a larger Jewish population. Strong ties to Israel are evident in Our Life in the Diaspora and at Home, a community newspaper published jointly by the Religious Community of Jews and the Jewish Agency in Donetsk. The upper half of the front page of the April issue is printed in blue ink, commemorating the 54th anniversary of Israeli independence. The upper headline reads People of Israel, Our Heart is With You!3 The lower headline and accompanying story, both of which appear in black ink, question why no airline service is available between Donetsk and Israel. (The three blocks appearing just below the title introduce articles on Pesach in the Donetsk region, an interview with a well-known cultural figure, and recent incidents of antisemitism in Ukraine. The symbol with a menorah is that of the Jewish community organization of the Donetsk region; the symbol with the Star of David is that of the Jewish Agency for Israel.) Emigration to Israel from Ukraine has decreased by 50 percent in recent months, a casualty of the intifada and improvements in the local economy. In some areas, a diminished pool of aliyah-eligible Jews also is a factor in reduced aliyah, but the current violence in Israel is the major deterrent. 3 The sense of People of Israel (Народ Израиля) is Am Yisrael.


Although the Ukrainian economy has shown a strong growth rate in 2001 and the early months of 2002, many people remain impoverished. Widespread economic and social dislocation is manifest in a growing number of children at risk, many of them requiring institutional housing due to inadequate parental care. More than 400 Jewish youngsters currently reside in seven such programs sponsored by rabbis (in Kyiv, Korosten, Zhytomyr, Odesa, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv); two more such facilities (in Zaporizhya and a second program in Kharkiv) will open by the start of the new school year in September. Elderly Jews also confront new difficulties. Facing a $9 million deficit in its post-Soviet programs and anticipating further budgetary woes stemming from the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Joint Distribution Committee slashed its allocations to the post-Soviet successor states by one-third in 2002. Although different locales in the post-Soviet states are affected differently, almost all JDC-assisted welfare programs in Ukraine and Russia have been curtailed substantially. A failure by JDC to explain its budgetary policies to both clients and the general Jewish population has generated additional pain and cynicism. Antisemitism is increasing in eastern Ukraine. Arab students, who are recruited for many Ukrainian universities and other institutions of higher education because they pay full tuition, are among the most active purveyors of anti-Jewish bigotry.4 They have staged anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrations and have harassed individual Jews. Antisemitism spurred by strong Ukrainian or Russian nationalist sentiment also is evident, although Ukrainian nationalism is far more serious in western Ukraine than in the eastern part of the country. Almost all Jewish institutions in eastern Ukraine employ visible security guards. With a vast state-owned armaments industry dating from the Soviet period, the government of Ukraine and a number of Ukrainian middlemen, including some Jews, are active in the international arms marketplace. Among their customers are Iraq and other countries hostile to Israel. In general, the Ukrainian press is pro-Israel, far more so than its counterparts in Russia and in western Europe. It is speculated by some that this outlook reflects continuing ties between Ukrainians and the large Ukrainian Jewish population now in Israel.

4 Enrollment of Arab students appears to be particularly high in the study of medicine, dentistry, and engineering. Arab students in a college of dentistry in one eastern Ukraine city invited a popular professor to a festive occasion in October 2001 in “celebration” of the destruction by a Ukrainian missile of a Sibir Airlines aircraft over the Black Sea. “So many Jews were killed!” exulted an Arab student proffering the invitation, noting the predominantly Jewish passenger load on a plane flying from Israel to Novosibirsk. Unknown to the student, the professor in question is Jewish and was horrified by the reaction of her students to the incident. She did not attend the party.


Dnipropetrovsk

1. Vyecheslav “Slavik” Brez is the Executive Director (Исполнительный директор) of the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Com-munity (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины), the most advanced Jewish community philanthropic organization in all of the post-Soviet successor states. A native of Dnipropetrovsk, he resides in the city with his wife and two small children. Mr. Brez outlined several new developments in the organization and management of the Philanthropic Fund. The Fund would be undergoing a professional audit during the coming week; it is undertaking this responsibility on its own initiative as such audits are not yet required of philanthropic institutions in Ukraine. It had recently organized a specific body to oversee the construction and maintenance of its various facilities (synagogue, community center, schools, residences for children-at-risk, dormitories for students, assisted-living center for elderly, etc.). Centralized departments also exist for purchasing and for banking operations. The Fund has developed and is now using specialized software that standardizes data entry and accounting procedures in all of its institutions; other communities have asked to adapt this software to their own needs. The com-munity maintains a policy of complete transparency in its fundraising and in all aspects of management, said Mr. Brez. Its operations are free of злоупотребление (corruption, abuse), he stated. Slavik Brez is flanked by his parents, Maya and Pavel Brez. The senior Brez couple are successful entrepreneurs in the design, fabrica-tion, and sale of specialized ironwork, such as ornamental fences. The Philanthropic Fund may raise as much as $1 million locally each year, said Mr. Brez. Approximately half of this amount is in the form of support for an annual fund raising campaign. Forty to 50 contributors donate sums on a monthly basis, each averaging about $10,000 annually. Some of the original donors no longer give or give less than they once did, having experienced business setbacks, continued Mr. Brez. These are offset by new contributors who join the community effort. All major donors are on the Board of the Philanthropic Fund.


Special drives for such efforts as renovation of the Golden Rose synagogue and construction of the Beit Baruch Assisted Living Facility (see below) bring in an additional $200,000 to $500,000 annually. However, the fund raising campaign for the Assisted Living center did not yield as much support as had been hoped; money had to be borrowed to finish the building, and other projects have been delayed until the Assisted Living Facility deficit can be resolved. Levi Levayev and organizations under his influence contribute the largest share of an additional $1.5 million that flows into the Jewish community from abroad. In response to a question, Mr. Brez said that no systematic effort has been mounted to raise money from Dnipropetrovsk Jews now living in other countries. Similarly, no attempt has been made to organize an annual campaign among Jews in Dnipropetrovsk who have the potential to be mid-level or smaller contributors on an annual basis.5 Mr. Brez commented that it is very difficult to raise funds designated for educational programs. Nonetheless, the community is placing great emphasis on improving standards in all of its education institutions. Salaries of teachers are being raised in order to increase teacher motivation. A large preschool building will be ready for use in September, replacing a small, overcrowded facility. Every educational institution is being improved. Reflecting on recent violence in Israel and an upsurge in antisemitism in Europe, Mr. Brez said that he has become much less naïve about humanity. No one in Europe cares about Israel, he noted. He is no longer a pacifist and he believes that, historically, Jews have been too idealistic. 2. The Beit Baruch Assisted Living Facility for elderly Jews opened earlier this year, the first dedicated housing for older Jews in all of the post-Soviet states. Primary sponsors are the Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community of Dnipropetrovsk and Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, the latter a New York-based organization with strong ties to Chabad.6 As noted above, the Philanthropic Fund capital fundraising effort on behalf of the Assisted Living center has fallen short of its goals to date. Potential donors are still being solicited. At the time of the writer’s visit, 28 elderly Jews had moved into the building and another group of 12 to 16 were expected to arrive within a month. Eventually, 100 are expected to become residents, most sharing a room with a roommate.

5 Many Jews of modest means made small one-time gifts to the restoration of the Golden Rose Choral Synagogue. 6 See pp. 10-11 for information about another GJARN project in Dnipropetrovsk.


Because personnel associated with Beit Baruch acknowledge their inexperience in operating such a facility, admissions are incremental as procedures are implemented and staff become accustomed to their roles. The facility is pleasant with generous natural light. Each room is furnished similarly and each has its own bathroom. Inexperience led to the installation of showers raised eight inches off the floor, a situation that may be problematic as residents become more frail. However, a room on an upper floor contains four bathtubs, each separated from the others by curtains surrounding the tub and area around it. Attendants are available for those who require assistance. The large window area to the left of the front door at the Assisted Living Center will house a winter garden; the area to the right is the dining room. A synagogue/ auditorium is on the top floor above the entrance. Awaiting the collection of additional funds, several common areas remain unfurnished. The facility lacks library publications and other amenities. Several large rooms in the basement intended as a fitness center have no equipment, and therapy rooms on an upper floor also are unequipped. However, the kitchen and laundry areas are well planned and have top-grade appliances. Most residents are from Dnipropetrovsk. The primary criterion for admission is intolerable home conditions, such as lack of indoor plumbing or antisemitic neighbors. All of the inhabitants with whom the writer spoke were delighted with their new accommodations and with the presence of others with whom they could socialize.

At 97, Esfir Shkolnik, seen at right, is the oldest resident at Beit Baruch. She previously lived in one room with seven other family members. Genya Sheveleva, at left, is from Ingulets, a former Jewish settlement, some four hours to the west of Dnipropetrovsk. Born in 1920 and the only Jew remaining in the village, Ms. Sheveleva lived alone in a cottage. She was beaten up several times by antisemitic thugs and frequently was taunted by antisemitic villagers. She slept with an ax at her side for use as a weapon in case her modest lodgings were in-


vaded by those who wished to harm her. Katya Izraelovna Skripnichenko, previously lived in a cottage near Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, who visited her from time to time. Her cottage had running water, but no sink, tub, or toilet. Born in 1927, she had to walk across a courtyard to use a toilet that also was used by others in similar circumstances. The hesed provided a modest amount of assistance in her former home, where the writer had met her a year previously, but Katya Izraelovna was isolated and fearful of the future there. At Beit Baruch, she told the writer, she is living “like royalty” and feels as if she is “in paradise.” The photo on the top shelf is of Katya Izraelovna’s late husband. The lower photo is of her son and only child, who died at the age of 27 some years ago. Katya Izraelovna showed the writer the television remote control, a device that she found astonishing. She had learned how to use it, she boasted.

Iosif Braginsky, born in 1921 in Kyiv, wears his medals from World War II with great pride. He fought with Soviet artillery forces in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, and Czechoslovakia, ending the war in Berlin. He was wounded on three different occasions. Mr. Braginsky’s wife died five years ago. Their two sons and grandchildren now live in Israel, where one son recently was injured in a terrorist attack. The son was in a Tel Aviv hospital at the time of the writer’s visit, but Mr. Braginsky said that he is not worried about his son’s condition. Representatives from the Jewish Agency and the Consulate General of Israel had visited Mr. Braginsky and told him that his son’s wounds were not life-threatening. Furnishings in each room at Beit Baruch are standardized, including one or two beds and night tables, several chairs, a desk, a bureau, and large wardrobe. A local Jew who owns an appliance store donated large color television sets for each room. Each room also has its own telephone.


A social and cultural life is beginning to develop for residents at Beit Baruch. All holidays are celebrated, and buses are provided to take residents to Jewish events held elsewhere in the city. Various lectures are presented, and children from the Jewish kindergarten and school come to visit the residents and perform in concerts. A small computer laboratory will be installed soon; instruction will be available for all who wish to learn. The facility has proved so attractive to members of the community that lifecycle events are being held there; in just a few months since its opening, a young couple decided to celebrate their wedding at Beit Baruch, a bris (ritual circumcision) was held, and the three-year old son of a family in the city received his first haircut in a traditional Hasidic ceremony at the facility. A condition of holding such events at Beit Baruch is that all residents are invited to participate in the celebrations. Room, board, and various services at Beit Baruch all are free of charge to residents. Although the facility is intended for Jews in dire circumstances, the building is so attractive and the quality of its services is so high that one wealthy Jewish family in the city already has asked that a relative be admitted.7 Laundering of all clothing and bed and bath linens is provided at Beit Baruch. A nurse is on duty 24 hours a day, and both male and female health aides are available. The facility includes several medical offices and a small isolation room. However, no budget has been designated for the purchase of medicines. Beit Baruch is not equipped to provide acute-care services, and no plan is in place for the care of residents as they age in place and require more attention.

7 In this particular case, the relative is a woman in her 90’s, in good physical health. However, she is living in conditions of psychological stress with her daughter, who is in her 60’s. The daughter is suffering from advanced Parkinson’s disease and is attended 24-hours a day by aides. Younger members of the family think that the grandmother would have a calmer life if she lived at Beit Baruch, rather than with her ailing daughter. If the older woman enters the facility, the circumstances of her family are such that they would be expected to pay for all services.


To date, all residents at Beit Baruch retain their prior residences, which have been “closed” in their absence. Retention of their property provides the seniors with a sense of security, observed professionals who have discussed the issue with them. Some residents find it difficult to believe that the community is supporting them at Beit Baruch; they worry that “something will happen” and that they will be forced to leave. Community officials hope that, after a year or so, the residents will feel sufficiently secure to transfer their former residences to the community, which would sell them and use the proceeds to build an endowment fund for the Center. 3. The American Jewish Medical Center, another project of Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, is expected to open within a year, said Mikhail Goldenberg, director of GJARN operations in Dnipropetrovsk. This facility, which is not a hospital, will concentrate on diagnostic and outpatient medical services. The center is being constructed according to American specifications,

with American-manufactured plumbing and HVAC equip-ment. American physicians served as consultants in planning all clinical facilities. The American Jewish Medical Center in Dnipropetrovsk is located just off a major thorough-fare.

Interior work was being completed at the time of the writer’s visit. A container of American-manufactured medical equipment had arrived in Odesa, where it was awaiting clearance by Ukrainian customs authorities. According to Mr. Goldenberg, the equipment includes operating tables and laser apparatus for the removal of eye cataracts. Ukrainian authorities will insist that the Medical Center obtain special licenses for all equipment previously unknown in the country; this process, said Mr. Goldenberg, may take considerable time. Additional containers of medical equipment are en route to Odesa. The ophthalmology department, the largest in the center, includes two operating

rooms for outpatient surgery. Other departments are: family medicine; ear, nose and throat; gynecology; pediatrics; dentistry; diagnostics (x-ray, mam-mography); and laboratory analysis. The center also will operate its own ambulance service.


A computer network will link all departments with physicians’ and dentists’ offices. A second, smaller building will house a dining room for staff and hotel accom-modations for up to seven visiting physician consultants. The Medical Center will serve all residents in Dnipropetrovsk and the surrounding area, not just the Jewish population. According to Mr. Goldenberg, the “best doctors in the city” have inquired about working there. American physicians will offer training to Ukrainian medical personnel. Medical services will be offered on a fee basis at approximately 45 percent of the cost of obtaining similar care in local private clinics. Even greater discounts will be offered to hesed clients, blind people, veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and Chernobyl victims, some of whom have settled in Dnipropetrovsk. 4. Following the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1951, many Dnipropetrovsk Jews were evacuated from the city as essential workers in defense factories that were hastily moved further east. Nazi forces occupied the city from August 1941 until October 1943. Approximately 11,000 Jews were killed at Zhendarmskaya balka, a gully in an area then considered on the outskirts of the city, on October 13, 1941. Perhaps 20,000 more were murdered at other sites in and near Dnipropetrovsk. Local Jews, led by longtime activist and historian Arkady Schmist, have sought for some years to erect a commemorative monument in the vicinity of the massacre, the precise site of which remains uncertain. Municipal officials declined, citing various excuses, including the reality that the local university had been developed on the territory that almost certainly covers the location of the killings. Nonetheless, Mr. Schmist persisted in his efforts. On October 13, 2001, precisely 60 years after the slaughter, a monument was dedicated to the memory of the victims. The monument, which was designed by Mr. Schmist himself in a particular Ukrainian Jewish style, stands atop a small dirt mound near the Holocaust massacre site, now on the grounds of the local university. The back side of the monument lists those who contributed funds to its development. Pavel and Maya Brez (see photo, page 5) live in a new apartment building near the site and have volunteered to take responsibility for


monitoring its upkeep. It is very important, they said, that students understand the meaning of the monument. 5. Tkuma (Возрождение or Renaissance) began operations on March 1 of 2000 as the first Holocaust scientific-educational center in Ukraine. Supported by the community Philanthropic Fund, JDC, and individual contributions, Tkuma currently is housed in a five-room apartment. It will move into dedicated premises in a section of the synagogue building when the latter is renovated. Plans call for a three-story structure that includes exhibition halls, an auditorium, library, children’s section, classrooms, and workspace for researchers and other staff. Archival material will be stored in basement halls. The Joint Distribution Committee, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims

Against Germany, and indi-vidual contributors are expected to provide most of the funding for this venture, perhaps $3 million in all. An artist’s rendering shows the new Tkuma Holocaust Museum, Education, and Resource Center. It will be built in a modified U-shape, along one side and the back of the Golden Rose Syna-gogue as well as the back and one side of the Jewish Community Center, located to the rear and far side of the synagogue.

The primary building of the Holocaust center, shown in grey in the drawing above, currently is occupied by the design bureau of the coat factory that once occupied the entire synagogue premises. According to Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, the community has purchased the design bureau space, which must

be evacuated by the end of April 2002. The community is negotiating with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense regarding the purchase of some Ministry-owned warehouses on the other side of the synagogue that will be replaced by a section of the new Holocaust Museum. The warehouses pictured at left are visible from the Jewish


Community Center that abuts the synagogue. The Jewish Philanthropic Fund has yet to begin negotiations with several families living in a small apartment building near the warehouses. This building also must be obtained and razed so that the Holocaust center can be constructed according to plan. However, Rabbi Kaminezki believes that such negotiations will be successful and that no urgency attends their conclusion. The architect, he observed, will need almost a year to complete the plans for the Holocaust center and certain other issues also must be addressed before construction can begin. Two professional historians at Tkuma, Alla Burakovskaya and Alla Farimets, updated the writer on developments since her last meeting with them one year previously. First, they said, whereas Tkuma formerly had been a regional center, it recently had been designated a national educational and research center. In response to a question, the historians said that the new status conferred additional recognition and prestige upon Tkuma, but, unfortunately, brought no new funding. Second, Tkuma hosted a very successful conference entitled First International Scientific Conference on Problems of the Holocaust in Ukraine in December 2001. More than 100 historians, philosophers, sociologists, writers, and artists from throughout Ukraine, Israel, and other countries participated in various panels and other presentations on various related topics. In June 2002, the Center will hold a seminar on the Holocaust for non-Jewish teachers in the public schools. They also are preparing a collection of documents for publication about the Holocaust. They continue to interview survivors and to assemble artifacts on local Jewish history and on everyday life in Dnipropetrovsk before World War II. The two historians presented the writer with copies of recent issues of Tkuma, a periodic bulletin about the work of the Center and other topics related to the Holocaust. Departing from its focus on the Shoah, the February issue of the bulletin carried a major article entitled “Latest News from Israel” on its front page. Noting that this article consisted of reports on recent terrorist activity in Israel, the writer asked Ms. Burakovskaya, who is one of two co-editors of the bulletin, if she considered these attacks a second Holocaust. Ms. Burakovskaya responded affirmatively. The lead article in the bulletin is about a February conference in Moscow of the Sefer organization, an association of scholars in the field of academic Jewish studies. The article about Israel appears in the lower right section of the page; the photo shows


a van, possibly an ambulance, that has pulled up alongside the skeletal remains of a destroyed bus. Ms. Burakovskaya said further that, whereas the Holocaust, as awful as it was, at least had a beginning and an end. The post-Holocaust terrorism against Jews, she said, may even be worse in some respects because it appears to be endless (без конца). Ukraine itself was participating in these attacks, she said, referring to news reports about recent sales of Ukrainian military hardware and technology to Iraq. In response to a question, the historians said that the Center relies on the local Philanthropic Fund and on JDC for almost all of its budget. Recent severe cuts in the JDC allocation have had a major impact on Center work and programs, curtailing their ability to continue several projects already underway. They expressed bitterness at both the reductions in allocation and the manner in which the cutbacks were implemented. They have received no explanation for the budgetary changes. 6. School #144 is the largest Jewish day school in all of the post-Soviet states, enrolling 618 youngsters, including 75 boys and 56 girls in yeshiva and machon sections. According to school officials, enrollment continues to drop incrementally as Jewish families leave the country and some Jewish teens enroll in Israeli high school programs while their parents remain in Ukraine. Some families depart almost every week, most to Israel, but some to Germany or to the United States. The school is in a campus-type setting with three buildings. One attraction of the school is a three-room, 50-workstation ORT computer center. Sixteen additional computers are available in various classrooms around

the school. All subjects are integrated with computer studies, a process encouraged by the participation of many teachers in seminars at the flagship ORT training center in St. Petersburg. Dnipropetrovsk Jewish day school boys build Lego robots to be used in ORT computer classes in robotics. The writer also obser-ved a class learning how to develop spreadsheets.


The Jewish studies program of the regular school includes four classes of Hebrew each week for younger students and three for older students (as the demand for more class time in secular studies intensifies). Pupils also study Jewish tradition in three classes each week in the lower grades and twice weekly in upper grades. The study of tradition is reinforced by celebrations of all holidays in each grade and by Shabbat programs in the synagogue for a different grade each week. Older pupils participate in a seminar on the Holocaust every year. In addition to celebrating all Jewish holidays, the school also observes all Israeli holidays. Under the leadership of Anna Yakovlevna Kaplunskaya, Principal of the primary school section of School #144, a special needs program was implemented in the school several years ago. It currently enrolls two small groups of youngsters between the ages of seven and nine who suffer from cerebral palsy, attention deficit disorder, or various other learning disabilities. Financial support from England, which includes pro-vision for the training of teachers to work with affected children, is critical to the success of the program. These three boys, ages seven and eight, receive special attention in reading and other subjects. They appeared to the writer to be rote reading from a fairly advanced text, but their responses to questions by their teacher showed that they understood what they were reading. Ms. Kaplunskaya noted that some of the youngsters in the School #144 special needs programs previously had been enrolled in other schools where they had encountered numerous difficulties. The parents were very pleased to have found School #144, she said. However, School #144 cannot accommodate physically handicapped youngsters. Two programs are available in Dnipropetrovsk for Jewish children with more serious problems. These are operated by the hesed and by Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical College. These programs and the School #144 program are not coordinated, but, together, they enable the local Jewish community to provide services to more special needs youngsters than does any other Jewish population center in the post-Soviet states. Ms. Kaplunskaya is hopeful that a large new preschool building, which the Jewish community intends to open next fall, will include at least one classroom


specifically for special needs children. She mentioned studies by the Ukrainian government itself concluding that 95 percent of all children in the country have some type of problem; most common are aggression, general poor health, poor nutrition, and unaddressed vision problems. The machon is a section of the school that offers more intensive religious studies for 56 girls, many of whom are residents of the girls’ dormitory (see

below). Girls in the machon learn in the “third building” where they pursue a full general academic curriculum along with a com-prehensive Chabad religious education. A portion of the third building was remodeled recently, providing the machon with several new classrooms, a new dining hall, and a small sports hall. Girls in the machon have three physical education classes each week. The sports hall is too small for such activities as basketball or volleyball.

The “second building” of the school campus accommodates classes for 75 boys in a yeshiva program, including all 40 boys in the boys’ dormitory program. Teachers include one individual charged with providing special assistance to the four sons of an Israeli in a senior position at the local Jewish Agency office. Although their mother is a native of Ukraine, the boys do not speak Russian well enough to be fully integrated into regular yeshiva classes. The Jewish Agency

pays tuition for the four boys; JDC does not pay for the enrollment of children of a senior Joint employee, but Joint recently gave the yeshiva a new copying machine. Seen at left are boys in the heder or preschool section of the yeshiva program. It is likely that their heder classes will be transferred to the new general preschool building when it opens next fall.


7. Rabbi Yossi Glick directs children’s and youth programs for the Jewish community, including dormitories that accommodate youngsters from unstable home situations.8 The girls’ residence, which has a capacity of approximately 28 girls, currently houses 23 girls. Forty boys live in very crowded conditions in the boys’ home, which has a designated capacity of 38. Rabbi Glick readily acknowledged several problems in the boys’ residence. A former synagogue, the building was renovated in a manner that was both slipshod in quality and insensitive in design to the needs of youngsters. Mold is a constant problem and little common space exists for socializing or recreation. Six boys sleep in bunk beds in most rooms. Although some interim repairs will be made to the building this summer (while the boys are in camp), it is likely, said Rabbi Glick, that a new boys’ residence will be developed in the not-too-distant future and that the current dormitory will be converted into office space for the local Jewish community. Although plans are not yet firm, the community is considering the addition of another floor to the girls’ residence and converting that building into a home for boys. The community has access to several plots of land near the girls’ facility that could be developed into playgrounds and a sports field for the boys. A new residence will be constructed for girls, perhaps in a design incorporating small cottage-type accommodations around a central building for dining, recreation, etc. All youngsters in the boys’ home, said Rabbi Glick, are Jewish according to halakha (Jewish law) and thus attend the yeshiva program at the Jewish day school.9 However, he continued, not all girls in the machon are Jewish according to halakha; the non-halakhic Jewish girls attend the regular day school and most halakhic Jewish girls attend the machon. Several girls with learning disabilities are enrolled in the regular school because their difficulties limit their ability to complete the more intensive machon curriculum. A local psychologist visits the girls’ home three times each week to meet with girls who need or would like her attention. She visits the boys’ home less often, said Rabbi Glick, not offering an explanation for the discrepancy.

8 Many such children are from single-parent families in which the custodial parent is an alcoholic, narcotics addict, or suffers from psychological or other problems. Some parents are in prison. Other children are in the legal custody of grandparents who find it difficult to cope with active youngsters. Some families are overwhelmed by poverty. A few children are from small villages and towns; they have been sent by their families to Dnipropetrovsk to take advantage of greater educational opportunities, including the opportunity to learn about their Jewish heritage. Six similar programs exist in Ukraine (in Kyiv, Korosten, Zhytomyr, Odesa, Donetsk, and Kharkiv); a second program in Kharkiv and a new program in Zaporizhya will open next fall. 9 In a discussion several years previously, Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki told the writer that a primary reason for enrolling all boys in the home in the yeshiva section is that the yeshiva offers an extended-day program that obviates the need for the after-school activities that would be required if the boys attended the regular Jewish day school.


During the summer vacation period, some youngsters return to parents, grandparents, or relatives for at least part of the three-month break. Many children “camp hop,” attending three-week sessions at different Chabad camps in Ukraine. (See below.) World Jewish Relief (England) and the Pincus Fund of the Jewish Agency for Israel are among the most significant supporters of the residential programs. Rabbi Glick also works with these and other organizations on behalf of the residential program currently under development in Zaporizhya. (See below.) The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews provides support for the distribution of food parcels to approximately 50 Jewish families in the city each month, said Rabbi Glick. This number is likely to increase to 75 in the near future. Families receiving these parcels are poor, but otherwise functional. Without the parcels, Rabbi Glick continued, some families probably would place their children in the children’s homes. The food parcels enable families to stay together and save money for the community. In a similar undertaking, the community provides a grandmother with a monthly supplement so that she can continue to care for granddaughter, rather than place the child in the girls’ home. Tsivos Hashem, the Chabad youth group, is in the process of re-organizing its children’s club program in the successor states, said Rabbi Glick. The organization operates nine such clubs in Ukraine and two in Russia; their physical space usually features game rooms with ping pong tables, various table games, and video games. The clubs now are offering weekly programs focusing on specific themes, explained Rabbi Glick. Local club leaders, who are hired by Chabad rabbis in the cities where clubs function, receive leadership guides and program materials from Rabbi Glick’s office in Dnipropetrovsk. Rabbi Glick’s office also allocates funds to each club and helps these groups find additional sponsors. The leaders, who are accountable to Rabbi Glick, meet several times annually to exchange ideas and coordinate plans. The Dnipropetrovsk office also publishes a weekly bulletin that is distributed to club participants and to children in other Chabad programs. 8. The Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical Institute prepares young women for careers in pre-school and early elementary school education. Girls may enter a four-year program after completing ninth grade or a three-year program after completing eleventh grade. Graduates are prepared in both general education and Jewish education; a specialty in music education also is available. Beginning in 2002, students are offered the option of entering a baccalaureate degree track, which includes four years at Beit Chana and a fifth year under the supervision of the Crimean State Humanities Institute in Yalta. The baccalaureate program offers degrees in elementary school education or in teaching Hebrew as a foreign language. Certificates and degrees are recognized by appropriate authorities in both Ukraine and Israel.


According to Rabbi Moshe Weber, director of Beit Chana, 180 individuals will have graduated from Beit Chana by end of the current academic year, including 30 in 2002. Graduates are required by contract to teach at least two years in Chabad schools in the post-Soviet states; following this period, those who wish to emigrate to Israel are assisted in doing so and in finding appropriate work or study programs in the Jewish state. Rabbi Weber said that 55 graduates are teaching in Jewish day schools, almost all of them under Chabad auspices, across the post-Soviet successor states. Some of the early graduates have changed jobs, but are working in related fields, such as teaching Hebrew in ulpans operated by the Jewish Agency for Israel. Approximately 60 are now living in Israel, where some are teaching in Israeli schools and others are continuing their education at Bar-Ilan or other Israeli universities; Chabad helps them to make the connections they need for successful absorption in Israel. Thirty-two graduates have married. Rabbi Weber was candid in acknowledging that several problems have emerged in the Beit Chana program. Recruitment of students has become much more difficult he said.10 Initially, the Institute had concentrated recruitment efforts on smaller Jewish population centers where, it was believed, girls were eager to escape the stultifying environment of small cities and towns and acquire an education that would prepare for them for a career. However, even girls from such areas have higher aspirations now and are interested in careers more prestigious than that of early childhood education. The desire to pursue more high-status careers is especially widespread among young women with greater intellectual capacity. As a result, Beit Chana is forced to admit girls with lower potential.11 Further the overall pool of prospective applicants from smaller cities has diminished as Jewish families are fleeing such areas for larger urban centers or for other countries. Although all students sign contracts to spend several years teaching in the post-Soviet states after graduation, continued Rabbi Weber, some are refusing to accept positions in Chabad schools where they are needed. The parents of many students, he said, do not want their daughters to go to Chabad schools in Siberia or Central Asia. Most disappointing, notwithstanding their immersion in Jewish life and their intensive Jewish education at Beit Chana, several alumnae have married non-Jewish young men after graduation. The response of Beit Chana to intermarried graduates, said Rabbi Weber, is to break off contact with them. 10 The first contact that many families have with Beit Chana may be a brochure about the Institute that is placed in all boxes of matzot distributed by Chabad in the post-Soviet states. 11 Another deterrent to enrollment, according to several individuals familiar with Beit Chana with whom the writer has spoken, is the all-female, Hasidic environment of the institution. Some girls recruited for Beit Chana find such a setting disagreeable.


9. A small yeshiva operates in Dnipropetrovsk, located in the old synagogue on Kotsiubinsky street. Directed by Elisha Baram, a native of Riga who is married to a Dnipropetrovsk woman, the yeshiva currently enrolls 15 local men. The yeshiva does not confer smicha (rabbinic ordination); most students learn there for periods of six to 18 months, said Mr. Baram. Some will go to Israel for further study and then return to Dnipropetrovsk, although about ten former students have made aliyah. Although not all students become rabbis, some work in the

Jewish community as kashrut supervisors in Jewish institutions or as ritual leaders in smaller Jewish population centers without rabbis. Others pursue careers in various professions or in business. The instructor in this yeshiva class is from Kyiv. His wife is from nearby Zaporizhya.

The yeshiva is officially registered with the Ukrainian government as a post-secondary school educational institution. Tests are given every Sunday, and students are awarded stipends based on their academic records. Students have been dismissed because of inadequate diligence in their learning or an inappropriate lifestyle. Yeshiva students live in three apartments owned by the Jewish community. They eat most meals in the old synagogue dining room, a facility that serves hot meals to elderly Jews five days each week. However, meals on Shabbat are shared with the boys in the boys’ residence.12 10. Adjacent to the yeshiva in the old synagogue is a sofriut or school for training Hebrew scribes. Eight men currently are enrolled in this program,

learning how to inscribe Hebrew texts on parchment. After basic instruction, scribes work on megillot (Book of Esther or Purim scrolls) and ketubot (marriage contracts). In time, successful practi-tioners will inscribe Torah scrolls and texts for use in mezuzah containers and

12 The yeshiva maintains its own Russian-language website at www.yeshiva.narod.ru. Mr. Baram explained that the yeshiva uses a Russia-based website because it is free.


tefillin boxes. Student scribes also learn part-time in the yeshiva. Eight men currently are learning scribal arts in a section of the old synagogue. Working conditions appeared pleasant. 11. An adult education program called Shiurei Torah (Torah Lessons) began operations in January 2002 under the management of Levi Rier, a native of Dnipropetrovsk. Intended for the local intelligentsia, eight classes are offered: Jewish Wisdom, Torah (Chumash), Talmud, Jewish Philosophy, (Tanya and Kabbalah), Conversations with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Practical Judaism (Shulchan Arukh), Hebrew, Discussions on Jewish Themes (in English), and a Women’s Class. About 100 people attend these classes every week, said Mr. Rier. The most popular are Tanya and Kabbalah and Conversations with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, which enroll 27 and 25 people respectively. All classes meet in the synagogue and are offered free of charge. The women’s class meets at noon on Sundays. All other classes convene on a weekday evening between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Mr. Rier said that the classes attract people from a variety of educational backgrounds. The average age of students is well over 40, a situation of some disappointment to Mr. Rier and other organizers. Both the Hillel student group and the Jewish Agency student club have been asked to refer potential younger learners to the program. Participants celebrate Rosh Hodesh every month, said Mr. Rier, in an event that usually draws 35 people to the synagogue. Although several individuals have asked Mr. Rier to convene classes in locations closer to their homes, program sponsors are unlikely to move lessons to another location because a key (ключевая) objective of the program is to bring people into the synagogue. Individuals heard about the classes through announcements and advertise-ments in various media, including television. Several participants had never been in the synagogue before attending the courses. About three percent of the students are non-Jews, said Mr. Rier, speculating that they saw advertisements for the program on television and are just curious about Judaism. He doubts that the non-Jews are interested in converting to Judaism, and the program is not


aimed at attracting potential converts. In general, continued Mr. Rier, the non-Jews attend classes and listen to the instructors, but do not participate in class discussion. Classes were suspended during Passover and will be suspended again for the summer before resuming after the Tishrei holidays. 12. Igor Romanov is Director of the regional office of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities (Объединение юдейских религиозных общин), the Chabad religious organization in Ukraine. Thirteen such offices exist in Ukraine, each representing a region in which a Chabad rabbi works. The Dnipropetrovsk region includes Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Cherkasy oblasts.13 The regional program is expanding, said Mr. Romanov, and now reaches 30 to 40 small towns without a resident rabbi. The majority of Jews in these areas are elderly, he continued; most younger Jews either emigrate to Israel or assimilate. Chabad reaches out to all children who remain, inviting them to Chabad summer camps and to Chabad-sponsored holiday celebrations in many small towns. Chabad also has taken more than 100 youngsters from small towns in Ukraine to Israel on free eight-day trips; one such program is geared to children of Bar/Bat Mitzvah age, and another focuses on young adults between the ages of 18 and 25. Participants in both groups are brought into Dnipropetrovsk during Pesach for follow-up activity after their trip. Both the Jewish Agency and the Israel Cultural Center (see below) are active in the planning and operation of the Pesach week program. Mr. Romanov noted that another group of young people from small towns is scheduled to go to Israel in August 2002, assuming that terrorist activity in Israel subsides. Young women from small towns are invited to tour Beit Chana, continued Mr. Romanov, and some enroll there. Individuals between the ages of 30 and 50 who remain are very difficult to reach and constitute a gap (разрыв) in Chabad outreach accomplishments. Small-town Jews in this age range are preoccupied with their work or efforts to find work. Their lives are very difficult, continued Mr. Romanov. No one has been able to reach this age group, he commented; Chabad distributes Jewish newspapers, magazines, and books to these individuals, he said, but few are actively involved in Jewish life. Elderly Jews remaining in small towns, said Mr. Romanov, are reached through food programs of the Joint Distribution Committee, which are especially well organized in the area around Cherkasy. The Jewish population of Cherkasy is about 2500, noted Mr. Romanov. Chabad finds it difficult to work with other organizations there because these organizations, including the hesed, all relate to Kyiv, which is much closer to Cherkasy than is Dnipropetrovsk. Nonetheless, Chabad often is called upon to provide services in Cherkasy that JDC does not provide, such as emergency assistance or medicines.

13 Inclusion of Cherkasy oblast in this region is anomalous. Because it shares a border with Kyiv oblast, most organizations service it from their Kyiv offices.


In addition to providing religious and community programs and limited health assistance in these areas, Chabad distributes Jewish literature and video cassettes (not all of which are religious in character), cares for Jewish cemeteries, and helps develop and care for Holocaust memorials. Much of the actual outreach work is done by local yeshiva students. Mr. Romanov noted that earlier involvement by Chabad yeshiva students from the United States and Israel was unsuccessful because few such students spoke Russian or understood the local culture. 13. Shabbat Shalom, the local Jewish newspaper, has been published since 1991, initially on a sporadic basis and more recently on a regular monthly schedule. It usually is 16 pages in length, including a multi-page Jewish Agency insert, and its first and last pages have been printed in color since February 2001, its tenth anniversary. Its regular staff of four works from a one-room office, although other writers write at home and submit copy to the office. Geula, a weekly four-page religious bulletin that features the weekly Torah portion, also is published from this office. Sponsored by the synagogue, Geula also includes information on times of candle-lighting and synagogue services. The Jewish community website (http://jew.dp.ua), which is available in both Russian and English, is managed from the same premises. The site is updated regularly. One member of the Shabbat Shalom staff interviewed the writer for an article to appear in a future issue of the newspaper. Listening to the responses of the writer, several of the staff and a few visitors added their own commentaries, providing informal observations on Jewish life in the city. Reacting to a statement by the writer that it was unlikely that most American Jews were well-informed about operations of the Joint Distribution Committee in Dnipropetrovsk or in Ukraine generally, a sarcastic comment was heard, “We [here in Dnipropetrovsk] also don’t know what Joint is doing.” Much comment followed, all of it negative, about recent JDC budget cutbacks adversely affecting hesed food service to local Jewish elderly and the perceived high cost and inefficiency of JDC operations.14 Staff members also complained about their low salaries and about implicit censorship in Shabbat Shalom. Some individuals and organizations in the city could not be criticized, they said, and it is understood that commentary about

14 The criticism was directed specifically at the Joint Distribution Committee, not at the hesed, and is widespread throughout regions of Ukraine (Kyiv and eastern Ukraine) visited by the writer in March and April of this year.


Jewish organizational life in Kyiv and on the national level is to be avoided.15 On the other hand, offered one individual, as a newspaper with only a monthly circulation, Shabbat Shalom could not be expected to write responsibly about everything that is happening in Jewish life. Another person noted that Shabbat Shalom was not invited to local festivities marking the annual “Day of the Press” in Ukraine, evidence that the newspaper was not regarded seriously or, perhaps, evidence of antisemitism. Those present expressed pride in, and admiration for, the Golden Rose Choral Synagogue in the city, observing that it is not only a synagogue, but also a “club” in which every Jew, regardless of level of personal observance of Judaism, could feel comfortable. The synagogue, they noted, helps people who need assistance, especially the elderly who are unable to manage life on their meager pensions. The writer was asked several questions about Jewish life in the United States. In discussion that followed, as has been the case in many other discussions at different times and in different places in Ukraine, it was clear that many local Jews believe that the dominant role of Chabad specifically and Hasidism generally in Ukraine also prevails in Jewish life in the United States. In the absence of effective Progressive/Reform or Masorti/Conservative synagogues or non-denominational Jewish federations or other Jewish organizations in Ukraine, it is understandable that local understanding of American Jewish life is limited.16 14. Hesed Menachem is located in a large former pre-school building in central Dnipropetrovsk. The writer was escorted through the facility, which she has visited on numerous previous occasions, by Anatoly Pleskachevsky, deputy director of the hesed.17 Because of the writer’s familiarity with the hesed

15 Publication of Shabbat Shalom is subsidized by the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (its major benefactor), the Joint Distribution Committee, and the Jewish Agency for Israel. Almost all Jewish publications in the post-Soviet states are heavily subsidized, usually by a similar combination of donors. The low circulation and monthly (rather than weekly) publication schedule of most Jewish newspapers deter advertising sufficient to cover costs. Shabbat Shalom carries some advertising, much of it by Jewish organizations in the city and by individuals and groups marking birthdays of colleagues or deaths of family members or colleagues. 16 The writer has met with most of the staff of Shabbat Shalom on previous visits to the city. This familiarity is likely to have created a certain ‘comfort level’ that allowed such a free-wheeling discussion to take place. 17 At the time of the writer’s visit, a replacement had not yet been found for Dr. Igor Kirzhnir, the most recent director, who had resigned under pressure after charges of impropriety had been leveled against him.


program, a balanced and comprehensive survey of hesed activities was not sought. Unlike many other heseds in the post-Soviet states, the relatively spacious facilities of Hesed Menachem permit the operation of a program, known as Tikvah (Hebrew, Hope), for handicapped children. According to Mr. Pleskachevsky, Tikvah enrolls 107 Jewish youngsters up to the age of 15, the largest portion of whom are afflicted with cerebral palsy. Others have missing limbs, epilepsy, or serious vision or hearing disabilities. A subsection of Tikvah is concerned with pediatric cancer patients. The youngsters are divided into groups of about 10 children, depending upon their disability and the region of the city in which they live.18 Most of the children are unable to attend school because of transportation problems and/or inaccessible school buildings. If not in school, some come to the hesed twice each week for various therapeutic and recreational activities; provision of formal educational programs is beyond the capacity of the hesed. While in the premises devoted to Tikvah activity, the writer was distracted by the presence of a boy with a pronounced limp who appeared to be moving aimlessly around one section of the room. In response to her questions, Mr. Pleskachevsky called the boy, Misha, over to the table at which the writer, several hesed staff, and Mr. Pleskachevsky were seated. Although he looks younger, Misha is 14 years old. He was born with only one leg and had been fitted some years previously with an artificial limb. The prosthetic device had not been replaced as he grew; thus, the artificial limb was significantly shorter than his natural leg, resulting in the prominent limp. His mother had died, and his father was in and out of prison. When home, the father did not work, but was visited by different women. A fire had devastated the family apartment when Misha was six or seven years old, destroying all of the documents so necessary in Soviet and post-Soviet life. Without documents, Misha is unable to obtain the medical assistance that he requires. The lack of documents also has prevented him from attending school; his formal education had stopped after first grade. The hesed staff said that Misha comes to the hesed every weekday at 8:30 a.m. and eats lunch there.19 He participates in drawing and drama classes that are available to children after school, but he receives no formal education. Technically, staff said, he could enter a regular second-grade class in School #144, but, obviously, enrollment of a 14-year old in a class of seven-year olds is problematic. Upon questioning by the writer about efforts to replace the missing documents, replace the current prosthetic device with one appropriate to his 18 The latter factor is important in arranging transportation to the hesed. World Jewish Relief, a British organization, has provided the hesed with a specially equipped van that includes a lift for wheelchairs. 19 The hesed is close to the family apartment, enabling Misha to walk between the two buildings every day.


current growth, and arrange a formal education for the boy through tutoring, Mr. Pleskachevsky and other hesed staff members became defensive. The best that could be expected for Misha, they said, is that he can register as an invalid when he reaches the age of 16. At that point, he will be issued a small monthly pension for the rest of his life. In discussing the situation with Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki later, the writer learned that Rabbi Kaminezki knows Misha personally and has spoken with him on several occasions. Upon Rabbi Kaminezki’s recommendation, Misha was admitted to the boys’ dormitory program, but was so disruptive there that he was removed from the facility and returned to the family apartment. At that point, Rabbi Kaminezki arranged for Misha to go to the hesed every day, where he is fed and participates in whatever programs are available and reasonably suitable for a boy of his age. Usually very attentive to, and moved by, problems of handicapped and generally vulnerable individuals, Rabbi Kaminezki seemed strangely unconcerned about the plight of this Jewish boy. The Emergency Fund (Фонд Экстренной помощи) of the Jewish community (see below) could be enlisted to provide an appropriately-sized artificial leg for Misha and retired teachers could be approached to tutor him. Such assistance might provide Misha with opportunities for a normal life and might alleviate some of the apparent behavioral problems that generated difficulties for him in the boys’ dormitory. Following the visit to Tikvah and discussion about Misha, the writer visited several other areas of the hesed. The Mazel Tov program enrolls pre-school age Jewish children and their mothers, attempting to provide young families with early childhood education, an introduction to Jewish life, and childrearing information for new parents. Just as it provides medical equipment for Jewish elderly and handicapped (see below), the hesed loans cribs, baby carriages, strollers, other childhood equipment, and toys to families. The Mazel Tov room itself appears to have an overabundance of both staff and large colorful toys and playground equipment. The medical equipment center possesses about 2,000 pieces of equipment that are loaned to about 1,000 elderly and/or handicapped individuals. Through an arrangement with municipal authorities, approximately ten percent of the beneficiaries of this loan program are non-Jews. The loan program stocks six types of crutches and three types of canes. In response to a question about the most frequently requested item, staff identified a wheelchair equipped for lavatory use; its conventional seat could be detached and replaced with a toilet seat and a removable plastic receptacle inserted below the toilet seat. The hesed owns 96 of these chairs, which are imported from Israel. Requests for various types of equipment are monitored closely and purchases are made accordingly, said staff. An employee in the medical consultations department spoke of the need for greater financial resources in this area of the hesed. The following were


identified as priorities: medicines for epileptics and others with chronic conditions; various medicines, anesthetics, and bandaging materials for surgery patients; and pre- and post-operative care for surgery patients. The hesed building in Dnipro-petrovsk is large and accommodates a number of programs, including adult day care and a Mazel Tov center for very young Jewish children. At right, a woman in the adult day care program uses a table loom for weaving. Many of the materials used in this and other crafts are discarded items, such as old panty hose. The Mazel Tov room is so crowded with play equipment and large toys that little room exists for the children themselves, let alone creative play. Staff members, who sat in a corner out of view of the camera, outnumbered children on the day of the writer’s visit. The basement of the hesed contains a number of service areas, including a laundry service and a shoe repair service. A client of the hesed himself, the cobbler takes great pride in his work. In addition to skilled work-manship, he carefully labels each shoe with the name of its owner, ensuring that all footwear is returned to the proper possessor. In addition to clothing and shoe repair, the hesed also repairs watches, hearing aids,


and various appliances for its elderly clientele. 15. Rabbi Menachem Lepkivker, an Israeli with considerable work experience in Ukraine, is now in his fifth year as JDC Representative in Dnipropetrovsk. In response to a question from the writer, Rabbi Lepkivker said that the new Beit Baruch Assisted Living Facility is a “major accomplishment” of the local Jewish community, acknowledging that it has been developed without the participation of JDC. JDC, he said, declined to join in this project because it does not want to assume responsibility for the care of Beit Baruch residents as they age in place and become more frail. For now, JDC will support Beit Baruch through financial assistance equivalent to the amount it was spending in care for each resident in his or her former home. Thus, if the hesed had been providing a Beit Baruch resident with home-delivered meals and twice-weekly visits of a homecare worker when the resident lived at home, JDC will provide Beit Baruch with a cash subsidy equivalent to the cost of these services. JDC has made no decision about the possibility of providing caregivers when Beit Baruch residents become bedridden, as it would do for a bedridden Jew living in his or her own home. In Rabbi Lepkivker’s view, these issues require further attention; JDC must think about how it can best help Beit Baruch residents, rather than criticize the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community for not having a specific plan in place to assist Beit Baruch clients as their health deteriorates. No one should “be allowed to close [their] eyes” when Jewish elderly require assistance, said Rabbi Lepkivker.20 Regarding the widely discussed and severely criticized JDC budget cuts, Rabbi Lepkivker said that these were due to several factors, including: a feared decrease in North American Jewish Federation allocations and private contributions to JDC following a deterioration in the general economic environment and the events of September 11; increased demand on JDC resources in Israel in response to the intifada, in North Africa due to increasing antisemitism, and in Argentina due to the economic collapse in that country; and an existing deficit in the JDC Former Soviet Union department. In general, the JDC budget for the post-Soviet states has been reduced by approximately one-third, said Rabbi Lepkivker, but these budget cuts have not been applied evenly to all areas. Budgetary reductions were greatest in several regions that had been “overfunded” historically, whereas allocations to other locales were not affected at all. Budget cuts in Dnipropetrovsk, he continued, amounted to 15 percent in welfare activity and 25 percent in Jewish renewal and

20 A team of senior JDC professional staff visited Beit Baruch for the first time during the period that the writer was in Dnipropetrovsk.


Jewish culture. Wherever possible, staff was reduced before programs were cut, and the quality of food was reduced before the quantity of food was affected.21 16. The Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины) supports the Beit Baruch Emergency Fund (Фонд Экстренной помощи), which is directed by Elena Grigorievna Bogolubova, mother of Gennady Bogolubov, Chairman of the Board of the Philanthropic Fund. Mrs. Bogolubova administers the Emergency Fund in a professional manner from a desk in the community office. Mrs. Bogolubova said that the most common requests for funds address needs for specific medications and for medical assistance, such as visits to physicians. Other recent allocations have included money for a small refrigerator to hold insulin for an elderly person with diabetes, a pair of household slippers, and a new set of teeth and related dental work. Many Emergency Fund clients are veterans of World War II, said Mrs. Bogolubova; even with bonuses for wartime military service, their pensions are insufficient to sustain life (не хватает жизнь). On May 9, the date in the successor states that commemorates the end of World War II, the Emergency Fund will give small gifts to all World War II veterans on its rolls. The Emergency Fund continues to help other people in need of assistance. A number of families are provided with funds for the celebration of Pesach. Nursery school tuition is provided for families with small children; not only are these children enabled to participate in a sound learning and socializing experience, but such activities allow their parents to work without worrying about childcare. The Emergency Fund also assists several families in which retired grandparents care for children because the children’s parents have died. Most applications for aid are considered quickly and without bureaucracy. Typical grants range from $10 to $400.22 17. Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde is an independent assistance program created by Dr. Judith Patkin, the Executive Director of Action for Post-Soviet Jewry in Waltham, MA. The program assists elderly Jews in approximately 22

21 Despite such a policy, many Dnipropetrovsk hesed clients dependent on home-delivered meals now receive such meals four days each week instead of the previous daily service. Further discussion with Rabbi Lepkivker is reviewed below in the section about the hesed in nearby Zaporizhya. 22 A more comprehensive description of the Emergency Fund can be found in the writer’s September 2001 in Ukraine, pp. 42-43.


large towns and 40 smaller towns in eastern, central, and southern Ukraine.23 Yan Sidelkovsky, director of Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde operations in the region, noted that as few as one to three Jews reside in each of eleven small towns in the vicinity of Dniprodzerzhinsk and in each of six towns in the area around Kirovohrad. All of these isolated individuals are AAB/AAZ clients. Until the Joint Distribution Committee extended its operations outward into rural areas in recent years, Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde was the only organization that reached isolated Jews in remote villages. As JDC outreach efforts have proved successful, AAB/AAZ has worked with the larger organization, supplementing their services. All food parcels provided by the hesed (JDC) are the same, noted Mr. Sidelkovsky. AAB/AAZ, however, will purchase items for clients according to their individual needs, such as special diets for diabetics. It also supplies fresh chickens, fruits, and vegetables, and marks clients’ birthdays

with birthday parties and personal gifts. AAB/AAZ coordinators also purchase clothing, shoes, and eyeglasses for clients and help elderly Jews obtain appropriate medical care. In the winter, it provides multivitamins and throat lozenges to Jewish seniors. Yan and Tanya Sidelkovsky administer Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde from a single room in the semi-finished basement of the Dnipropetrovsk JCC. When the two expressed some reserve-tions about posing for a photograph in the crowded and less-than-elegant AAB/AAZ premises, the writer urged them to do so, saying that the office is their “second home.” Maybe, responded Tanya, it is their first home. The Sidelkovsky’s are highly respected in the Dnipro-petrovsk Jewish community, holding several other positions as well as their AAB/AAZ appointments.

Dr. Patkin and other friends of AAB/AAZ ship or bring large quantities of over-the-counter and some prescription medications to Dnipropetrovsk several times each year. All prescription medicine is obtained through contacts between local and American physicians. If AAB/AAZ finds that it has a surplus of certain medicines, these are given to local hospitals in return for preferential treatment of AAB/AAZ clients.

23 The program also operates in Moldova and Belarus, but this report deals only with the operations that are directed from its Dnipropetrovsk office.


All AAB/AAZ coordinators are volunteers who work without compensation. However, the organization provides volunteers with small gifts at certain holidays. Recordkeeping is meticulous. Mr. Sidelkovsky noted that Rabbi Kaminezki is the best teacher for the Jews of Dnipropetrovsk, even when he does not address his comments to specific issues. He teaches by example, said Mr. Sidelkovsky. 18. Dnipropetrovsk is the center of the Chabad movement in Ukraine, hosting both Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, its most prominent rabbi, and the headquarters of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, the umbrella organization for most Chabad activity in the country. Rabbi Meir Stambler is the executive director of FJC in Ukraine. Chabad now posts community rabbis in 21 different Ukrainian locations: Bila Tserkva, Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi, Chernihiv, Dnipro-dzerzhinsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivs’k, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi. Kirovohrad, Kremenchuk, Krivyy Rig, Luhansk, Mykolaiv (Nikolayev), Odesa, Poltava, Simferopol, Zaporizhya, and Zhytomyr. FJC also has posted a rabbi in Kyiv, although this individual does not yet perform all of the functions of a community rabbi.24 Chabad rabbis soon will be placed in two additional Ukrainian cities, Mariupol and Melitopol. FJC is seeking funding for the assignment of a rabbi to Cherkasy. Upon filling these positions, said Rabbi Stambler, Chabad will have completed its plans for posting rabbis in Ukraine. Chabad opened three new day schools in Ukraine during the 2001-2002 school year; these are located in Dniprodzerzhinsk, Kirovohrad, and Krivyy Rig.25 Most rabbis promote their schools in Chabad summer camps. Chabad also is assigning greater resources to advertising day schools in local newspapers. The Perlina School in Kyiv, which opened in September 2000, probably has a capacity of 200 pupils in its current building, said Rabbi Stambler.26 It is likely, he continued, that Chabad will open additional small schools in the Ukrainian capital. These schools, he said, must be of exceptionally high quality so that they can compete with the new private schools that have opened in Kyiv.

24 Rabbi Yonatan Markovich, the FJC Chabad rabbi in Kyiv, maintains a low profile in order to avoid the appearance of challenging the authority of (1) Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a Karlin-Stolin hasid, who is the designated Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, and (2) Rabbi Moshe Asman, an independent Chabad rabbi, who presides over the famed Brodsky Synagogue in Kyiv. FJC in Ukraine, in contrast to its counterpart organization in Russia, tries to avoid fomenting discord in the Jewish community. 25 The schools in Dniprodzerzhinsk and Krivyy Rig are discussed later in this paper. See p. 45 and pp. 67-68. 26 See the author’s Observations on Jewish Community Life in Kyiv, February-March 2002, pp. 22-34, for observations on this school.


Chabad operates nine summer camps across Ukraine, eight of them offering separate three-week sessions for boys and for girls. (The ninth offers one session for boys.) In all, 3,080 youngsters are expected to attend the camps in 2002. According to Rabbi Stambler, Chabad reaches out to boys and girls in smaller cities and towns without day schools to encourage their enrollment in camp. The cost of a three-week camp session per child is about 700 hryvna,27 said Rabbi Stambler. The actual fee charged each camper in the larger cities is 150 hryvna; youngsters from smaller towns, where most families are impoverished, are charged 50 hryvna. Rabbis in various cities offer even greater subsidies to individual campers. In addition to coordinating Chabad rabbinic placements, formal educational programs, and summer camps in Ukraine, Rabbi Stambler’s office also coordinates Pesach seders and other major holiday celebrations in small towns, and a publications distribution program. Publications include information about Jewish tradition and inexpensive haggadot for community seders. 19. Dnipropetrovsk and the area around it have been a consistent source of aliyah. Accordingly, the Jewish Agency for Israel (referred to in the post-Soviet states as Sochnut, the first word of its Hebrew name, and in several other countries as JAFI) maintains a major presence in the city. Although current aliyah has decreased about 50 percent from last year in reaction to the intifada, interest in future emigration remains high. Between 260 and 330 individuals in the city, including members of the highly successful JAFI youth club, are studying Hebrew in ulpans at any given time. Another 350 to 440 Jews from towns in the region around Dnipropetrovsk also are enrolled in such classes. According to JAFI staff, the ulpans are growing increasingly complex; two weekly classes of Hebrew remain the core element, but Jewish tradition and computer training are included in another two hours weekly. The addition of professional English is under consideration. Miron Lahat, director of JAFI operations in the region, finds that the Jewish identification components of the ulpan are well-accepted.28 The process of aliyah has lengthened, with many families enrolling in JAFI activities for several years or longer before actually emigrating. Olim become much better educated about life in Israel, various absorption programs, locales in which they might settle, Israeli army service, and other factors. They study available information, ask good questions, and also seek advice from family

27 The exchange rate in mid-May 2002 was 5.3288 hryvna to the U.S. dollar. 28 The Jewish tradition component of the ulpan in Dnipropetrovsk is taught by Dr. Alexander Fridkis, a local physician who also is vice-president of the Golden Rose Choral Synagogue (Chabad).


members and friends who have made aliyah ahead of them. Some of those with family members in Israel visit their relatives.29 A Jewish Agency-sponsored employment fair took place in Dnipropetrovsk during the writer’s visit. Open from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on a Sunday in a large public hall, 23 booths in the fair offered information about employment opportunities (emphasizing such blue collar positions as truck driving and auto mechanics), educational programs for upgrading professional credentials, different types of aliyah programs, and various residential possibilities. This particular fair focused on central Israel and included mayors or other officials in towns in this region that are seeking new immigrants. At right, potential olim obtain information about municipal absorption opportunities in the city of Gedera. Barely visible in the photo is Eli Radiya, the Mayor of Gedera. Mr. Radiya and officials at other booths conducted basic interviews on Sunday, asking interested candidates to attend additional sessions on Monday. More comprehensive interviews were conducted at the Monday sessions, including, where appropriate, testing to eliminate people from training and education programs who made false claims about prior experience. The fair was successful, yielding enrollment of several hundred people in serious aliyah programs. Reflecting the current situation in Israel, an area in the public hall was set aside to commemorate those who had died in Israel’s wars and in terrorist attacks. The Hebrew lettering on the sign above the table reads Yom Hazikaron (Remem-brance Day) and the Russian text explains that Remembrance Day observes the memory of those who have perished in the wars of Israel or suffered in terror attacks. The sign at the upper right identifies this area as a “corner of solidarity with Israel,” and the caption on the highest poster at left is “War and Peace.” The title of the center poster (above the Yom Hazikaron display) is “Soldiers by the Wailing

29 A Ukrainian airline offers twice weekly service between Dnipropetrovsk and Israel. Additional flights are available through Kyiv.


Wall.” A book in which visitors can write messages of condolence and solidarity lies on the Israeli flag atop the table. The Jewish Agency offers almost 40 “circles” or clubs in Dnipropetrovsk, including clubs for families, individuals hoping to operate small businesses in Israel, singles, cooking enthusiasts, and numerous activities for children and young people. Its student club is the most active in the city. JAFI also receives Russian-language television programs from Israel (aimed at the large Russian-speaking population in the country), which many local Jews find interesting. JAFI sponsors several summer camps for children and youth in the area and subsidizes others organized by rabbis or various Jewish organizations. However, Mr. Lahat expressed concern that projected cuts of 25 to 30 percent in

the JAFI camp budget line will limit severely the amount of JAFI funding usually given to rabbis for their camps. These young people, most of whom attended JAFI-sponsored or subsidized summer camps and clubs in the past, are among those leaving for Israel this summer to participate in student aliyah pro-grams. They are meeting with an advisor (standing, center) in the JAFI center to prepare paperwork for their departure.

Mr. Lahat observed that local Jews are keenly aware of events in Israel and are organizing solidarity and advocacy activities. JAFI works with community groups in these endeavors. The JAFI insert in the local monthly Jewish newspaper may run as long as 11 pages. Printed in color, it carries announcements and advertisements about various JAFI programs as well as information about Israel, including history, current events, descriptions of Israeli cities and landmarks, and human interest reports. JAFI also inserts its own web pages in to the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community website (http://jew.dp.ua).

Festive programs were held in various Ukrainian cities in celebration of the 54th anniversary of Israeli independence. Shown at left is a scene from an April 14 presentation in Dnipropetrovsk. The same program was repeated on April 16 in Kharkiv. Performers were from various Israeli theater, dance, and circus troupes,


including the Tel Aviv Clown Theater. JAFI was the primary sponsor in Dnipropetrovsk; in Kharkiv, the Israeli Cultural Center was the major promoter, although other organizations also ap-peared on the invitation. 20. Shimon Naiman is Director of the Israeli Cultural Center, a representation of Nativ (formerly Lishkat Hakesher), an entity within the Office of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel that is concerned with Jews in the post-Soviet states. The Center houses an Israeli consulate in Dnipropetrovsk, and Mr. Naiman is accredited to the Embassy of Israel in Kyiv as an attaché. The territory covered by the Dnipropetrovsk office stretches from Dniprodzerzhinsk in the north to Berdyansk in the south and from Kremenchuk and Kirovograd in the west to Tokmak in the east.30 Mr. Naiman was born in Kharkiv and emigrated to Israel in 1991 at the age of 16 with his family. While in Kharkiv, he stated, he attended four different schools, transferring from one to another to escape antisemitism in each. Mr. Naiman believes strongly in aliyah, asserting that his mission is to bring all Jews to Israel. He emphasized that he considers such an effort to be his mission, not just his work. The Israeli Cultural Center holds “consular days” two to three days each week, during which prospective olim apply for immigrant visas. Twenty-four families were expected on the next day (April 24), said Mr. Naiman. They are from Dnipropetrovsk and other cities and towns in the region; all have sold their apartments and are ready to make aliyah in the very near future. Although the situation in Israel has reduced the number of immigrants, he continued, the pace of visa applications now is increasing. Sometimes only seven or eight families came on a consular day several months ago. Mr. Naiman estimated that about five percent of would-be emigrants present fraudulent documents. He referred to a document “factory” in nearby Zaporizhya that produces counterfeit birth certificates and other credentials. Other false papers are generated by individuals with access to local archives. If not detected, the holders of these false documents settle in Israel and then invite their relatives, also non-Jews, to join them. Entire “chains” of non-Jewish immigrants have been formed in Israel in this manner, he said. The various employment and social programs offered to olim in Israel are a great attraction. Through improved detection methods, the Government of Israel has reduced the number of people entering the country under false claims of Jewish heritage, said Mr. Naiman, but the Israeli Law of Return continues to be abused. Perhaps 30,000 Jews in Dnipropetrovsk are eligible for aliyah, said Mr. Naiman. Half of these individuals are Jewish according to halakha (Jewish law), he estimated, and the other half are eligible for immigration under the Israeli Law of Return. Aliyah now is based on economic opportunity, not on Zionism, continued

30 Other Israeli consulates in Ukraine are in Kyiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv.


Mr. Naiman. Most Jewish young people will leave, he predicted, because there is little investment in Ukraine and, therefore, few employment opportunities. He thinks that Jewish emigration to Germany will decline because most Jewish immigrants there now are living in de facto ghettoes under unpleasant circumstances and with little likelihood for future gainful employment. The largest age cohort among local Jews, said Mr. Naiman, consists of people over 50 years old. Few in this age group will emigrate. In response to a question, Mr. Naiman predicted that perhaps 10,000 Jews would remain in Dnipropetrovsk in 10 years. Other than issuing visas to Israel, Mr. Naiman said, his most important work in the area focuses on instilling Israeli cultures in the local Jewish population. Mr. Naiman emphasized the plural form of the word culture, noting that Jews from Russia, Ukraine, Yemen, and other countries have each brought distinct cultures to Israel and a unique sabra culture is evolving as well. The Israeli Cultural Center operates several programs designed to strengthen the attachment of local Jews to Israel. As the regional representative of the Israeli government, Nativ supervises Israeli Ministry of Education efforts in the area. These include 17 Sunday schools, including one enrolling 350 children in Dnipropetrovsk. About 1,000 additional youngsters participate in Sunday schools elsewhere in the region.31 Nativ is trying to convert several of these schools into family schools in which parents learn with their children. Nativ also subsidizes the salaries of Israeli teachers of Judaic subjects at the more established Jewish day schools in the area, including 14 such teachers at School #144. However, the Ministry does not subsidize new day schools in the region, all of which are sponsored by Chabad, because it lacks the funds to do so. The Cultural Center also offers several Hebrew-language ulpans in the area, including family ulpans that convene in School #144 on Sundays and four more conventional ulpans that meet in the Cultural Center itself. Ulpans are part of family Sunday schools in Dniprodzerzhinsk and elsewhere.

31 The Israeli Cultural Centers are the largest operator of Jewish Sunday schools in the post-Soviet states. In most cases, the focus of such Sunday schools is more on Israel than on Judaism; as such, they are attractive to families planning aliyah who wish to give their children some exposure to Israel and the Hebrew language before moving to Israel. In some cities, the Israeli government will co-sponsor a Sunday school with one of the religious streams; these co-sponsored schools may focus more on Judaism than do the majority of Nativ Sunday schools. Because the majority of ICC schools are aliyah-oriented, their enrollment often is highly unstable as families register children for classes only a year or so before emigration.


A children’s club has 150 members, and 18 adolescents are enrolled in another club especially for teenagers. Mr. Naiman observed that the Cultural Center should add more activities for children and youth. Interest groups for adults include aerobics and Israeli dancing. Two computer classes meet in the Cultural Center computer room, which also offers 24-hour Internet access and various computer programs about Israel. The Cultural Center library includes Russian-language books and periodicals about Israel and different Jewish topics. Russian-language television news broadcasts are available at the Center, as are Israeli films with Russian sub-titles. Discussion turned to Gymnasium Alef, a day school initiated and supported by the Israeli government in Zaporizhya. Currently enrolling about 300 pupils in grades one through eleven, the school has achieved a certain notoriety for its anti-Zionist and anti-religious atmosphere. The school principal, who has strong ties to local security officials, actively discourages youngsters from participating in synagogue or Jewish Agency activities. She is a “very not simple woman,” said Mr. Naiman, adding that “We have some problems there.” Nonetheless, Israel continues to pay the salaries and other expenses of three Israeli teachers at the school. A newer day school operated by Chabad in Zaporizhya is strongly Zionist in orientation and, acknowledges Mr. Naiman, is known as “the Israeli school” in the city. Nonetheless, the Israeli Ministry of Education declines to support it financially, claiming a lack of budgetary resources.32 Mr. Naiman, who has served only one year in Dnipropetrovsk, will move to Moscow during the summer to become Consul General at the Embassy of Israel in Russia. He previously had served there for two years as vice-consul. On his own initiative, he compared the situation for Israel in Ukraine and Russia. All Jewish organizations in Ukraine, he said, have better relations with the Ukrainian government than Jewish organizations in Russia have with the Russian government. The Ukrainian government is more open and friendlier to Israel. In Dnipropetrovsk, in particular, he works closely with Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, as does every other Jewish organization in the city. Relations between Jewish organizations and institutions in Moscow are much less cooperative, continued Mr. Naiman. “Today,” he said, “there is a war” in Moscow, referring to the aggressive posture of Rabbi Berel Lazar, a Chabad rabbi nominated as Chief Rabbi of Russia by the government of President Vladimir Putin at the behest of oligarch Levi Levayev. Levayev, he noted, also has good relations with President Leonid Kuchma of Ukraine.33 He observed that Mr. Kuchma’s tenure seems uncertain, whereas Mr. Putin appears to be in a very strong position in Russia. 32 See p. 64 for further information about the Chabad school in Zaporizhya. 33 Mr. Levayev attempted to install Rabbi Kaminezki as a second chief rabbi of Ukraine, in competition with Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich of Kyiv, the incumbent Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, but Rabbi Kaminezki declined to accept Mr. Levayev’s suggestion.


21. Freeda Wigs is one of two businesses serving observant Jews to have been established in Dnipropetrovsk in recent years.34 Low wage levels and a growing community of observant Jews from which to draw supervisory personnel are major attractions. Freed Wigs, which is based in Brooklyn, is owned by the family of Freeda Kugel, an aunt of Rabbi Kaminezki. Focusing on the religious market, it produces about 400 wigs monthly, 80 percent of which are exported to the United States. Most of the remaining wigs are sent to Israel and several other countries. The non-American share of the market is increasing, said Ms. Kugel. Ms. Kugel currently employs almost 200 people, many of whom choose to work at home. The market is such, she said, that she could triple production, if she could find and train skilled workers and acquire suitable new space. Entry-level

employees learn the trade in two-month courses that operate continually. Intake of new workers in groups of ten is constant, and the pay and working conditions are good. Freeda Kugel, at left, works with an employee in examining sheitels (wigs worn by some Orthodox Jewish women) in Dnipropetrovsk. Ms. Kugel wears one of her own creations.

Independent collectors purchase human hair, most often in Siberia and the Scandinavian countries. They bring the hair in suitcases to Ms. Kugel, who says that she is able to determine the age and nationality of most hair by looking at it. Perhaps ten to 15 percent of Freeda wigs are special orders, styled to specific instructions. The remainder are shipped on consignment. It is acceptable for purchasers to return the wigs for adjustments. Retail prices of Freed wigs range from $500 to $2,200; the company sells only on a wholesale basis, which usually is 50 percent of the retail price. 34 A third such firm, one that produces shmurah matzah for export, will be opened in time for Pesach in 2003. (Shmurah matza is made from flour that is strictly supervised from the time the wheat is cut until it is mixed with pure water and then baked in less than 18 minutes.)


22. A second and more recent business established in Dnipropetrovsk to serve religiously observant Jews is Handcraft Judaica, established in 2000 by Rabbi Berel Lipskier, a brother of Rabbi Kaminezki’s wife, Chana. Current production focuses on tefillin, known in English as phylacteries. Tefillin are two small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with four specific biblical passages. The boxes, which are attached to black leather straps, are worn on the forehead and one arm by many religiously observant Jewish men during morning prayers. Rabbi Berel Lipskier is at right in front of a mural depicting the tefillin that his factory produces. The shin (ש) on the tefillin boxes is formed in a style commonly used by followers of Chabad. Handcraft Judaica also produces tefillin with shins styled to the customs of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews. Rabbi Lipskier says that at least 50 pairs are completed each day, although three days are required to finish a single pair because partially finished tefillin must be set aside at various stages to permit glue to dry. Handcraft Judaica is working toward a daily output of 200 pairs as workers become more skilled in the manufacturing process. Tefillin manufactured by Handcraft Judaic are exported to both Israel and the United States; shipment to Australia is expected to begin soon. Handcraft Judaica currently employs 19 religious men in the production of tefillin. Four of these individuals are unemployable in the general economy due to various disabilities. All are paid according to output, with the least productive earning $75 a month and the most productive earning $175. Rabbi Lipskier expects that several workers eventually will earn up to $400 monthly as their skills improve.35 Two employees in the factory work to complete tefillin at Handcraft Judaica. Kosher food prepared at the synagogue in

35 In contrast, many physicians in Ukraine earn $40 to $50 monthly


Dnipropetrovsk is brought to the factory each day for lunch. Traditionally, the various components of tefillin are manufactured and sold separately. However, Rabbi Lipskier plans to produce all of the components in the future and sell both complete tefillin and tefillin components. Handcraft Judaica already produces parchment in another location. When the scribes being trained by the sofriut in the city achieve the necessary level of skill, some will be hired to inscribe the parchment.36 Rabbi Lipskier will purchase leather from a Ukrainian tannery for tefillin straps; the straps will be painted, cut, and stretched in Dnipropetrovsk. Handcraft Judaica also manufactures wooden cases for mezuzas and has begun to design bags for tallits (prayer shawls) and tefillin. Rabbi Lipskier hopes to produce a broad line of Judaica products. 23. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki arrived in Dnipropetrovsk, a city of historic importance to Chabad, in 1990 and has built a Jewish community infrastructure

unsurpassed in the post-Soviet states. His day school is the largest in central and eastern Europe, he has opened the first community housing facility for Jewish elderly in all of the successor states, and he is developing a functional community philanthropic organization. He is respected by non-observant Jews and by government officials. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki and Chana Lipskier Kaminezki stand outside their Dnipropetrovsk home in April 2002. Rabbi Kaminezki was born in Israel and holds both Israeli and American citizenship. Mrs. Kaminezki was born in Italy while her parents were working for Chabad there; she was raised in the United States. They have six children. Mrs. Kaminezki teaches classes in the machon and also leads a women’s group in the Jewish community.

The Chabad community in Dnipropetrovsk now includes more than 20 families from abroad. Most adults have come to the city to work in the many local Jewish institutions, but several have established businesses. A small, but growing, group of local individuals are beginning to identify with Chabad as well.

36 See p. 20.


A small shop for kosher food and Judaic ritual items has opened in the basement of the synagogue. Although steep steps to the area may limit its accessibility, it is an important addition to the Jewish community. A kosher restaurant opened by private entrepreneurs also serves the observant population and attracts some non-observant diners as well. Although the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community has no specific status in Ukraine, it has become a center of Jewish activity to which others turn for both inspiration and for assistance with specific problems. Rabbi Kaminezki maintains excellent relations with local and national Ukrainian politicians, several of whom have very strong ties to Dnipropetrovsk. Other rabbis call Rabbi Kaminezki for support in various endeavors, and communities without rabbis also appeal for help. During the time of the writer’s visit, Rabbi Kaminezki received a request from a small Jewish population center much closer to Kyiv than to Dnipropetrovsk for his intervention with local authorities to effect the return of a synagogue confiscated during the Soviet period. The Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины), the most advanced Jewish community philanthropic organization in all of the post-Soviet successor states, was initiated and continues to operate under Rabbi Kaminezki’s guidance. In addition to raising local funds to fulfill community needs, the Fund also is generating responsible lay leadership. Decision-making is in the Fund is open and both Board members and staff are fully accountable. At the insistence of Gennady Bogolubov, Chairman of the Board, the Fund recently underwent its first audit by an outside firm. The transparent nature of the community Fund has created a sense of ownership of the Fund within the local Jewish population that facilitates fundraising. Rabbi Kaminezki’s role in the national Ukrainian Jewish arena remains a delicate issue, one that is understood and appreciated by Rabbi Kaminezki and Rabbi Meir Stambler, director of the Dnipropetrovsk-based (Chabad) Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine,37 better than anyone else. Acutely aware of the tension raised in Moscow and Russia by Chabad Rabbi Berel Lazar’s ill-advised power grab at the behest of Chabad funder Levi Levayev, Rabbi Kaminezki and Rabbi Stambler are careful to avoid even the appearance of a similar Chabad arrogation of rabbinic authority in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Rabbi Kaminezki’s numerous accomplishments have earned him respect and authority throughout the country. Recognizing Rabbi Kaminezki’s credibility, Vadym Rabynovych, a Jewish oligarch associated with organized crime, appointed Rabbi Kaminezki as Chief Rabbi of United Jewish Community of Ukraine, an organization sponsored and led by Rabynovych himself. Rabbi Kaminezki declined the position, but Mr. Rabynovych continues to refer to the

37 See pp. 31-32.


Dnipropetrovsk rabbi as Chief Rabbi of UJCU, a source of embarrassment and awkwardness for Rabbi Kaminezki.

Dniprodzerzhinsk

24. Dniprodzerzhinsk is located on the banks of the Dnipr River, approximately 22 miles northwest of Dnipropetrovsk. Founded in 1779 as Kamenskoye, its name was changed in 1936 in honor of Feliks “Iron Feliks” Dzerzhinsky (1877-1926), notorious head of the Cheka (renamed OGPU in 1922, NKVD in 1934, and KGB in 1953) from 1917 until his death in 1926. A massive hydroelectric station provides power for a “black industrial base” focused on iron and steel, industrial chemicals, cement, machine-building, and construction of railroad cars. Uranium dumps remain from the production of ‘dirty’ nuclear bombs in the post-war period. Dniprodzershinsk is rated one of the ten most heavily polluted cities in all of the post-Soviet success states. The general population of the city is about 280,000. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Jews live in Dniprodzerzhinsk, following heavy emigration (perhaps 2,000 or more) in recent years. 25. According to Dmitry Tarnopolsky, Chairman of the Dniprodzerzhinsk Jewish community and an amateur historian, the industrial base of the city was determined by the reality that it is located more-or-less midway between the coal fields of Donetsk to the east and the iron ore range of Krivyy Rig to the west. A Beligian-Polish consortium built a metallurgical plant in Kamenskoye in 1880 and sent in specialists from both countries to develop and manage the facility. Thus, notes Mr. Tarnopolsky, a Catholic church exists in the city, an anomaly in eastern Ukraine.38 According to documents in local archives that Mr. Tarnopolsky has examined, perhaps 1,000 Jews arrived in Kamenskoye as part of the Polish migration to the city.39 Two synagogues were built, including one in 1913 that was closed by Soviet authorities in 1929 and recovered by the Jewish community at Chanukha in 2001. The second synagogue was closed in 1935 and later was destroyed. By 1939, the local Jewish community, much of it Polish in origin, numbered between 4,000 and 5,000 individuals. Many engineers, scientists, accountants, and physicians were included in its ranks. Their integration into the industrial 38 Catholicism is much less rare in western Ukraine, which borders on Poland and other historically Catholic areas. 39 Among the Jewish immigrants were the ancestors of both Mr. Tarnopolsky and his wife.


complex doubtless saved many Jews during the Holocaust as most were evacuated from the city along with strategic industries as German forces approached the city in late 1941. However, at least 1,000 Jews were massacred at two different sites, which remain unmarked.40 According to Mr. Tarnopolsky, some Jews migrated into the city following World War II, mostly demobilized soldiers and individuals from smaller towns in the region. At its peak, the Jewish population probably numbered about 10,000 in 1980. However, large-scale assimilation, a high death rate, a low birth rate, and emigration have reduced the Jewish population to between 2,000 and 3,000 people in 2002. Mr. Tarnopolsky, who has worked with the hesed since its formation, believes that at least 60 percent of the current Jewish population of the city is more than 65 years old. 26. Mr. Tarnopolsky thinks that many younger Jews in the city are still “hiding,” leery of identifying publicly as Jews. Further, he said, most Jews who want to go to Israel have gone; nonetheless, he hopes that others will go. It is “our job,” he said, to encourage their aliyah. However, many obstacles stand in the way of additional aliyah. First, many remaining Jews are in intermarried families; Russians in the families may not want to leave. Second, Germany remains an attractive alternative. More Jewish émigrés currently go to Germany than to Israel. Mr. Tarnopolsky observed that no “class differences” divide the Jewish population in Germany as in Israel, defining class differences as tensions between Israeli sabras and immigrants, and between the Orthodox estab-lishment in Israel and non-halakhic Jewish olim. Rabbi Levi Stambler and Dmitry Tarnopolsky stand in front of the Jewish day school in Dniprodzerzhinsk. Mr. Tarnopolsky is a large, imposing man with red hair pulled back into a pony tail. 27. The Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine (Chabad) assigned Rabbi Levi Stambler to the city in 2002. Although Rabbi Stambler maintains an apartment in Dniprodzerzhinsk for Shabbat, he commutes to Dniprodzerzhinsk from Dnipropetrovsk during the week. However, he intends to purchase and 40 Mr. Tarnopolsky found documentation of mass shootings while doing archival research. Using this information, he subsequently identified the sites.


renovate a house across the street from the synagogue so that he and his family can live in the city on a year-round basis.41 28. When built, the synagogue was a one-story building containing a large prayer hall and a few small offices. A mikveh may have been attached to the rear of the building, although repeated renovations to the structure make such determinations difficult. After it was confiscated from the Jewish community, the building was turned over to a teachers’ union, which converted the prayer hall into a large auditorium and constructed an additional hall adjacent to the sanctuary/auditorium. A second floor was added, providing space for offices and meeting rooms. Renovation of the synagogue will require gutting of the building, said Mr. Tarnopolsky, and may cost as much as $250,000. JDC has offered $100,000 as its share of the renovations, but that allocation is dependent upon

moving the hesed, which currently is located in a small house, into the synagogue building, an action opposed by some in the community. Rabbi Stambler and Mr. Tarnopolsky have yet to arrange funding for the large-scale restoration project. The synagogue is in the long building at left. Rabbi Stambler intends to buy a house for his family directly across the street.

29. The Dniprodzerzhinsk hesed is located in a small, pleasant one-story house not far from the synagogue. It offers most of the usual hesed services, albeit on a smaller scale than in Dnipropetrovsk. The house has one large room, which is used as a day center for four different groups once each week, a small kitchen, and several small offices. The hesed rents a van that is used to transport clients

and to provide services to Jews in small towns in the region. When Rabbi Stambler visited the hesed, the woman client in the foreground insisted that he sit down. Instead, he suggested that she sit in the one remaining free chair. No, she said, he is

41 Rabbi Levi Stambler is a cousin of Rabbi Meir Stambler, Director of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine.


the rabbi and he should sit down. She literally pushed him into the seat. After listening to her a few minutes, he rose and offered her his place. She sat down. Someone brought another chair for him. 30. The Jewish day school, located in a large former public school building, opened in September with an enrollment of 56 youngsters. By April, the census had risen to 90 in grades one through eleven. Enrollment for next fall is projected at 120. Given the demographic reality of the local Jewish population, enrollment at peak is not expected to exceed 150-175 youngsters. Seventy percent of pupils currently enrolled in the school are Jewish according to halakha; the remainderare Jewish according to the Israeli Law of Return. Renovations are underway for a preschool in one wing of the building; it is expected to accommodate 35 children when it opens in September 2002. 31. Mr. Tarnopolsky and Rabbi Stambler are considering development of a dormitory program that would accommodate 20 to 30 youngsters, most of whom live in villages in the area around Dniprodzerzhinsk. Housing could be arranged in a section of the school building or in private apartments.

Kharkiv

32. Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine, its population numbering approximately 1.5 million people. The city has a strong industrial base, including significant defense and technology sectors, and also hosts more than 25 institutions of higher education. The capital of Ukraine from 1921 to 1934, Kharkiv appears more sophisticated than many other cities in the country. Kharkiv lies close to the Russian border and its population is highly Russified. 33. The Jewish population of the city is believed by many to number between 30,000 and 36,000 individuals, somewhat more than the number of Jews who live in Odesa. Although different segments of the Jewish population clearly communicate with each other, the sense of cohesion that characterizes the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish population eludes the Jews of Kharkiv. Observers trace Jewish community tension to two specific episodes. First, throughout the mid-1990’s, control over the city’s grand choral synagogue was contested between its presiding rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz (Chabad), and a local man, Eduard Khodos, who represented the World Union for Progressive Judaism. With the building divided between the two men, many local Jews were reluctant to visit the premises for any type of religious or community programming, lest they become entangled in the ongoing conflict. After increasingly bizarre behavior, culminating in an arson attack against the synagogue in 1998, Mr. Khodos was removed from its premises by municipal authorities and the entire building was turned over to Chabad. Now engaged in large-scale renovation of the synagogue, Rabbi


Moskowitz is fulfilling the community leadership role pursued by successful community rabbis in the post-Soviet states. Nonetheless, the several years clash with Mr. Khodos diminished Rabbi Moskowitz’ authority as a leader and created a situation in which the Jewish community developed alongside him, not with him. Second, aggressive actions by a regional director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to replace key staff members of the local hesed, Jewish community center, and Hillel student group engendered great hostility among local Jews and has resulted in a fundamental distrust of JDC. Whether a large new Jewish community center (Beit Dan) championed by JDC will serve to diminish communal anger and resentment toward the agency remains to be seen.42 34. Restoration of the choral synagogue continues, with completion of the large prayer hall or sanctuary anticipated by Chanukah. George Rohr, an American who has contributed to the development of numerous Chabad-related construction projects in the post-Soviet states, has provided $500,000 for this work. Rabbi Moskowitz estimates that an additional $150,000 to $180,000 will

be required to finish the renovation; some of this money is being raised locally. At this stage of its restoration, only the newly installed windows provide evidence that the main hall of the building was indeed a Jewish prayer hall. The facility is cavernous, so large that it was used as a basketball court during the Soviet period.

Renovation of the basement area, most of which is above ground, is almost complete. A large, modern kitchen and a dining hall that can seat 150 people serve JDC-subsidized hot meals to a capacity group of pensioners five days each week. Pupils in the yeshiva school for boys and machon for girls (see below) also eat in this facility. The basement also includes several large and attractive classrooms for the girls’ machon and a computer room used by the machon and boys’ yeshiva, as

42 Some local observers say that the offending Joint employee, who is known in the community as “Napoleon,” has been less visible in recent months, which may suggest that JDC recognizes the level of antagonism that he has generated.


well as by community groups. A new mikveh, with its own entrance, was nearing completion at the time of the writer’s visit. Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network donated $250,000 for reconstruction of the basement area. The second and third floors of the synagogue building contain rooms used as classrooms for the boys’ yeshiva and for other activities. This space will be renovated as money becomes available. The large size of the synagogue building invites use of its premises for community center activities, a project that Rabbi Moskowitz is pursuing as both renovated space and funds become available. By the end of its first year of operations in mid-2002, the facility was offering computer classes for a variety of groups, arts and crafts workshops, and Israeli dance. A day-long family Sunday school attracted 60 to 70 youngsters between the ages of six and 14 and their parents. Buses transported families to and from the synagogue for five hours of various classes and activities on Sundays. The large synagogue dining hall accommodates up to 150 people at a time and serves as a major site for a JDC-subsidized pro-gram providing meals to Jewish elderly. In the photo at right, a much smaller group of yeshiva boys eats lunch in one section of the dining hall during a different shift. 35. Two Jewish community organizations nurtured by Rabbi Moskowitz, one in support of the synagogue and the other in support of broader Jewish community endeavors, have effectively merged. Rabbi Moskowitz hopes that the Jewish businessmen associated with these groups will expand their fundraising efforts on behalf of community institutions and services. At this point, the service capacity of indigenous Kharkiv community structures lags far behind those of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk. Rabbi Moskowitz noted that two local television channels had carried a day-long Holocaust Day program on a recent Sunday. The program showed films and presented other information about the Holocaust. Rabbi Moskowitz also appeared on the program, answering questions from people who called in. The two channels, observed Rabbi Moskowitz, are owned by Jews, both of whom contribute to the community. However, they do not talk to each other.


36. Various Christian missionary groups continue to target local Jews, said Rabbi Moskowitz, frequently offering free gifts as enticements. In response, the Jewish community has developed a unified approach to their efforts. The synagogue, hesed, JDC Jewish community center, Jewish Agency, and the Israeli Consulate General all inform Kharkiv Jews that they will lose access to Jewish community services if they associate themselves with missionaries. Local government officials are helpful as well. Not only do they know that missionary activity is a “red line” for the Jewish community, but they also are aware that the indigenous Orthodox church regards the missionary groups as promoting an alternate, non-Orthodox form of Christianity that “competes” with Orthodoxy. Therefore, government authorities impede the registration of missionary organizations and undertake other measures to hinder their operations. 37. A new project for the Jewish community will be the opening of a residential facility for boys in time for the beginning of school next fall. Initially, Rabbi Moskowitz said, the boys will be housed in several apartments. However, an old synagogue that was confiscated by the state during the Soviet period, will be returned to the community soon and it will be renovated to accommodate the boys within a year or two. Depending on the number of apartments that are rented for the next school year, 20 or more boys in fifth through tenth grades may reside in this program. The renovated synagogue probably will permit up to 40 youngsters to live in comfortable surroundings. Boys will come from smaller towns in the region where educational opportunities are limited or from dysfunctional families in Kharkiv. Rabbi Moskowitz readily acknowledged the need for professional assistance if troubled youngsters enter the program. “We’re not competent to deal with psychological problems,” he said. It is likely that the (Chabad) Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine will obtain start-up money for the residential project. However, Rabbi Moskowitz has not yet obtained funding for operating expenses. Several people in the community also speak of a dormitory program for girls, but no firm plans exist for such a facility at this time. 38. The Jewish day school (School #170) associated with Chabad enrolled between 460 and 500 youngsters during the 2001-2002 academic year. Most youngsters were accommodated in two separate buildings, one for elementary school pupils and the other for high school students. Youngsters in these programs have two to four classes each week in Hebrew instruction and another four classes in a combination of Jewish tradition and Jewish history.


Forty local boys in grades five through eleven now are enrolled in a yeshiva middle/high school program that meets on the upper floors of the synagogue. In addition to offering more Hebrew and more classes in Jewish tradition, the yeshiva also provides more comprehensive study of English and computer technology, said Rabbi Levi Raices, director of Chabad education programs in the city. Rabbi Raices openly referred to the additional opportunities in English and computer studies as an incentive to attract boys to the yeshiva program. Other attractions, said Rabbi Raices, are very small classes and an extended day program, each a great enticement to the single mothers whose sons constitute the majority of pupils in the yeshiva. No particular emphasis is placed on directing boys to a traditional yeshiva following completion of the Kharkiv program, continued Rabbi Raices, but some do enter yeshivas in Moscow, Israel, or the United States. Other graduates enroll in secular universities and other post-secondary institutes. Whereas the yeshiva opened its doors in 1994, a machon for girls is in only its second year of operation. It now enrolls 40 girls in grades five through nine in an extended-day program that meets in new classrooms in the basement of the synagogue; additional grades will be added as current pupils progress through school. As in the yeshiva, the machon offers a full government-mandated secular curriculum with additional classes in Hebrew, Jewish studies, English, and computer studies. It also provides instruction in Jewish dance, music, and art, and takes pupils on excursions to places of Jewish interest in Ukraine and Moscow. Girls enter the program both as transfers from the regular day school and as newcomers from other, non-Jewish schools in the city. Both Rabbi Raices and others report a good social atmosphere in the school, with many girls gathering in the synagogue on Sundays to participate in and/or help with the community programs offered then. The 80 youngsters currently enrolled in the yeshiva and machon are stretching the capacity of the synagogue building. Rabbi Raices said that one of these programs will be required to move in the near future, perhaps to a building directly behind the synagogue that has yet to be renovated. 39. Chabad will operate a summer camp again this summer, enrolling 150 boys and 150 girls in separate three-week sessions. The campsite is near Kharkiv and will accommodate many youngsters from the region, as well as from Kharkiv itself. 40. Ilya Milikovsky coordinates Chabad activities in small cities and towns in the region, reaching out to small numbers of Jews in such places as Sumy, Konotop, Shostka, Glukhov, Lubny, Mirhorod, and Izum. Although officially registered as religious societies, Chabad-affiliated organizations in these towns function equally as social clubs, bringing Jews together for occasional


programming, especially around holidays. Mr. Milikovsky arranges seders, recruits Jewish youngsters for Chabad camps, and organizes other activities in these areas. Another responsibility of Mr. Milikovsky is the organization of secular Jewish programs in the city of Kharkiv itself. For example, he has established a club for the Jewish intelligentsia, which gathers to hear lectures about Jewish literature and Jewish history. He also arranges various activities for the parents of pupils in the Chabad school. 41. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU; New York) operates a multi-faceted strongly Zionist program in Kharkiv that focuses on Jewish adolescents and young adults. The writer did not visit the OU program while in Kharkiv in 2002 because it is now without a director, its most recent administrator having returned to Israel shortly before the writer’s trip to the city. In collaboration with Yeshivat Sha’alvim in Israel, the OU operates Lycée Sha’alvim in Kharkiv, a school enrolling approximately 250 pupils in grades three through eleven. Many youngsters leave the school in tenth grade to enroll in Israeli high school programs. Approximately 40 youngsters, 20 boys and 20 girls, reside in dormitory programs operated by the lycée. The OU also sponsors a large summer camp near Kharkiv that accommodates about 500 children, adolescents, and young adults in one three-week session. At a community building in the center of Kharkiv, the OU operates various clubs for adolescents and for students and also provides JDC-subsidized hot meals for 60 to 70 Jewish elderly. 42. Boris Murashkovsky has been director of the Kharkiv hesed, which is now housed in temporary quarters, since January 2002. In a controversial and highly resented action late last year, JDC closed the former hesed and dismissed many of its staff members, reducing its payroll from 420 to 320. The current hesed, said Mr. Murashkovsky, has 12,500 clients on its roster. As is the case with heseds in other cities, the largest single program provides various types of food assistance, serving 4,000 to 5,000 impoverished Jews, mainly elderly people. The hesed serves 3,000 hot meals each week at seven different locations, including the synagogue and the OU building. Another 1,200 to 1,400 individuals receive home-delivered meals, and about 2,500 people who are strong enough to do their own shopping receive coupons for the purchase of specific items (such as fresh produce, meat, and fish) at designated supermarkets. The supermarket program, said Mr. Murashkovsky, is new to the hesed and is not available in all cities. However, it is less expensive than the dining program and may eventually replace all or part of that service. The hesed


also operates a number of “warm homes,” programs in which elderly Jews with common professional/vocational backgrounds gather in a neighborhood apartment one or more times each week for a home-cooked meal and socializing. The hesed provides patronage or homecare service to 300 people, the precise amount and nature of service dependent on the category to which the client is assigned: (a) bedridden, no assistance from relatives; (b) low vision; or (c) mobile, but unable to clean own apartment or perform other specific activities. The hesed provides disposable diapers to those who need them and also launders bed linens. Some therapy also is provided. Some medications are available, as is financial assistance for surgical procedures and dental work. The Holocaust Fund established by the Swiss government will buy appliances, television sets, and some furniture to elderly clients in need of such items. In common with other heseds, the Kharkiv hesed operates a repair service for various household items and for shoes, and also provides medical implements, such as walkers and wheelchairs. A day center program in a separate building accommodates different groups of 17 individuals twice each month. The second floor of this building, which is accessible only by using a very steep staircase, houses a community library and various offices and service centers, including the office that coor-dinates repair services. The day center for Jewish elderly in Kharkiv is located in a former café. Examples of client handi-crafts hang on the walls. Mr. Murashkovsky stated that the hesed would like to begin a rehabilitation program for Jewish children with cerebral palsy, such as that operated in Dnipropetrovsk. By his estimation, about 120 Jewish youngsters in the city could benefit from such a service. It was not clear to the writer where this program would be operated; current hesed premises do not appear to have sufficient space. It is possible that Beit Dan, the new JDC JCC (see below), might provide a venue, but its ground-level floor already is crowded and the building does not have an elevator. Mr. Murashkovsky would like to initiate a second new program, community housing for Jewish elderly currently residing in dreadful conditions, such as


those living next to criminal or antisemitic neighbors or in premises without indoor plumbing. The hesed has about 20 such individuals in such circumstances on its roster, he said. The hesed should purchase a small apartment building for them, he continued. In response to a question about financial support for such a project, Mr. Murashkovsky said that he hoped that some sponsors would come forward. He added that, although hesed finances currently are very tight, he also would try to achieve some savings in hesed programs; these savings also could be used to support a housing program.43 43. Beit Dan, a JDC-sponsored Jewish community center, moved from a small facility to a new four-story building on January 1, 2002.44 According to Boris Kagan, the executive director of Beit Dan, the size of the new facility is 1,000 square meters, whereas the old building had only 300 square meters of available space. Most of the ground floor of Beit Dan is occupied by a lobby, coat room, and an ORT-designed computer center. The center consists of two large classrooms, each with 14 workstations, a “resource laboratory” with various sophisticated peripherals and accessories, and an office. The rooms are pleasant and well-furnished. The center offers courses in basic computer skills, graphics, Internet

programming, word processing, and data base applications. It also serves as the center for a sophisticated Jewish commu-nity Internet portal (mainly in Russian, some Ukrainian and English) -- http://davar.org.ua. The ORT computer center is located on the ground floor of the new Beit Dan Jewish community center in Kharkiv.

43 The writer chose not to discuss with Mr. Murashkovsky JDC policy opposing such housing programs. As JDC has stated in reference to Beit Baruch in Dnipropetrovsk and to another Jewish elderly housing program under development in Kyiv, it does not want to be responsible for addressing the increasing needs of Jews aging in place in such facilities. 44 The facility is named after Shaike Dan, born in Romania as Yeshayahu Trachtenberg, a legendary figure in Israeli intelligence. He parachuted with others into Romania behind Nazi lines during World War II to rescue Jewish prisoners and arrange their departure to pre-state Israel. Following Israeli independence, Mr. Dan played a critical role in persuading Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu to permit Romanian Jews to emigrate to Israel.


Other activity centers in the building include an auditorium with seats for 80 people, a small gym and dance studio (both with very low ceilings), two rooms for the Mazel Tov children’s program, a café, a kitchen for cooking classes, club rooms for various groups,45 and several general activity rooms. Although some rooms appear very small, the interior of the building is attractively designed and includes wall murals by a prominent local artist. When desired for community events, Beit Dan rents large halls in other structures. It also rents nearby sports facilities for a more active Maccabee sports program than is found in many post-Soviet Jewish community centers. Mr. Kagan said that Beit Dan attracts 1,000 local Jews to its various programs every month. One of the primary objects of the center, he said, is to help Jews identify with their Jewish heritage in a gradual (постепенно) and comfortable manner. A schedule of Beit Dan special events for the month of April shows kabbalat Shabbat programs every week (attracting Jewish elderly), several Holocaust-related observances, a celebration of Israeli Independence Day, two additional Israel-related programs, and a session of the Jewish cooking club. Other events include musical and literary evenings, activities for pre-school children, and several programs for older children and youth. A large notice-board in the lobby lists the Beit Dan schedule for the week and also includes notices and schedules of other organizations. Although few people were participating in programs at the time of the writer’s visit (mid-afternoon on a weekday), the facility was bustling with both support and professional staff engaging in various activities. 44. Founded in 1996, the Kharkiv Holocaust Museum is the first Holocaust museum in Ukraine. Its creator and current director is Larisa Volovik, who contributed her own extensive personal archives to the institution. With a motto of A Memory is Preserved - A People is Preserved (Сохранится память – сохранится народ), the museum occupies two small rooms in a downtown location. The exhibits, which include numerous documents and photographs arranged in a sensitive and sophisticated manner, are concentrated in the larger of the two rooms. The second room is a period room attempting to show a typical Kharkiv living room on the eve of World War II in 1941; included in a small display

45 Among the club rooms is one for a student group. This activity is an attempt to duplicate the Hillel student organization, which moved out of the old Beit Dan JCC after “Napoleon” of JDC attempted to fire its director, an action that exceeded his authority and embittered Hillel members. Hillel remains in separate quarters in the center of Kharkiv. Time constraints prevented the writer from meeting with the Hillel organization on this visit to the city.


are furniture, various household accouterments, and clothing.46 The Holocaust Museum in Kharkiv consists of two rooms, one with photos and documentation and the second showing a period living room or salon. Adjacent to the museum is the office of the Drobitsky Yar Committee, chaired by Leonid Leonidov. The task of the committee is to preserve the memory of Drobitsky Yar, a ravine outside Kharkiv where approximately 15,000 Jews were massacred by German forces in January 1942. The Committee maintains the site and holds various commemorative and educational programs about the Holocaust. The Committee has published a newspaper, Digest·E (Дайджест·Е), since 1995. Its issue of March 2002 was its 241st. Larisa Volovik is the editor of Digest·E. Both the Holocaust Museum and the Drobitsky Yar Committee are subsidized by the Joint Distribution Committee. 45. Faina Guralnik has directed the large Jewish Agency for Israel representation in Kharkiv since December, succeeding Miron Lahat, who moved on to Dnipropetrovsk. The Kharkiv JAFI office is responsible for JAFI activity in four oblasts: Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Luhansk Ms. Guralnik said that the situation in Israel has led to a significant drop in aliyah. However, she continued, people still remain very interested in Israel and Israel-related activities. Almost 200 people are enrolled in Hebrew ulpan classes in Kharkiv alone, she said, and another 600 are learning in ulpans in the territory outside Kharkiv. The fact that many local Jews already have family members in Israel will draw others there, she added, especially because the local economy remains depressed. Young people, she stated, find the Na’aleh high school-in-Israel and Selah university-in-Israel programs very attractive and continue to enroll in them, despite the situation in Israel. In addition to ulpans, JAFI offers a number of clubs and classes to Jewish children, youth, students, and adults. Computer classes continue to be very popular, and a highly skilled youth shaliach (emissary) has boosted enrollment in the youth club to over 350 in Kharkiv alone. This individual works very well with different educational institutions and with shlichim from other organizations in developing collaborative programs. The JAFI center is open all day long on Sundays, attracting Jews from Kharkiv to its various activities. Additionally, buses bring in Jews from other cities and towns in the region. Ms. Guralnik said that the Jewish Agency Kharkiv office will operate several summer camps in the region in 2002. About 550 children and 210 students will be accommodated in the various sessions.

46 The website of the museum can be accessed at http://holocaustmuseum.chat.ru. Text is in the Russian language.


The Jewish population of Kharkiv probably is about 28,000, stated Ms. Guralnik, using a figure that some consider low. The community has been hurt by conflicts between various organizations and individuals in the past, she said, but she senses that people are working better together now and that there is new respect for the work of other groups. As for JAFI, it continues to work with all Jews in the city, even those who probably will not make aliyah. JAFI maintains close ties with Jewish students enrolled in the Kharkiv branch of International Solomon University. The students study Hebrew at JAFI, and JAFI works with them in their summer camps.47 At an Israeli Independence Day celebration later that evening (April 16), JAFI distributed souvenir bags to all attendees. The plastic bags contained newspapers/bulletins of both national Ukrainian and regional Kharkiv JAFI representations, schedules of various JAFI activities in Kharkiv, information about registration for Russian-language courses in the Open University of Israel (curriculum accessible in Kharkiv), information about different absorption programs in Israel, a JAFI notepad, and a JAFI ballpoint pen. 46. Rafael Klausner is Director of the Israeli Cultural Center in Kharkiv, one of four such organizations in Ukraine.48 Israeli Cultural Centers operate under the direction of Nativ (better known under its former name, Lishkat Hakesher). Nativ representations are responsible to the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel. In addition to offering a range of Israel-related programs to local Jews, Israeli Cultural Centers also serve as Consulates General of the State of Israel. Mr. Klausner is accredited as an attaché to the Embassy of Israel in Kyiv. Mr. Klausner was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. He emigrated to Israel with his family when he was eight years old. He placed great emphasis during an explanation of the role of the ICC on its diplomatic status. He said that he would like to underscore three points: (1) the Israeli Cultural Center represents “official Israel,” in that it helps local Jewish organizations with security and provides consular services; (2) it has an official contract with the Israeli Ministry of Education to supervise Israeli-assisted formal educational programs in the area; and (3) it offers various informational and general educational and community programs to local Jews. Regarding formal education, Mr. Klausner said that the Israeli Ministry of Education supports three teachers of Hebrew and/or Jewish studies in School #170 (Chabad) and two such instructors in Lycée Sha’alvim. It also sponsors 13 Sunday schools in the region. The Israeli 47 Students in Jewish history at ISU go on expeditions to sites believed to be associated with the Khazars, an ethnic group of Turkish origin that may have been in the Kharkiv region between the sixth and tenth centuries CE. Many leading Khazars professed Judaism during part of this period. 48 The others are in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa.


Cultural Center also supports Hebrew ulpans, various clubs, computer classes, and holiday celebrations. The ICC maintains excellent relations with all Jewish organizations in the city, said Mr. Klausner. He mentioned Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz, JDC, and the Drobitsky Yar Committee as three specific examples. Israel and Diaspora Jews need to help each other, he said. The Israeli government believes that between 30,000 and 35,000 Jews live in Kharkiv, according to the Israeli Law of Return, stated Mr. Klausner. Another 5,000 Jews live in smaller cities and towns outside Kharkiv. More than half of local Jewish adults are intermarried, continued Mr. Klausner. He estimated that more than 50 percent of local Jews are connected in some way with the Jewish community, such as through the hesed, Jewish schools, or the Jewish community center. The Israeli Cultural Center was the primary sponsor of an Israeli Independence Day celebration held at a local theater on April 16; additional sponsors were JAFI, JDC, and Beit Dan. The program was identical to the JAFI celebration that the writer had seen in Dnipropetrovsk two days previously.49 In response to a question, Mr. Klausner estimated that about 30,000 Moslems, among them 10,000 Arabs, are students at the numerous universities and other institutions of higher education in Kharkiv. Universities welcome them, he said, because they pay full tuition in hard currency. Although Arab students may have been involved in a Molotov cocktail attack on the Consulate General several years ago, no incidents have occurred since then. Local authorities watch them very closely, he said.50 Mr. Klausner confirmed that a local Jewish businessman, Yuri Orshansky, is involved in selling Ukrainian missile technology to Iraq. Mr. Orshansky also is the Honorary Consul General of Iraq in Kharkiv.51

Donetsk

47. Located about 120 miles to the east of Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk is a major city of slightly more than one million inhabitants. It is the leading urban area of

49 See p. 34. 50 Other Jews in Kharkiv with whom the writer has spoken also think that local authorities observe Arab students very closely. 51 On at least one visit to Iraq in the 1990s, Mr. Orshansky was accompanied by Yuri Ayzenberg, a scientist at Khartron, a Kharkov firm known for its ability to design missile guidance systems.


the Donbas (Don River basin), an area whose economy is based on overworked and underproducing coal mines, which are plagued by frequent disasters. The local economy is concentrated on mining and related heavy metallurgical and chemical industries. Donetsk also is an important political center in Ukrainian national politics, exceed in influence only by Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk. The local Jewish population probably numbers about 14,000, although some local Jewish community activists believe it is much higher and some Israeli observers consider it to be somewhat lower. A number of smaller Jewish population centers also exist in Donetsk oblast, several with 20 or fewer Jews. 48. Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski, a Chabad rabbi from Israel, arrived in Donetsk eight years ago. He is considered one of the most effective community rabbis in the post-Soviet states, having established several local Jewish institutions and a local fundraising base. In common with Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki of Dnipropetrovsk, Rabbi Vishedski is nurturing a community philanthropic organization. Forty-five individuals are members of the board of this group, said Rabbi Vishedski, each contributing between $100 and $3,000 monthly to the work of the community. They meet once each month to consider various community issues and philanthropic allocations. It is important for him in a moral sense, said Rabbi Vishedski, to have partners; it is reassuring to him that local Jews under-stand that they have an obligation to help other Jews. It is more important, he continued, that these individuals be leaders than be religiously observant; they must take responsibility and make decisions about what is needed in the Jewish community. These donors have their responsibilities and he, as rabbi, has his responsibilities. His teacher in such matters, he acknowledged, is Rabbi Kaminezki. Rabbi Pinchas Vishedski is considered one of the most effective community rabbis in the post-Soviet states. (Photo: Chabad) In cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Jewish community publishes a monthly general newspaper, Наша жизнь в диаспора и дома (Our Life in the Diaspora and At Home).52 The religious community also publishes its own weekly bulletin, Борух Ашем (Boruch Hashem), which features the weekly Torah portion, explanations of religious holidays, articles about Hasidism, and

52 See p. 3.


announcements about upcoming events in the community. Another form of community media is the website, http://www.jewish.donetsk.ua. Currently available only in Russian, an English-language version is being prepared. In discussing various programs in the community, Rabbi Vishedsky noted that the synagogue, which has been extensively remodeled in a modern style, prepares 900 meals each day. Four hundred are served to Jewish elderly in a large synagogue dining hall, and another 500 are prepared for home delivery in cooperation with the hesed. The community operates its own rachamim or charitable fund, meeting every Monday to consider requests for emergency assistance. Among the most common allocations are those for surgery, other medical care, and shoes. A new Jewish community center will be developed in a building close to the synagogue. Its premises will include an ORT computer center. Regarding emigration, Rabbi Vishedski stated, “The place of Jews in our time is in Israel. Israel is waiting for them.” Therefore, he works closely with the Jewish Agency for Israel (see below) in encouraging aliyah. If local Jews are afraid to go to Israel because of the current violence in the country, he tells them to wait six to eight months and then make aliyah. If circumstances prevent middle-age people from leaving Donetsk, he advises them to send their children. He has made arrangements with authorities in Mariupol, a city on the Black Sea, for local Jews making aliyah to ship extra luggage through the Mariupol port to Israel. Rabbi Vishedski said that he opposes the emigration of local Jews to Germany, but many go there despite his advice. Once they decide to move to Germany and he is certain that he cannot persuade them to change their minds, he advises them to settle in large cities where some Jewish infrastructure exists. However, because German authorities assign immigrants to different areas in the country, it often is difficult for people to settle in major urban areas. Wherever they settle, he helps them to make connections with Chabad emissaries in the region. Two years ago, said Rabbi Vishedski, the community opened a new Jewish cemetery. Security is present 24 hours a day. 49. Along with his local responsibilities, Rabbi Vishedski supervises kashrut for Chabad in Ukraine. With the assistance of another rabbi, he has overseen the establishment of factory sections producing kosher dairy products and cereals. Chabad also supervises the raising and slaughter of chickens according to kashrut. The availability of locally produced kosher food has reduced costs for Jewish schools and other Jewish institutions in Ukraine, which earlier were forced to import such items from Israel or other countries.


50. The Ohr Menachem Jewish day school (School #99) was established in 1996 by Rabbi Vishedski. It enrolled 300 youngsters during the 2001-2002 school year in grades one through ten. The first eleventh grade class will graduate in 2003. The school is housed in a large school building formerly used as a regular public school. School grounds are extensive, allowing ample space for outdoor sports and even a school garden. Ohr Menachem offers a strong secular education as well as four classes each week in Hebrew language instruction, two classes in Jewish tradition, and one in the weekly Torah portion. Kabbalat Shabbat is celebrated every Friday as are all Jewish and Ukrainian holidays. Five teachers from Israel, three of whom are paid by the Israeli Ministry of Education, teach most of the Hebrew and Jewish studies classes. According to Elena M. Vyadkina, the school principal, pupils are divided into two sections in most subjects to accommodate youngsters of different skill levels. Ohr Menachem pupils have done very well in local and national competitions in mathematics, chemistry, and computer technology. Ms. Vyadkina said that all teachers are highly qualified, many with advanced degrees in the sub-jects that they teach. Several teachers have been awarded “teacher of the year” recognition by the Donetsk municipality. Pupils work in the school garden during a mid-day break from academic classes. The school has one large computer classroom equipped by ORT. Computer instruction appears sophisticated; older pupils maintain a Russian-language school website, which can be accessed at http://www.jew-school.dn.ua. The art program at Ohr Menachem is one of the most creative and sophisticated that the writer has seen in Ukraine. Examples of student art are visible on the walls of the school and in a display area near the art studio. The school building is open on Sundays for a variety of school clubs and activities, including sports and advanced computer studies. Another activity is a hesed club for high school students who visit with Jewish elderly in the city.


Youngsters collect tzedakah to purchase fresh fruit and small gifts for the seniors whom they visit. Boys and girls may join separate dance ensembles that practice in a special large choreography room. Additionally, a boys’ choir has performed in Ukraine

and Russia. A weekly student newspaper publishes school news and articles intended to teach families about Jewish tradition. The boys at left paused on a staircase in the school to examine an exhibit entitled “The History of My Family.” Several pupils had created family trees, illustrated with photos of ancestors.

51. A yeshiva katana program enrolled 23 boys between the ages of 11 and 15 during the 2001-2002 school year. A machon at Ohr Menachem enrolled 18 girls in third and fifth grades. Both the yeshiva and machon are expected to grow as their current pupils become older and new students join these programs. 52. On a more advanced level, a yeshiva enrolls 18 young men in classes held in the synagogue. The yeshiva is considered “serious” by Jewish educators in other Ukrainian cities, offering a high standard of learning. About 10 young women were enrolled in a separate religious education program. 53. Aware that many pupils in the school were at risk from stressful family conditions, Rabbi Vishedski oversees a residential program that enrolled 30 youngsters during the 2001-2002 school year. Twenty-three boys lived in three rented apartments and seven girls lived in a fourth apartment. A dormitory building housing 40 boys in rooms for two to four youngsters was nearing completion during the writer’s visit and was expected to open in May; a home for girls is being planned, but serious steps toward its implementation have not yet been initiated. 54. A Chabad community of ten families now exists in Donetsk, each involved in one or another Jewish institution. Although the Jewish population of several


other Ukrainian cities is greater, Donetsk appears to have the second largest Chabad population in Ukraine, following that of Dnipropetrovsk. 55. Hesed Tsedakah provides various services to about 6,500 elderly Jews in Donetsk oblast (region), of whom 3,260 reside in the city itself. According to Yosif Khasin, its director, the hesed serves hot meals to more than 1,300 elderly Jews in Donetsk alone at nine sites, including the synagogue and eight restaurants under contract to the hesed. The hesed also operates 14 warm homes, each accommodating 15 people. These programs could be expanded many times to meet existing needs, said Mr. Khasin, but funds are not available to do so. In addition to nutrition services, the hesed distributes medicines and medical implements. Eighty-seven patronage workers in Donetsk and the oblast help clients in their own homes with such tasks as cleaning, bathing, cooking, and running errands. In addition to caring for Jewish elderly, Hesed Tsedakah also operates a Mazel Tov program for children from birth to pre-school age. Ninety children and families are enrolled in this program, said Mr. Khasin. Mr. Khasin himself is well-respected among Jews in Donetsk. Some in the Jewish community expressed concern about his ability to continue in his work in the future as he is more than 70 years old. In addition to managing the hesed, Mr. Khasin is a published writer of prose, poetry, songs, and instrumental music. The photo of hesed director Iosif Khasin is from the frontispiece of his latest book, Симфония души (Symphony of the Soul), which was published in Donetsk in 2001. 56. The Jewish Agency for Israel maintains a representation in Donetsk managed by Alex Shapiro. Given the smaller number of Jews who live in the region, the Donetsk office is smaller than JAFI offices in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv. Mr. Shapiro estimates that 10,000 Jews live in the city of Donetsk and that another 10,000 live in smaller cities in Donetsk oblast. In common with other


areas in Ukraine, aliyah has decreased because of the current violence in Israel. Additionally, said Mr. Shapiro, the local economy has stabilized somewhat, thus diminishing local anxiety about remaining in the area. Nonetheless, he believes that aliyah will increase as soon as terror attacks abate in Israel. Eight families came in to the JAFI office on one day for aliyah consultation recently, a large number for the local Jewish population. In addition to the JAFI office in Donetsk, another eight offices, each headed by a local person, are located elsewhere in the oblast. Between 600 and 650 people are studying Hebrew in 36 groups in various JAFI ulpans, said Mr. Shapiro. All ulpans include Jewish identity components in their curriculum. The Donetsk JAFI office also is able to provide computer instruction in its own six-workstation computer room. Among the various JAFI clubs and other activities, the youth club probably is the most successful. In addition to Donetsk, successful youth clubs operate in Mariupol, Artemovsk, and Slavyansk. Continuing to speak about the younger generation, Mr. Shapiro said that JAFI will operate four camp sessions enrolling a total of 550 children this summer. It also will provide some assistance to Rabbi Vishedski for his own summer camp. Both Na’aleh and Selah, the high school and university programs in Israel, are very popular among local Jewish youth, said Mr. Shapiro. The kibbutz ulpan is popular among young adults. Many families like the Kehilla program on religious kibbutzim for adolescents. In response to a question, Mr. Shapiro said that many non-religious families are attracted to this program because the religious kibbutzim impose stricter rules on teenagers, such as separating boys and girls, and that the level of academic instruction is very high on several religious kibbutzim. In addition to cooperation with Rabbi Vishedski regarding the rabbi’s summer camp, JAFI and the synagogue community also jointly publish a monthly Jewish newspaper.53 JAFI sponsored major celebrations commemorating Israel Independence Day in Donetsk and several other cities in the oblast. Attendance at these events was very good, said Mr. Shapiro. Regarding antisemitism, Mr. Shapiro spoke of a demonstration by Palestinian medical students on April 11 in which Palestinians accused Ariel Sharon of killing Palestinian children. Mr. Shapiro appeared on television two days later to respond to these charges. Rumors in the city led Mr. Shapiro and others to believe that local fascists would hold an anti-Jewish demonstration on April 21, Hitler’s birthday, so special security was posted at the JAFI office, synagogue,

53 See p. 3.


and other buildings associated with the Jewish population. However, no demonstrations occurred. Perhaps the additional security measures persuaded the fascists to change their plans, said Mr. Shapiro.

Zaporizhya 57. The city of Zaporizhya (known until 1921 as Aleksandrovsk) is the administrative center of Zaporizhya oblast, which lies immediately south of Dnipropetrovsk oblast. The cities of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhya are about 50 miles apart. Zaporizhya was established in the late sixteenth century by roving bands of local Cossacks known as Zaporizhya Cossacks. Their descendants remain in the area today, although they are less numerous and less well known than the Don Cossacks to the east and Kuban Cossacks to the southeast. Extensive deposits of lignite as well as electricity generated by a hydroelectric station on the Dnipr River supported development of an economy based on metallurgy, chemicals, and transportation equipment. In common with other centers of heavy industry in the post-Soviet transition states, much of this enterprise is obsolescent and currently non-operative. Agricultural production (especially winter wheat, corn, and potatoes) in the oblast sustains a food processing industry. The current population of the city of Zaporizhya is approximately 880,000, including 5,600 to 8,000 Jews. Jewish emigration, predominantly to Israel, is substantial, reflecting the economic distress afflicting the city. 58. Rabbi Nochum Ehrentroi, a Chabad hasid from Israel, came to Zaporizhya in 1996 in a dual capacity of community rabbi and JDC representative in the city. JDC had renovated a large synagogue building, which includes a spacious prayer hall, several smaller halls and classrooms, offices, a kitchen, and a dining hall accommodating 100 people. In 1998, JDC abruptly ceased payment of Rabbi Ehrentroi’s salary in response to budgetary pressures. However, Rabbi Ehrentroi remained in the city and continued to work on behalf of the local Jewish community, dependent upon the salary of his wife, a teacher at the local day school. After several months, the Federation of Jewish Communities (Chabad) assumed responsibility for Rabbi Ehrentroi’s salary, as JDC doubtless assumed that it would. 59. The school at which Mrs. Ehrentroi taught is Gymnasium Alef, an Israeli-government sponsored school whose principal, a local Jewish woman with ties to the Ukrainian security service, is strongly anti-Zionist and anti-religious. Israeli officials and other individuals who have tried to replace the principal have been


unsuccessful, leaving Israeli government representatives in an awkward and often defensive situation.54 According to Israeli officials, about 300 youngsters currently are enrolled in Gymnasium Alef. 60. Mrs. Ehrentroi left Gymnasium Alef in 2000, establishing a Chabad school with a current enrollment of about 145 children in grades one through seven.55 An eighth grade class will open next fall, and additional grade levels will be established as pupils grow older. Less than a year after its opening, the school had achieved an outstanding reputation for the strength of both its secular and

Judaic studies programs. It also offers multiple extra-curricular activities, including choirs, dance groups, and sports. Dina Ehrentroi, Rabbi Nochum Ehrentroi, and school Principal Anatoly Rifkind are seated in the main Judaic studies room at the Chabad school. (Photo taken in 2001.)

Strongly Zionist in orientation, the school is known in Zaporizhya as the “Israeli school,” notwithstanding the reality that only Gymnasium Alef receives Israeli government funding. Mrs. Ehrentroi proudly pointed out that 14 pupils at the Chabad school had emigrated to Israel with their parents during the school year. 61. Renovation is underway in one wing of the school to develop a dormitory for 45 youngsters. Due to open in September 2002, the residential program will accommodate boys and girls on separate floors. Some youngsters in the dormitory will be from troubled family situations in Zaporizhya or the region, and others will be from functional families in small towns where educational opportunities are limited. World Jewish Relief, a British organization, is providing funding for building renovation and certain other costs.

54 See p. 37. 55 Upon opening of the Chabad school in September 2000, individuals associated with Gymnasium Alef mounted a campaign to force its closure and to provoke a demand for revocation of the Ukrainian visas of Rabbi and Mrs. Ehrentroi. Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, flew into the city with 14 other rabbis in a chartered aircraft in a show of support for the Ehrentrois and the new school. Rabbi Kaminezki in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk applied additional pressure on behalf of the Ehrentois. The attacks ended.


62. Hesed Mikhail is located in a basement suite of rooms. Access is gained only by a steep flight of stairs. The writer met with Anatoly Shveld, Hesed Mikhail president, and Validmir Borak, its executive director. Mr. Borak said that the hesed was founded in 1996 and currently serves 2,800 clients in Zaporizhya and at 34 points outside the city. In all, 181 clients reside in these 34 small towns and villages. Its food program is extensive, said Mr. Borak. Not a single Jewish old person in Zaporizhya oblast, he asserted, searches in a garbage bin (мусорный ящик) for food. A dining service feeds 350 people six days each week, using two community sites (the synagogue and the Chabad day school) and three restaurants under contract to the hesed. An additional 130 people receive synagogue-prepared meals delivered to their homes. About 1,500 people receive food parcels every month. Mr. Borak continued that 300 clients receive home help with such tasks as bathing, cleaning, and cooking. Almost 100 clients in small villages receive special winter help, including delivery of coal, gas balloons, linens, blankets, and warm clothing. Between 400 and 600 individuals, he said, receive free medicines from the hesed. A day center at the hesed serves six groups of 15 individuals each who come to the hesed twice each month for two meals and a day-long schedule of activities. Another day program is offered for handicapped children, who come to the hesed twice each month; a special effort is made to offer these children programs related to Jewish holidays, said Mr. Borak. When asked by the writer how handicapped children and frail elderly are able to manage the steep stairs at the entrance to the hesed, Mr. Borak said that children are carried down or up the stairs and that frail elderly just learn to manage. A hesed client pauses at the bottom of steep stairs at the entrance to the hesed. The hesed installed sturdy handrails in the stair case. The sign at the foot of the stairs identifies the premises as the Hesed Mikhail Charitable Fund. In addition to the hesed’s own premises, Hesed Mikhail rents a larger facility for a seniors club that is open twice weekly. About 100 elderly Jews can be accommodated in this space for various holiday celebrations, films, and other


programs. The hesed also publishes its own newspaper and sponsors various interest groups, including a choir. Hesed Yeladim is a group of 30 youngsters between the ages of 11 and 16 from both Gymnasium Alef and the Chabad school, continued Mr. Borak. They visit elderly Jews on Fridays and before holidays to socialize with them, sing sons, and bring presents. Mr. Borak stated that the hesed enjoys very good relations with local authorities. In 1999, it won a special government award for its charitable work, the first Jewish organization in all of the post-Soviet states to be so honored. In response to a question from the writer about possible replacement of its current depressing and difficult-to-access hesed premises, Mr. Borak and Mr. Shveld said that new premises had been obtained, but that this space requires substantial renovation. The two men hoped that JDC would find sponsors to support the necessary work. In a later discussion with Rabbi Menachem Lepkivker, the JDC Representative for Dnipropetrovsk and the surrounding area, including Zaporizhya, the writer learned that JDC had purchased a new building some 1,200 square meters in size for a new hesed and Jewish community center in Zaporizhya. The facility is centrally located, easily accessible, and will be ready for occupancy in winter 2003. Architectural work for necessary renovations was just beginning, said Rabbi Lepkivker. The Nigel Ross family of Great Britain is providing financial support for the purchase and renovation of this property through World Jewish Relief.56 63. Until the new premises are available, the JDC-supported Jewish community center in Zaporizhya is located in a warren of 16 small rooms above several stores. Steep stairways would seem to deter participation by handicapped individuals and frail elderly. Inessa Nosenko, Director, and Igor Levenshtein, Deputy Director, said that the JCC was established two years ago. It operates the Mazel Tov program for children from birth to age three, and clubs for children and adolescents. Youngsters age 16 and older may enroll in a program designed to develop leadership. Another activity for teens is an English-language club. Other interest groups include a family club, a theater group, several musical groups, and Jewish tradition classes (with an instructor trained by Aish Hatorah). In all, about 1,000 people participate in Jewish community center programs, said Ms. Nosenko and Mr. Levenshtein. About 200 will come for special programs, such as holiday celebrations. Apparently unaware of JDC plans to relocate the JCC in the new facilities described above, Ms. Nosenko and Mr. Levenshtein said that the current

56 Apparently, the hesed management in Zaporizhya had not yet been informed that a commitment had been secured for renovation of the property.


premises require substantial renovations. They stated that the JCC also needs musical instruments and costumes for drama productions and holiday celebrations. In response to a question, the two professional staff members said that no local individuals make substantial contributions to the JCC.

Krivyy Rih (Krivoi Rog, Krivyy Rig)

64. Although the Ukrainian government strongly encourages the Ukrainianization of all Ukrainian place names, the Russian name of Krivoi Rog continues to be more commonly used than is Krivyy Rih, the Ukrainian equivalent. However, some seem to have settled on Krivyy Rig as a compromise. The city was founded in the 17th century as a Cossack village, but expanded rapidly in the late 19th century following discovery and exploitation of high-grade iron ore deposits in the area. Krivyy Rig stretches some 60 kilometers (38 miles) in length, connecting numerous mining sites, many of them now inactive. Production of iron and steel, chemicals, and engineering equipment dominate its economic base. Krivyy Rig is located approximately 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Dnipropetrovsk. Its general population is about 715,000. 65. The Jewish population of the city is estimated by local Jews to be about 15,000, a number that almost certainly is too high. The extreme linear nature of Krivyy Rig has impeded development of a sense of community among local Jews. Rabbi Liron Edri and his wife Ziva, Israelis associated with Chabad, arrived in the city in late summer of 2001. They are beginning to provide responsible leadership in a Jewish population center long dependent on an abrasive local individual unable to work collaboratively with others. Rabbi and Mrs. Liron Edri arrived in Krivyy Rig less than one year ago, and have introduced more respon-sible leadership into the Jewish community. Among their accom-plishments is the opening of a Jewish day school in the city.


66. The Ohr Avner Jewish day school opened in February 2002 after major renovations to the building it currently occupies, a former preschool. Notwithstanding the midyear opening, 35 youngsters enrolled in grades one through seven, and another 16 enrolled in a preschool program that meets in the same facility. Rabbi Edri said that he expects an enrollment of 150 youngsters in grades one through ten and 30 preschoolers in September 2002. A tour through the building and a discussion with school administrators demon-strated that significant additional changes to the premises must be effected before it is suitable for older pupils. The original facility was built as a preschool with low ceilings, no sports hall, and no large rooms for school gatherings. The school also lacks computers, science laboratories, and a library. To establish a basic communications capacity in the school, administrators brought telephones from home. On a superficial level, the school appears unattractive. Rabbi Edri explained that Ohr Avner (funded by Levi Levayev) provided very little financial support for renovations and that he (Rabbi Edri) has not had time to develop funding sources. World Jewish Relief of England has taken an interest in the Krivyy Rig Jewish community, particularly the hesed, but it is not certain that their concern extends to the school. Regarding Jewish education, all pupils in the school have three classes each week in Hebrew instruction and another three classes in a combination of Jewish tradition and Jewish history. The Jewish studies classes are taught by two young women who are graduates of Beit Chana in Dnipropetrovsk. Rabbi Edri says that he is very pleased with their work. 67. A single building serves as the hesed, Jewish community museum, Jewish community center, and synagogue. Hesed Chana was established in 1991. It currently serves 2,200 clients who live throughout the length of this very linear city and in a number of small villages in the region. The hesed offers the usual services, including medical consultations, rental of medical implements, several clubs, and a laundry service for those unable to do their own laundry. A day center accommodates five groups of ten people each; the different groups come to the center twice each month. Although meals are provided at the day center, the activity that seems to appeal most to clients is socializing with other people, said hesed staff. Patronage workers assist 350 homebound clients with bathing, cleaning, cooking, and running errands. A museum chronicles the history of Jewish life in the region, emphasizing World War II and the Holocaust. Ten thousand Jews were killed in the Holocaust in the area; most of them were shot at the edge of old iron mines so that their bodies would tumble into the pits and mine shafts. The museum also displays information about Ingulets, a one-time Jewish settlement in the area. A number of artifacts from various periods in Jewish history are on display.


The Jewish community center offers clubs for children, youth, and adults. Among the most popular are various music and dance groups. Several hundred people attend cultural programs, a figure that shocked Rabbi Edri when he arrived in the city less than one year previously; prior to his arrival, he said, he assumed that few people were interested in Jewish life and that many of those who might be interested would be frightened to be seen at a Jewish gathering. A library at the JCC is located in a fairly large room, but the librarian complained that it had very few Jewish books. A makeshift synagogue currently occupies one room at the JCC. Rabbi Edri is trying to obtain a separate building for the synagogue.

Observations 68. The severe budget cuts applied by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to its operations in the post-Soviet states in recent months have had a harsh impact on local Jewish elderly, many of whom are dependent on Dzhoint for food, medicine, socializing opportunities, and other services. Adding to the gravity of the situation is the insensitive manner in which JDC communicated or, in many cases, failed to communicate, the reasons for such cutbacks to clientele and to staff as well. Equally, the Joint Distribution Committee has failed to inform Jewish Federations and other supporters in the West in a coherent and comprehensive manner about these budget changes. 69. The vision of Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki in opening an assisted living center for Jewish elderly in Dnipropetrovsk stands in sharp contrast to the budget cuts implemented in services to Jewish elderly by the JDC. Although it may have been advisable for the Jewish community in Dnipropetrovsk to have enlisted the advice of experienced Western professionals in this field, the staff of Beit Baruch Assisted Living Facility is learning on the job, admitting residents in small groups on an incremental basis as knowledge is acquired and applied. Subsidized Jewish community housing for Jewish elderly is a reality in the United States, Great Britain, Israel, and other countries. In the post-Soviet states, especially, the proportion of elderly Jews requiring such service is exceptionally high, reflecting the painful history of Jewish life in this region. The horrendous losses inflicted by Stalinist terror, World War II, and the Holocaust have left many older Jews without family. Even those who managed to lead reasonably normal lives surrounded by family and friends in their younger years now find themselves alone as contemporaries have died and more youthful and ambitious family members have left the country in search of better lives abroad. The harshness of life for the older generation is made even more dismal by


inadequate pensions, unfavorable housing conditions, poor medical care, and a dysfunctional welfare system. The assisted living center for Jewish elderly now operating in Dnipropetrovsk and similar housing under development by Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich in Kyiv constitute a major advance in addressing the needs of elderly Jews in these two cities and their surroundings. In time, perhaps other Jewish communities in Ukraine and in Russia will find the resources to develop comparable facilities. (It will be recalled that Boris Murashkovsky, Director of the Hesed in Kharkiv, has identified a need for such housing in his city.)57 As in the United States and other countries, institutional support will be required for such programs. 70. The identification of good educational environments in Ukraine is difficult, at least for Westerners, because several of the traditional markers commonly used in the United States and other Western countries are inapplicable. Expansion of such judgments to include the character of local Jewish education presents even greater challenges. Nonetheless, a visitor to the Chabad schools in Donetsk and Zaporizhya may perceive that children in these programs are being well educated in almost every dimension under the direction of particularly wise and caring adults. High standards of education are evident in discussions with administrators and teachers and in the classrooms of their buildings. Both of these schools are developing incrementally, adding one grade level each year; Donetsk will graduate its first group of school-leavers only in 2003, Zaporizhya will do the same several years later. In all Jewish day schools in the post-Soviet states, educators must struggle with the reality that most pupils come from homes in which parents are ignorant of Judaism. Further, many families are unstable and/or impoverished, attracted to rabbi-directed schools in part by the security and welfare assistance that is provided in these schools along with a formal education. The Jewish education components in many such schools are superficial, often deliberately so in an effort to avoid overwhelming, and possibly antagonizing, families with lifestyle suggestions that are alien to them. Options for more intensive Jewish education and for various informal Jewish education activities are available in many communities from schools or other sources. Zionism, too, is an issue. Many, perhaps the majority of, rabbis in Ukraine are convinced that future of Judaism and Jewish life in the country is questionable at best because the level of intermarriage exceeds 70 percent in almost every Ukrainian city. Therefore, they are eager to encourage Jewish families and their children to emigrate to Israel, notwithstanding the current situation in Zion. Despite the complexity of these issues, some schools appear to be successful in forming a coherent approach to resolving them and, in the process, building a generation of young Jews far better equipped to be active Jews than are their parents.

57 See pp. 51-52.


71. Many observers consider eastern Ukraine to be the strongest Jewish region in all of the post-Soviet states. In a purely objective sense, the presence of moderately large Jewish populations (in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv) and midsize Jewish populations (Donetsk, Krivyy Rig, Zaporizhya) in a relatively compact area provide a solid foundation for the development of Jewish life in this region. Both the concentration of Jewish population and the importance of Chabad history in this section of Ukraine have combined to attract several unusually gifted rabbis to its cities. Under the direction of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad sent its stronger candidates to eastern Ukraine because the Rebbe himself and other Chabad luminaries had labored there in building local Jewish life prior to World War II. The Rebbe died in 1994, but a certain dynamic persists and eastern Ukraine continues to generate talented rabbinic leadership. Distance from a national capital and the rivalries and intrigues that often attend organizational life in such an environment encourage rabbis and other prominent Jews to retain reason and common sense. The location of Chabad headquarters in Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk, rather than in the capital city of Kyiv, has strengthened both Chabad and Ukrainian Jewish life generally. 72. National Jewish leadership in Russia remains riven by public discord and is subject to undue pressure from both government and commercial interests, National Jewish leadership in Ukraine is more judicious and independent. It also is bifurcated, technically centered in Kyiv, but increasingly emanating from Dnipropetrovsk as well. Both the sheer number of communities (21) in Ukraine led by Chabad rabbis and the talent exhibited by many of them suggest that Chabad will accrue power simply by continuing to exist.58 Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a Karlin-Stolin hasid who is the designated Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, is respected both nationally and internationally, but he has been unable to build an effective leadership instrument on a national level. His frequent absences from Kyiv (to represent Ukrainian Jewry in one or another international forum) have reduced his visibility in Kyiv and Ukraine and curtailed his ability to develop the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, the national organization that he initiated, into an effective representation for Ukrainian Jewry. Equally important has been the reluctance of Chabad rabbis, fearing loss of support from Levi Levayev, to participate in a national Ukrainian Jewish endeavor led by a non-Chabad rabbi. The result of Mr. Levayev’s self-absorption has been a national Jewish leadership vacuum in Ukraine into which has stepped the 58 Chabad will assign rabbis to two additional cities in the near future and a third rabbinic placement awaits funding. See p. 31. The next largest group of rabbis in Ukraine consists of two adherents of Karlin-Stolin hasidism, Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich of Kyiv and Rabbi Mordechai Bold of Lviv.


rogue oligarch Vadym Rabynovych, leader of United Jewish Community of Ukraine, an organization that he himself established. Mr. Rabynovych, whose criminal activities have led to his banishment from the United States and other countries, would be unable to assume a national leadership role without the effective inadvertent endorsement of Levi Levayev. Betsy Gidwitz June 18, 2002 Unless otherwise indicated, all photos and translations are by the writer.

Documents

JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE.April 2002 · JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN EASTERN UKRAINE Report of a Visit April 12-28, 2002 This report reviews a visit by the writer to eastern