notes on jewish community life in ukraine.may 2001 · notes on jewish community life in ukraine may...

Betsy Gidwitz Copyright © 2007

NOTES ON JEWISH COMMUNITY LIFE IN UKRAINE

May 2001

This report reviews a visit to Ukraine from April 30 to May 17, 2001. The author traveled to Jewish communities in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhya, and Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, and to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in the central part of the country. The Jewish population centers in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kharkiv are three of the four largest in the country.1

Even in the best of times, post-Soviet Ukraine has been a country in crisis, its society blighted by pervasive corruption and a severely dysfunctional government. Its President has vast and unrestrained powers, including the

authority to appoint a prime minister, other ministers, regional (oblast)2 governors, and numerous judges. He also is empowered to issue various economic regulations. The Ukrain-ian parliament (Rada), is split into three blocs of approximately equal strength and often ap-pears paralyzed, unable to enact the reforms so critical to modernization of the country.3

1 Ukrainian orthography is used in the spelling of Ukrainian place-names. 2 An oblast (область) is an administrative region in Ukraine (and Russia) with authority between that of a county and a state in the United States. Ukraine contains 26 oblasts, two of which are cities with oblast status; these are the capital city of Kyiv and the military district/seaport of Sevastopol. Kyiv oblast refers to territory surrounding Kyiv, not the city itself. (Crimea has the status of a republic within Ukraine.) 3 The three blocs are (1) a reformist group openly hostile to President Kuchma, (2) a group of wealthy individuals, often referred to as oligarchs, who support President Kuchma, and (3) Communists and other anti-Western leftists. N.B., an oligarch is a member of a small group of wealthy individuals who exercise control over a government, usually for corrupt or selfish purposes. In Ukraine, oligarchs control critical industries, such as energy and news media.


In September 2000, an online investigative jour-nalist who had dared criticize corruption in the highest levels of the Ukrainian government, disappeared. Two months later, the headless corpse of Heorhiy Gongadze, the journalist, was found in a field near Kyiv. Scarcely a few weeks later, the scandal assumed extraordinary proportions when it was announced that audiotapes of conversations in President Kuchma’s office suggested the complicity of Mr. Kuchma and additional key government officials in the disappearance and death of Mr. Gongadze. The tapes also referred to government kickbacks to politicians and businessmen, government plans to intimidate the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the U.S.-funded Radio Liberty, and Presidential intentions to interfere in several ongoing criminal investigations. The head of the government tax administration is heard reporting that he is concealing a multi-million dollar tax fraud case of a friendly oligarch. The contents of the tapes generated significant popular opposition to President Kuchma, expressed in public demonstrations in Kyiv, but the demonstrations soon sputtered under government harassment and media suppression. Mr. Kuchma has retained the support of key oligarchs, including several strongly identified with the Jewish community, throughout this period. In October, President Kuchma abruptly dismissed Borys Tarasyuk, the pro-Western foreign minister, and replaced him with an individual more kindly disposed toward Moscow. Mr. Kuchma declared that Ukraine required a more balanced approach in its foreign relations, i.e., a stronger association with Russia. Russian companies have proceeded to purchase Ukrainian firms in privatization auctions, some of them rigged. Among the corporations coming under Russian control are oil refineries, aluminum plants, banks, and Ukrainian broadcast media. Ukraine is dependent on Russia for its entire supply of oil and gas. In April, Ukrainian oligarchs joined with Communists to form a majority in the Rada that forced the ouster of Victor Yushchenko, the liberal Prime Minister. A popular figure perceived as honest, Mr. Yushchenko had supported various government reforms that would have curbed the power of oligarchs and encouraged the free markets that are anathema to Communists. In the 16 months of his tenure as Prime Minister, Mr. Yushchenko had restructured Ukraine’s foreign debt, eased its domestic debt, eliminated arrears in wages and pensions, reduced the role of barter in the economy, presided over the first solid growth in the Ukrainian economy since independence in 1991, trimmed tax breaks for favored companies, and encouraged transparency in financial reporting, especially in the enormously corrupt energy industry.4

4 See the interview with U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual, pp. 75 to 77.


On May 10, Russia announced that its new Ambassador to Ukraine and concurrent “plenipotentiary envoy for trade and cooperation” would be Victor Chernomyrdin, the former Russian Prime Minister (1992-1998). Prior to becoming Prime Minister of Russia, Mr. Chernomyrdin had been the head of Gazprom, the Russian natural gas monopoly. He has close ties to Mr. Kuchma and to prominent oligarchs. Among his priorities will be the management of Ukrainian debt, estimated at between $1.4 and $2 billion, to Russia for natural gas. Russia also is concerned about Ukrainian tapping of gas from Gazprom pipelines to Europe that pass through Ukraine. On a broader scale, the aims of Russia appear to be: control of the Ukrainian gas transit system, which transports Russian gas to Europe; linkage of the Ukrainian electrical power system with that of Russia, thus enabling Russian control of Ukrainian energy-generating capacity; and acceleration of privatization of Ukrainian industry by Russian capital. Russia will be able to control the Ukrainian economy without engaging in the politically inexpedient actual absorption of Ukraine. Leading Jewish oligarchs are perceived as favoring greater Russian influence. Several control influential Ukrainian media, which have supported the Russian moves and have suppressed critical reporting. Most have major economic interests in Russia. Several Western governments have withdrawn support for Mr. Kuchma and have restricted high-level contacts with Ukrainian political figures. Fearing instability, Western investors are inactive. The critical reforms that Western governments and international economic organizations have been urging Ukraine to adopt seem more unlikely with each passing month. These are: encouragement of independent media and civic groups; reduction in Presidential power; judicial independence; increased authority of investigative bodies; development of a system of checks and balances; and promotion of transparency in all financial transactions. For many Ukrainians, such concepts are incomprehensible. They remain provincial in their thinking, prisoners of their long history of subservience to rule by others. It is mainly the intellectual elite and those with access to unbiased news on the Internet who seem to understand the crisis in which their country is mired. The audiotapes that implicate President Kuchma and other government officials in the disappearance and murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze are laced with antisemitism, as is much of Ukrainian daily conversation, even in intellectual circles. Whereas most intellectuals in Moscow are too sophisticated to be openly antisemitic, those in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities seem less constrained.


Should the current Ukrainian crisis worsen, the prominence of several Jewish oligarchs as supporters of President Kuchma may only exacerbate anti-Jewish bigotry.5

Dnipropetrovsk

1. The Jewish community of Dnipropetrovsk is reviewed in all of the writer’s previous reports about Ukrainian Jewry. Dnipropetrovsk (formerly Ekaterinoslav, in honor of Catherine the Great) is the third largest city in Ukraine, following Kyiv and Kharkiv; its current population is about 1.1 million. It was a closed city until mid-1990 due to its extensive military industry, particularly Yuzhmash, an enormous installation manufacturing intercontinental ballistic missiles, booster rockets, and related products. Historically, the city has been an important source of leadership for the former Soviet Union and for post-Soviet Ukraine. Leonid Brezhnev, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko, and current Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma all spent significant portions of their careers in important leadership positions in the city. Jews have lived in the area, part of the old Pale of Settlement, since the late eighteenth century. By 1897, the Jewish population of Ekaterinoslav had reached 41,240, more than one-third of the entire city at that time. Pogroms occurred in 1881, 1882, and 1905; the last was the most devastating, killing 67 and wounding more than 100 people. Prior to the consolidation of Soviet authority in the 1920s, the Jewish community was highly organized, maintaining a diverse network of Jewish religious, educational, and cultural institutions. It was an important center of both Zionism and the Chabad movement. A small Karaite community had its own prayer house. 2. Contemporary Jewish communal activity in Dnipropetrovsk is led by Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, the Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk and the central Jewish figure in eastern Ukraine. Rabbi Kaminezki is one of the most respected rabbis in all of the post-Soviet successor states. Politically astute and exceptionally successful in major local fundraising, he has built an unparalleled network of local Jewish institutions. Rabbi Kaminezki also is developing local Jewish leadership in the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Com-

5 Those Jewish oligarchs most often mentioned as close allies of President Kuchma are Victor Pinchuk, who is the common-law husband of Mr. Kuchma’s daughter, and Hrihory Surkis. Mr. Pinchuk owns Interpipe, which manufactures seamless steel pipes, and also deals in gas. Additionally, he controls several important news outlets. Mr. Surkis is best known as the owner of the Kyiv Dynamo soccer team. He also controls the Slavutych holding company (oil, electricity, metals) and has interests in Ukrainian media. Both men are strongly identified with the Jewish community.


munity (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины). The Jewish population of the city is probably about 35,000. 3. Whereas the central event for the Jewish community in Dnipropetrovsk in 2000 was the opening of the newly renovated Golden Rose Choral Synagogue,6 the current year has seen the activation of a Jewish Community Center directly behind and to the left of the synagogue. The principal funder of the JCC was Joseph Gurwin of New York, in memory of his late wife, Rosalind, whose family roots were in the city. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) also made a significant contribution to the building. The four-story structure includes a large multi-purpose room and community library, a computer center, and a café on the ground floor. The second floor accommodates the offices of Rabbi Kaminezki and several community organizations. The third and fourth floors include classrooms and activity centers for various JCC programs. An elevator serves all floors. The Rosalind Gurwin Jewish Community Center is a welcome addition to Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community life. It is adjacent to and stretches in back of the Golden Rose Synagogue (the three-story building on the right). Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki hopes to obtain additional land to the left of the wall for a monument to those who perished in the Holocaust, recognition of righteous gentiles, and additional community buildings. A community library and multipurpose room in the JCC are shown at right.

6 See the writer’s A September Journey to Ukraine, September 2000, pp. 5-7.


A weekly JCC schedule for May showed a multitude of activities, including: a Sunday school; music and dance classes for different age groups; klezmer groups; amateur theater groups; computer classes for various age groups; Open Jewish University; Hebrew classes; photography classes for different age groups; chess club; a literary club; Hillel activities; exercise and aerobics classes; self-defense classes; preschool activities; arts and crafts for different age groups; Jewish arts and crafts; ceramics classes; men’s club; women’s club; family club; discussion clubs for youth and adults on various topics; video club; hobby club; and Kabbalat Shabbat for different groups. Additionally, the Beit Baruch medical

clinic for seniors that was attached to the former synagogue main-tains a small office in the JCC. A computer room with 17 worksta-tions is located next to the library. The room is divided into two sections so that different groups can use it simultan-eously.

Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde, the independent support organization that reaches out to elderly Jews in Ukraine, has an office and storage facility in the semi-finished basement of the center. (See below.) Tkuma, the Dnipropetrovsk based Holocaust scientific-educational center, will develop space in a three-story section of the synagogue building to the right of the synagogue facility. Its premises will include a library, exhibition halls, auditorium, classrooms, and a research section. Tkumah staff already give


lectures several times each month at the JCC and also lead a Holocaust discussion club for youth at the JCC. (See below.) 4. 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 20 large towns and 40 smaller towns in eastern, central, and southern Ukraine.7 Its Dnipropetrovsk operations are directed by Yan Sidelkovsky, a respected individual who holds additional positions in the local Jewish community as well. The writer met with him and his wife, Tanya Sidelkovskaya, who also works for the organization, in their offices in the semi-finished basement of the JCC. Yan Sidelkovsky said that most seniors in area small towns receive monthly pensions of about $10, an amount that is inadequate for even the basic necessities of life. In some instances, Jewish elderly receive additional assistance from JDC-sponsored heseds (welfare centers). However, the heseds do not reach all small towns. Further, they provide very little food and they are unable to meet the specific needs of individual clients. Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde attempts to personalize the service offered to each individual, providing whatever is important to the specific client. For example, Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde will help the client obtain new eyeglasses or new winter shoes, if these are the priorities of the client. The program also provides food and basic medicines, such as aspirin and multivitamins. It helps elderly in applying to heseds for medical assistance, including medical implements (such as walkers). It also provides legal assistance when necessary, such as when swindlers try to force seniors out of their apartments. Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde is beginning a new project that will ask elderly to recall old Yiddish songs; these will be recorded so that they are not lost.8 The writer spoke with Inna Kruchinitskaya, the local coordinator from Smila, a town in Cherkasy oblast, who was in Dnipropetrovsk on a monthly visit to report on Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-a-Zayde operations and expenses in her area and to attend a conference. Smila is about 350 kilometers west of Dnipropetrovsk. According to Ms. Kruchinitskaya, the population of Smila is about 87,000, including 600 Jews.9 She reported that she assists 30 people between the ages

7 The program also operates in Moldova and Belarus, but this report deals only with the operations that are directed from its Dnipropetrovsk office. 8 Mr. Sidelkovsky is professionally trained in music. 9 If these figures are applied to Smila itself, probably both are somewhat high. However, it is possible that Ms. Kruchinitskaya was referring to Smila and to several even smaller towns in its surroundings.


of 63 and 94. She had received $100 from Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde, which she had converted to 545 grivna (Ukrainian currency) for the purchase of goods for a distribution related to Pesach. With these funds, she continued, she had been able to distribute chicken, matzot, fresh fruit, and jam to each of her clients. On other occasions, she said, she had purchased eyeglasses, clothing, shoes, and additional food. For those clients who live in rural areas and have access to land, she buys gardening tools and seed so that they can grow their own food. The program also provides canning jars and other supplies necessary for food preservation. Precise records are maintained of income, expenditures, and distributions. Additionally, Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde has files on all clients, and sends photos of clients and their letters of thanks to program donors. Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde holds periodic conferences at which local coordinators and other personnel are brought to a central site for a briefing on policies, lectures on specific issues, and distribution of medicines and other items. One such conference occurred in Dnipropetrovsk during the writer’s visit. Sixteen physicians and one local coordinator were present, all of them attentive. The speaker was a Russian-speaking cardiologist from New York, who informed participants about common cardiology conditions affecting elderly people and

about the effects of various medicines avail-able through Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde.10 Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, Chief Rabbi of Dnipropet-rovsk, welcomed Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde phy-sicians to a conference in Dnipropetrovsk.

10 Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde ships various medications into the post-Soviet states on a periodic basis. Most are non-prescription drugs, but some are prescription pharmaceuticals for specific conditions, such as high blood pressure or other conditions that are not difficult to diagnose. The organization works with local physicians who examine patients and recommend treatment.


Provision of services to Jewish elderly in the city of Dnipropetrovsk itself is managed by the JDC-sponsored hesed or through the Beit Baruch office in the JCC. Dr. Evgenia Cherkasskaya is the attending physician at Beit Baruch.11 5. The Beit Baruch Emergency Fund (Фонд Экстренной помощи) is supported by the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Com-munity (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины). Its director is 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. The Emergency Fund provides financial assistance for a variety of urgent needs, including surgery, nursing care, medical prescriptions, dental work, and funerals. It also pays for roof repairs, kindergarten fees (so that parents can work), and pension supplements (ongoing support). A formal, detailed application is required for all grants, and recipients must show receipts to attest that the designated work was done. Notwithstanding the requirement for a formal and detailed application, grants are made quickly, without bureaucracy. Meticulous records are kept. A sign on a bulletin board in the JCC reads:

The sages said that the Second Temple

11 Beit Baruch is a multi-service program for seniors that previously operated from the premises of the old synagogue. It is named after the father of an original donor. Dr. Cherkasskaya, retired from a position at a major clinic, is supported by a small pension and a larger subsidy from a son who is a successful local businessman. Her work at Beit Baruch is done on a volunteer basis. Michael Maisky, M.D., the visiting New York cardiologist, was severely critical of the Beit Baruch and hesed practice of employing recently retired or older practicing physicians. These individuals, said Dr. Maisky, completed medical school 30 to 40 years ago and are unfamiliar with contemporary diagnostic techniques and medications. They are unaware that modern medical practices exist. Continuing medical education in the post-Soviet states, he said, is very weak. It is better to employ younger physicians with ongoing connections to medical institutions, he advised. They will be grateful for the extra income.


was destroyed because of a rooster and chicken.

In our time

malicious gossip and groundless hatred wound our fellow human beings.

6. Rabbi Kaminezki continues to hold office hours on Sunday mornings, where he discusses various issues (including personal problems) with individuals or small family groups. Many people are aware of this practice and welcome the opportunity to speak with the rabbi. 7. About 300 people attended the morning service on Shabbat, most of them middle-aged or older. However, some boys from the yeshiva high school also were in attendance. A young man became a Bar Mitzvah during the service, but few individuals appear to have come to the synagogue for that purpose alone. A concurrent brief Shabbat service for first grade pupils was held in the JCC library. About 30 youngsters, each accompanied by a parent or grandparent, were in attendance. Esther Ostrovskaya, a well-liked Russian-born Israeli teacher at the day school, led the service, focusing on the weekly Torah portion. Refreshments were served, and the children were brought into the synagogue during the Torah procession.

Esther Ostrovskaya, a Russian-born teacher at the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish day school, is the author of a book entitled Jewish Traditions and Holidays (in translation from Russian) intended for use by lower grade students in Jewish schools. The book was published in Dnipropetrovsk last year.


8. The writer accompanied Rabbi and Mrs. Kaminezki to a celebration after Shabbat for the Bar Mitzvah boy. Held in a hall above a furniture store in a new building, the celebration began before the close of Shabbat and continued until midnight. A loud band and several singers and instrumentalists provided entertainment and music for dancing. Both Rabbi and Mrs. Kaminezki circulated among the guests, chatting with many acquaintances. Although several women were attired in clothing more suitable for other events, the general atmosphere at the celebration was not unlike that at some Bar Mitzvah celebrations in the United States. 9. 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.12 In addition to the 17 rabbis working with Rabbi Kaminezki, in Dnipropetrovsk, said Mr. Romanov, Chabad has posted a rabbi in Kirovohrad and will assign a rabbi to Cherkasy next year as well. The Union arranges celebrations of all Jewish holidays throughout the region. Local yeshiva students go to small towns for Shabbat and holidays and join with local Jews in practicing appropriate rituals; on major holidays, they are joined by yeshiva students from New York. Executive directors of local religious societies come to Dnipropetrovsk for seminars on Jewish customs and rituals organized by the Union. Chabad has opened new day schools this year in Kryvyi Rih (Krivoy Rog), Dniprodzerzhinsk, and Kirovohrad; these schools enroll 200, 100, and 35 pupils respectively. The Dniprodzerzhinsk school may remain only an elementary school, but the other two should develop into full 12-grade schools.13 Chabad schools are popular, said Mr. Romanov, because they offer meals and transportation. Many local public schools have deteriorated since Ukrainian independence in 1991. The Chabad regional summer camp offers one session specifically for youngsters from small towns. They participate in all camp activities at their own level, which is somewhat less sophisticated than the level of children who live in 12 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. 13 Ukraine currently is converting its school system from a ten-grade program, which children enter at age seven, to a twelve-grade curriculum, which children enter at age six.


large urban areas. Mr. Romanov said that from his “perspective,” Jews have no future in small towns with small Jewish populations. Jews in these places will either migrate to larger cities or go to Israel.14 10. The former synagogue on Kotsiubinsky Street has been converted into a yeshiva and sofriut (scribal center). The yeshiva, headed by Riga-born Rabbi Elisha Baram, currently enrolls 13 students from Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia.15 Some of the students, said Rabbi Baram, will learn in the yeshiva for three or four months and then do something else, some will become Hebrew scribes (sofrim), and perhaps four will complete yeshiva in Israel or the United States. The ark and bima remain in the Kotsiubinsky street synagogue, which has been converted into a yeshiva. A few of the students entered the yeshiva directly from the yeshiva ktana or Dnipropetrovsk intensive Jewish day school. Others have finished university; one is an engineer and another is a physician. They range in age from 17 to 35. The yeshiva has two classrooms -- the sanctuary of the former synagogue and the synagogue balcony. A glass wall at the front of the balcony assures that any noise in one room does not disturb people in the other room. Yeshiva students conduct Shabbat services, Pesach seders, and other ritual events in small towns in the region, said Rabbi Baram. They also are the kashrut supervisors for the Joint Distribution Committee dining rooms and Jewish Agency summer camps. The sofriut or scribal center is located in a room that previously was the back of the former synagogue. Zev Gelfand, the new director of the sofriut, was born in

14 Mr. Romanov did not define “small towns” or “small Jewish populations.” However, the context of his remarks suggests that he was referring to towns with fewer than 5,000 Jews. 15 Rabbi Baram emigrated to Israel as a child with his family. He met his wife, who is a native of Dnipropetrovsk, in Israel.


Kherson and went to Israel as a child with his parents. He said that eight “serious students” are enrolled in a course of study leading to smicha as a sofer (Hebrew scribe). The dining hall for elderly Jews continues to operate in the former synagogue building. This service is subsidized by the Joint Distribution Committee. 11. After several years of searching, Rabbi Kaminezki has found a different building for the Jewish community preschool. The existing facility is severely overcrowded with about 60 children and maintains a lengthy waiting list. The new building is a large existing preschool building that will accommodate six groups of 30 children each. It requires extensive renovation and remodeling,

estimated to cost at least $100,000. The community is determined to complete the necessary work during the sum-mer months so that the building will be open for children at the beginning of the school year in September 2001. The new kindergarten building is seen at left.

A large yard and several play areas are located on one side of the school, and the entire property is surrounded by a brick and stone wall. However, the wall has broken down in several places, permitting neighborhood children and adolescents to use the yard for gathering and ‘hanging out.’ The current preschool building will be converted into a daycare center (ясли), initially enrolling about 25 children under the age of three. No such program now exists in the community. 12. The Jewish day school (School #144) is the largest day school in the post-Soviet states, enrolling 650 youngsters in grades one through 11. Boys and girls study in separate classes in three different buildings on one campus. Most pupils are enrolled in a standard post-Soviet Jewish school curriculum that includes four hours of Hebrew language weekly and another four hours in a combination of


Jewish tradition, history, and Land of Israel studies. However, 70 boys learn in a more intensive Jewish environment, i.e., in a yeshiva ktana, and about 50 girls are enrolled in a comparable machon.16 According to Georgi Skarakhod, the principal of the school, about 70 percent of the pupils are Jewish according to halakha (Jewish law) and the remainder are Jewish according to the Israeli Law of Return. However, he noted, the machon requires that all of its pupils be halakhically Jewish. Mr. Skarakhod is completing his first year as principal of School #144 after many years as a professor of mathematics at a local institute. He noted that the current year is the tenth anniversary year of the school; a concert and celebration marking this anniversary will be held on June 10 in a large hall. Carlos Pascual, the Ambassador of the United States, visited the school when he was in Dnipropetrovsk in April. In response to a question about new developments in the school, Mr. Skarakhod said that the primary classroom for Jewish studies had been remodeled and now includes displays of various Jewish artifacts. The three-room computer technology center installed by ORT is fully operative; the new computer capacity has permitted the publication of a weekly school newspaper, which is distributed to children to take home.17 Additionally, youngsters use the Internet in almost all classes. The ten older Pentium computers, which constituted the school’s computer equipment until the ORT complex was installed in 2000, have been distributed to various classrooms in the school and to the teachers’ room. Computer work has been integrated successfully into geography and literature classes, and an interface between physics classes and computer use is currently under development. However, said Mr. Skarakhod, several new computers are needed for implementation of this project. Beginning in September 2001, he continued, expert tutors will be brought in to provide enrichment classes once or twice each week for pupils with special gifts and talents. He believes that such tutoring will raise the level of the entire school and will permit pupils to compete on an equal level in city-wide competitions with their counterparts who attend specialized schools, such as a mathematics academy and a high-level lyc⎯e. 16 The 46 boys who live in the boys’ residence constitute the largest segment of the yeshiva’s enrollment. However, the 36 girls in the girls’ residence are not enrolled in the machon. See pages 14-15 for more information about the residences. 17 Articles in the newspaper are written by adults, not pupils, although excerpts of pupils’ writing are included.


Mr. Skarakhod stated that the school is in need of a fourth building to accommodate a larger dining hall, a larger library, a sports hall, and facilities for various school clubs. The current dining hall seats only 80 youngsters, thus necessitating multiple lunch shifts. The school is now renting a sports hall from an adjacent military base, but such facilities were not planned to address the needs of school children. Rabbi Kaminezki commented in a later discussion that the original school complex was built for an enrollment of 400 children and it now enrolls 650 pupils. A new building will be constructed, probably on the site where several small warehouses stand. He estimates the cost of such a structure to be $300,000 or more. Specific planning will begin as soon as the community completes several projects now underway, i.e., the assisted living center, the Holocaust center, the new pre-school, and conversion of the current preschool into a daycare center. Rabbi Kaminezki added that the school had launched a search for a new deputy director to plan and supervise the Jewish studies component of the curriculum. The teaching of both Hebrew and Jewish tradition requires upgrading. 13. Rabbi Yossi Glick has worked in Dnipropetrovsk for eight years and now supervises Jewish community youth activities. Perhaps the best known of these programs are the residential facilities for boys and girls from unstable home situations. Prior to entering these institutions, most children had been living with a single parent disabled by chronic health problems, mental instability, alcoholism, or narcotics addiction. Some children had been living with grandparents and a small number had no caregivers at all. The girls’ home, which had accommodated 30 youngsters, was evacuated in September when it was realized that the facility did not meet critical safety standards. Built in recent years as a large private residence, it was converted to a dormitory without sufficient attention directed to changed safety considerations. Rabbi Glick said that an additional fire escape was required, sanitary measures in the kitchen needed upgrading, and various other medications required implementation. Further, the facility had never been registered as a dormitory. All necessary improvements have been made, said Rabbi Glick, and the community was now awaiting the issuance of new permits. Bureaucratic issues are delaying completion of this process. In the meantime, the 30 girls are living in a number of apartments rented by the community. They are eager to move back into the residence, said Rabbi Glick, because the residence has a large multipurpose room in which girls gather for various activities and because some of the apartments are very small. The 46 boys are housed in the remodeled former synagogue of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Schneerson, father of the late Lubavitcher rebbe. The facility is very


crowded, acknowledged Rabbi Glick, but city inspectors have not raised questions about it. In addition to the residential program, the community provides weekly food parcels for the families of about 15 children enrolled in the school. Probably about 100 families need such assistance, estimated Rabbi Glick. In addition to food, the school provides some children with clothing and with school supplies. In these instances, said Rabbi Glick, the parents are caring, but just do not earn enough to meet their children’s needs. Rabbi Glick continued that he would like to open a soup kitchen and perhaps a residential facility and school that would serve all needy children in the city, not only Jewish children. He is aware that homeless children sleep in the train station, abandoned buildings, and otherwise unused basements of public buildings. Many of the youngsters sniff paint thinner or glue to “get high.” Periodically, the police round up such youth and send them to state orphanages, but many kids run away from these overcrowded facilities as soon as they are able to do so. He has spoken with city authorities about the large number of street children in the city; they do not deny the problem, but suggest that Rabbi Glick find money and give it to them so that they can address the issue. If he were to transfer money to bureaucrats, he said, it would be wasted. Tsivos Hashem, the Chabad youth organization operates a youth club on the fourth floor of the JCC. The major activities are table and video games. About 100 youngsters visit the facility on Sundays and perhaps 15 come on weekdays. In Zaporizhya, a city about 110 kilometers south of Dnipropetrovsk, Tsivos Hashem supports a clinic for 60 youngsters with cerebral palsy. Tsivos Hashem paid for the renovation of an existing clinic and remains involved in its operations so that the 30 Jewish youngsters in the city with cerebral palsy are assured of its care. 14. The Hillel student organization became active in Dnipropetrovsk three years ago and currently serves about 200 students with an activist core of about ten young adults. The writer met with the director and five student members in their clubroom in the hesed basement. In an attempt to relieve the dreariness of their surroundings, Hillel members had painted the walls in vertical stripes of vivid colors. Reflecting the dearth of Jewish communal activities for young people, the Dnipropetrovsk Hillel embraces a broader age group than is common in the United States. The organization operates about 20 different activities for people between the ages of 15 and 35, including a video club, an English–language


group, and programs designed to assist elderly people using the hesed. They work with Arkady Shmist, an authority on local Jewish history and on Jewish tradition, in exploring Dnipropetrovsk Jewish history and learning about Jewish observance. They have cleaned Jewish cemeteries and visited sites in the area where Jews were massacred during the Holocaust. The students spoke fondly of Hillel summer camps, where Dnipropetrovsk members join with counterparts from Zaporizhya, Donetsk, and Luhansk for seven to ten days of various activities. They also assist in family camps operated by JDC, duly noting their own programs that begin after the family campers retire for the night. At Pesach, eight Hillel members from Boston (Dnipropetrovsk’s sister city) and two students from Haifa joined eight Dnipropetrovsk Hillel members in conducting 32 seders for Jews in Dnipropetrovsk and nearby smaller towns. Among the local participants were seniors from the hesed, other students, handicapped children, and elderly people confined to their homes. One large community seder was overbooked, attracting 144 people to a facility that could not accommodate all of them. The Hillel group also interacted with youth clubs from the Israel Cultural Center and the Jewish Agency during this period. In response to a question about the differences between the various youth clubs, the Hillel members responded that the Israel Cultural Center youth club attracted younger kids, most between the ages of 12 and 15. The Jewish Agency student club is aliyah-oriented, and most Hillel members intend to build their lives in Dnipropetrovsk. (In reality, however, many members of Dnipropetrovsk Hillel have emigrated to Israel and the departure of activists has had a serious impact on the ability of the group to generate leadership.) Although the Hillel members spoke with affection about their various activities, they seemed to lack the enthusiasm and spontaneity of other Hillel groups in the post-Soviet states with which the writer is acquainted. Notwithstanding the bright stripes on the walls, a sense of spirit was absent. The Dnipropetrovsk Hillel has been affected by leadership problems since its inception, a reality that is evident to the observer. 15. The Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical Institute, now in its sixth year of operation, enrolls 170 adolescent girls and young women (compared with 130 in 1999-2000 and 106 in 1998-1999). The institute trains teachers in three- and four-year curricula for employment in post-Soviet Jewish pre-schools and elementary schools. Four tracks are offered: early childhood general and Jewish education, primary general and Jewish education, music education, and special needs education. Tuition and room and board are provided free of charge. Beit


Chana operates in two buildings, one as an academic center and the other as a dormitory. The program is partially subsidized by the Israeli government. According to Rabbi Moshe Weber, its deputy director, 24 students will graduate in 2001; of these, nine will become teachers and 13 will become воспитательницы (junior or associate teachers, trained caregivers).18 All 55 previous graduates of Beit Chana are working in the post-Soviet states or in Israel, said Rabbi Weber. Six are working in Dnipropetrovsk Jewish schools, two each are in Luhansk and Kremenchuk, and others are in Alma Ata, Tashkent, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Kherson, Zaporizhya, and Kyiv. Whereas it previously had been expected that graduates would teach in the successor states for two years and then emigrate to Israel, many are electing to remain in the successor states for four or five years because they feel that they are needed here. Beit Chana keeps in touch with all graduates through e-mail and the dispatch of new teaching materials from its Resource Center. Computer training, which is integrated into all programs, has been enhanced by the provision of a new ORT computer laboratory installed during the past academic year. Several Beit Chana instructors subsequently participated in a three-week seminar at the St. Petersburg ORT center on the integration of computer technology into various academic disciplines. The laboratory includes 15 workstations and various multimedia equipment. Twenty-two third-year students participated in a special three-month course at Orot Women’s College in Israel during the late summer and fall. In addition to observing the Tishrei holidays in a traditional manner, the students engaged in serious learning at Orot and became acquainted with Israel through various tours. Reuven Mamo, who was in charge of Mizrachi schools in the Israeli Ministry of Education until his recent retirement, is now working as a consultant and visiting lecturer at Beit Chana. He has conducted three seminars in Dnipropetrovsk already, each of which has helped to raise the level of professionalism among teachers. The Resource Center (called Beyachad in Hebrew) continues to gather and publish new teaching materials that are distributed to all Chabad schools in the successor states. Among these are a series of resource books on all Jewish holidays Many young women entering Beit Chana are from smaller Jewish population centers and perceive the institution as a guided way out from the stifling

18 Rabbi Weber did not mention the fields that the remaining two graduates will pursue.


atmosphere and economic tribulations typical of such cities and towns. Admission to Beit Chana is competitive; nonetheless, some students are dismissed and sent home due to general immaturity, psychological or emotional problems, and/or inability to manage the academic curriculum. 16. 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, Tkumah currently is housed in a five-room apartment. It will move into dedicated premises in a section of the synagogue building when the latter are 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 and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany are expected to provide most of the funding for this venture, perhaps $3 million in all. Three professional historians -- Alla Burakovskaya, Alla Farimets, and Semyon Zaslavsky -- on the staff of Tkumah described its current operations to the writer.19 Tkumah is focusing on both the Holocaust and general Jewish history in eastern Ukraine. Staff members are giving lectures two or three times a month in the JCC, to Hillel, and in other venues. They have organized a discussion club for youth in the JCC. Tkumah also has planned and operated three seminars on the Holocaust for teachers in regional public schools. Tkumah staff participate in conferences of SEFER, the Moscow-based association for university-level Jewish studies in the successor states. They are gathering artifacts of pre-war twentieth century Jewish life in the area. They are preserving old Jewish books and Yiddish newspapers. They are producing various publications and videos. They have professional ties in other centers in the region, such as Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk, Artemovsk, and Berdyansk; they will hold joint conferences and seminars with partners in these cities. The historians expressed considerable frustration about their work in government archives. The archives, they said, are disorganized and “misorganized” according to the dictates of state and Communist Party political needs during the Soviet period. Important material is missing, and existing documentation is distorted by the inclusion of Soviet propaganda. Although it is not their

19 Igor Chupak, the new director of Tkumah, was not present. He has replaced Anatoly Podolsky, the first director, who has left the center and returned to Kyiv. A member of the Board of Tkumah characterized Dr. Podolsky as “an excellent historian, but a poor organizer.”


responsibility to reorganize the archives, Tkumah has begun to classify materials according to various categories -- such as, Jewish education, Jewish youth activity, AgroJoint, famine, welfare organizations, culture, antireligious campaigns, anti-Semitism, repression. Communist Party activity, and Zionism -- and to annotate and cross-reference all entries on computerized lists. They copy all documents and send materials to Yad Vashem and Lohamei Hagetta’ot in Israel. Tkumah publishes a monthly bulletin that carries its own name. The April 2001 issue, shown at right, published the responses of participants in a travel seminar entitled The Catastrophe of Polish Jewry. Jewish community professionals from six eastern Ukraine cities (Dnipropetrovsk, Dniprodzerzhinsk, Zaporizhya, Donetsk, Lu-hansk, and Kharkiv) visited Warsaw, Cracow, Lublin, Tarnow, Maidanek, Auschwitz, and Treblinka. The midpage title “Never Again . . .” heads an article by S. B. Bass, President of the Dnipropetrovsk disabled Jewish war veterans association. They are interviewing survivors of the Holocaust. Many survivors, they said, find it very difficult to talk about this awful period. The interviewers are careful in their approach to all survivors and thank those who agree to discuss their memories. Tkumah presents each interviewee with a certificate of gratitude for their cooperation. In response to a question, the historians said that they preferred to use the words “Holocaust” or “Shoah,” rather than Katastrofa, in referring to the extermination of six million Jews during World War II. “The whole world” recognizes what is meant by the word “Holocaust,” they said. They scoffed at the Russian word, “Golocaust.”20 17. Fifteen Jewish families with pre-adolescent or adolescent boys affected by developmental or other disabilities approached the Philanthropic Fund of 20 No “h” sound exists in the Russian language. Most Russian-speakers pronounce “h” as a hard g. The “h” sound is used liberally in Ukrainian. The word Katastrofa was used by many Russian-speakers before glasnost permitted more interaction with Israel and the West in the late 1980s.


the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community in late 1999, requesting that it establish a residential facility and program for their sons. The families cited the inadequacy of municipal services for this population and the disruption that such youngsters can cause to families living in the one- and two-room apartments that remain the norm in the post-Soviet states. Mikhail Zendel, leader of this effort and a member of the Philanthropic Fund board, contributed a significant sum of money as initial funding for the project. His son is autistic. The Philanthropic Fund agreed to support such an endeavor, and a search for an appropriate interim facility began immediately. At the time of the writer’s previous visit in mid-September 2000, renovation of donated space had been completed and a group of six to eight autistic boys was expected to move into the facility within the next several weeks. A second, somewhat smaller group was expected to enter the program shortly thereafter. In all, plans called for the enrollment of 12 autistic boys in the дом инвалидов (dom invalidov or home for invalids),21 which provides three sleeping rooms (for three, four, and five boys respectively). The residence also contains appropriate sanitary quarters, accommodations for residential staff, a small clinic, meat and milk kitchens, a dining hall, two classrooms, and a multipurpose room that can be used for individual or small-group physical training, small social gatherings, relaxation, or other functions. In general, all rooms are limited in size. Access to the facility, which is on the third floor of a mixed-use building, can be attained only by outside stairs in a courtyard. The opening of this facility was unsuccessful. The writer met with Alla Zendel, wife of Mikhail Zendel, and Irina Shkvarya, a professional educator and newly named director of the program, to discuss the history and the likely future of this venture. Ms. Zendel and Ms. Shkvarya explained that nine boys had moved into the home in late September. Few of the boys were autistic; instead, most were healthy, but were poorly nurtured in a social sense. They came from “socially unfavorable homes.” They required attention and proper nutrition. The boys had not been selected according to appropriate criteria because the program staff was not professionally trained. No local university or pedagogical institute is informed about autism, said Ms. Shkvarya. In desperation, Mr. and Mrs. Zendel took their son Dmitry (Dima) to Jerusalem in search of assistance.22 On their own, they found Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, an internationally respected specialist in developmental, clinical, and cognitive 21 Dom invalidov, in common with defektologia, is another unfortunate continuation of terminology from the Soviet period. 22 Dima is 16 years old. He speaks, using a limited vocabulary.


psychology. Through Dr. Feuerstein, they have established a relationship with Shekel Community Services for the Disabled, a Jerusalem institution that has since sent specialists to Dnipropetrovsk to train local staff in a framework developed with the assistance of the Joint Distribution Committee. This process has been lengthy and difficult because the initial cohort of trainees was unqualified for the training program. One highly skilled local psychologist has been sent to Europe for additional training. They now know that the existing facility can accommodate no more than six or seven boys, ages seven or eight and older, who must be socially ready for dormitory living and an intensive training environment. Their disabilities must be in the communications area, deriving from autism or from delayed psychological development. They have approached the district child psychiatrist and regional pedagogical commission for referrals; these approaches are low-key because acceptances will be limited to Jewish youngsters. Four boys had been tentatively accepted into the program at the time of the writer’s visit in May. Each is visiting the residence on an outpatient basis, becoming acquainted with key staff and with the facility. It is hoped that the full complement of six or seven boys will be ready to move in to the home in September. By September, about 12 local specialists will have been trained in Shekel methodology; they will work in shifts with the boys. Irina Shkvarya will continue to train professional and support staff. The meat and milk kitchens have been transformed into warming facilities for food brought from the residence for disadvantaged boys, which is in the same neighborhood. The existence of two fully staffed operating kitchens is disorienting to youngsters with disabilities. The facility is well equipped with a piano, exercise equipment, games, and books. In the future, the program hopes to work with younger children as earlier intervention may encourage earlier improvement. 18. Dnipropetrovsk is the administrative center for operations of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known to most Russian–speakers as “Dzhoint” and many American Jews as JDC) in four oblasts (Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhya, Donetsk, and Luhansk) of eastern Ukraine. The area includes 43 cities and towns in which as many as 130,000 Jews reside. JDC services in the area are more comprehensive than in many other regions of Ukraine and Russia, in part because the two largest Jewish population concentrations -- Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk -- are exceptionally well organized and unified under the leadership of respected rabbis (Shmuel Kaminezki in Dnipropetrovsk


and Pinchas Vishedsky in Donetsk).23 Both rabbis are developing lay leadership infrastructures. Rabbi Menachem Lepkivker, now in his fourth year as JDC Representative in Dnipropetrovsk, expressed great satisfaction with the opening of the Rosalind Gurwin Jewish Community Center adjacent to the synagogue. No comparable complex exists anywhere else in the post-Soviet states,24 said Rabbi Lepkivker, and the completion of the Tkumah center will enhance it even further. In response to a question about the JDC relationship to two additional projects under development in the Jewish community -- the American Jewish Medical Center and an assisted living facility -- Rabbi Lepkivker said the role of JDC in each of these undertakings was undefined. JDC was not in the business of developing medical centers or assisted living centers, he said, although it is possible that the hesed may refer clients to the medical center and assisted living center. It is likely, he continued, that the hesed will provide patronage services to individuals in the assisted living center. (Each of these projects is described below.) The Mazal Tov program, which provides various services to Jewish families with young children, is growing rapidly, said Rabbi Lepkiver. More than 250 children from newborns to three years of age are currently enrolled. The youngsters participate in early childhood activities while their mothers attend classes on

childcare, Jewish tradition, and Jewish customs. The hesed loans cribs, carriages, and other items to families in need. Mothers and children attend a birthday party at the Dnipro-petrovsk hesed for all Mazal Tov children with birthdays in May. They are watching a program presented by a JCC children’s drama group.

23 A statistical overview of JDC services in the region is presented in the writer’s most recent previous report. See A September Journey to Ukraine, September 2000, p. 15. 24 A Jewish community center and other buildings to be developed across the street from the newly renovated Choral Synagogue in Moscow may be comparable, but its completion is several years in the future.


JDC is now sponsoring six family camps in the region, including some designated for Mazel Tov families and others for families with special needs children. Each family camp accommodates 90 to 180 people, said Rabbi Lepkivker. The writer’s meeting with Rabbi Lepkivker ended when a senior employee of a JDC-sponsored institution entered the office and commenced a detailed discussion with Rabbi Lepkivker about a forthcoming conference. After 20 minutes had passed with the visitor still proceeding through a stack of papers, the writer departed. Rabbi Lepkivker later called the writer and apologized. 19. The Dnipropetrovsk hesed or welfare center, which occupies a large building, offers a broad range of services to Jewish elderly in the city. It also sponsors Tikvah, a service for handicapped children,25 and houses the quarters of Hillel (see pp. 15-16), the community Press Center (see pp. 32-33), and the Dnipropetrovsk Institute for Social and Community Workers, a branch of a larger JDC institute in St. Petersburg. The writer met with Igor Kirzhnir, M.D., director of the hesed. Dr. Kirzhnir said that more than 2,500 elderly Jews in the city eat JDC-sponsored hot meals in the hesed, Beit Chana, Beit Baruch, or in restaurants under contract to the hesed. Another 1,300 receive hot meals at home. The hesed employs 73 patronage workers who help homebound people with cleaning, cooking, shopping, bathing, etc. Mobile elderly visit the hesed for various social activities, day care programs, medical consultations, and special events. The hesed also offers repair services for small appliances, clothing, and other items. The hesed maintains a small fleet of vans that transport people between their residences and the hesed. Dr. Kirzhnir suggested that the writer accompany him and several other hesed staff to the apartment of Dvorah Shkolnikova, a hesed client who was observing her 100th birthday. Mrs. Shkolnikova lives with her 78-year old daughter and a grandson, who appears to be in his forties. The delegation from the hesed was not the first to have visited her on the occasion of her birthday; the apartment was festooned with numerous floral arrangements and the table was set for a grand celebration.

25 Tikvah and another program for handicapped Jewish children located in the Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical Institute do not coordinate their activities. The operations of both groups have been described in previous reports of the author.


Champagne, cakes, and candy were much in evidence. Dvorah Shkolnikova is one of three centenarians on the roster of Dnipropetrovsk hesed clients. Her 78-year old daughter, center, and a grandson joined her for one of several 100th birthday celebrations. Although frail, Mrs. Shkolnikova appeared to be well cared for and in good spirits. She greeted each of the hesed staff by name and patronymic, and thanked them for coming. She was taken aback by the presence of the writer, who was introduced as a “friend from Chicago,” but quickly regained her composure and expressed her gratitude for the help that American Jews provide through

“Dzhoint.” Without much prompting, the cele-brant commenced a lengthy and seemingly well-rehearsed narrative of her life, including an account of the confiscation of her apartment by the KGB during the Soviet period and the family struggle to regain it, the death of her husband “at the front” in 1942, other sorrows, and some joys. Clearly discomfited by the recitation of family history before visitors, including a hesed employee with a large sound-equipped video camera, her daughter and grandson attempted at several points to bring the recitation to an end, but Mrs. Shkolnikova persisted, eager that her guests be enlightened about her life. She also took great care to thank the hesed and hesed staff for the care extended to her. Dvorah Shkolnikova joins in a toast to her health and happiness.

20. It is Soviet (and post-Soviet) tradition to commemorate World War II Victory in Europe on May 9 with parades and events for veterans. In the post-Soviet era, Jewish institutions have mounted special events on May 9 for Jewish war veterans. Accordingly, several hundred Jewish veterans of World War II gathered on the lawn of the Dnipropetrovsk hesed for a program of honors and entertainment. An officer of the oblast national guard and the deputy director of the hesed, who also was attired in full military garb, distributed medals to a


number of veterans. Jewish leaders made short speeches of gratitude, and several Jewish music, drama, and dance groups performed for the veterans. As each veteran departed from the event, he or she was given a small bottle of vodka and a box of chocolates.

Several hundred veterans attended the May 9 Victory Day celebrations at the Dnipropetrovsk hesed. The woman at right was one of many who received an additional medal. In the background are two youngsters from a children’s musical group. 21. The Beit Baruch Assisted Living Center is one of two residential centers for Jewish elderly now under construction in Ukraine.26 A partnership between the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community and Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, a New York-based organization with strong ties to Chabad, the Center will accommodate 100 people in 51 rooms, each with its own bathroom. 26 The other is in Kyiv. See pages 83 to 85.


Originally a two-story kindergarten structure, planners gutted the building, added a third floor, and built out an existing basement. In addition to bedrooms, the facility will include a large dining hall and kosher kitchen, medical center, exercise and therapy rooms, music room, library, winter garden, and hairdressing salon. The cost of the project is $1 million, of which $600,000 had been collected at the time of the writer’s visit in May. Construction was proceeding at a slower pace than optimal, delayed while the remaining funds were solicited. Planners anticipate completion of the assisted living center before winter begins in late 2001. Occupants of the facility were being selected by outreach workers from the hesed and from a GJARN service already operating in the city. Potential residents were already calling the Philanthropic Fund office regarding move-in dates. The writer visited several such individuals. Mikhail Abramovich Glekel and Leah Haimovna Glekel, born in 1920 and 1923 respectively, live in an apartment barren of books, art of any kind, or photographs. According to outreach workers, their lives “depend on the Jewish community,” i.e., assistance from the hesed. Mr. Glekel fought in “all battles” in World War II; he was seriously wounded and is now a second-degree invalid. His two brothers were killed in combat. He worked as a senior mechanic for the municipal bus service in civilian life. He has had diabetes for 20 years, requiring an insulin injection from a visiting health aide every day. Mrs. Glekel was evacuated to Kokand in Central Asia during World War II. She built sugar-processing factories there. Her older brother fought in the Red Army, losing both hands in combat. Upon returning to Ukraine, she worked as a sales clerk and a cashier. She is losing both her vision and her hair, and is suffering from a skin disease. She cries all the time and is very depressed. She “worries about everything.” The Glekels said that they are not hungry. The hesed provides each with seven dinners each week, delivered three or four at a time. Their patronage worker purchases additional food for them with their pension money. (It is likely that Mr. Glekel receives a pension supplement for his wartime service.) An outreach worker said that the couple was severely traumatized when their initial patronage worker, to whom they had grown quite close, was replaced. The Glekels rarely leave their second-floor apartment. They have one son, born in 1947, who is unemployed and very depressed. He wants to emigrate to Germany.


Mr. and Mrs. Glekel are eager to exchange their apartment for 24-hour care in an assisted living center. They have difficulty understanding that the Jewish community will provide them with food, shelter, and continuing care. Dvasia Leibovna Mora was born in 1924. She has diabetes and anemia, and requires cataract surgery, which she cannot afford. She and her late husband both were senior engineers. They lived most of their adult lives in Turkmenistan, where they were paid well. They had no children of their own, but raised three girls of Turkmen descent. In 1971, masked criminals with guns attacked Mr. and Mrs. Mora, holding them captive for four hours while ransacking their residence. They bound her husband in electrical wires and tried to electrocute him. Mrs. Mora believes this assault was an ordinary crime without any antisemitic intent. After this episode, Mr. and Mrs. Mora felt that they could remain in Turkmenistan no longer. They returned to Dnipropetrovsk, which was Mr. Mora’s hometown. They moved into the house in which Mrs. Mora has lived alone since her husband’s death. The dwelling consists of a tiny living room, a larger bedroom, and a small kitchen. There is gas and electricity, but no plumbing. A hand pump stands in the yard close to the front door, but an outdoor toilet is some distance in back of the house and is shared with others living in similar circumstances. In response to a question, Mrs. Mora said that no one shovels a path through the snow to the toilet in winter. An elderly Russian couple who lived next door used to do it, but they died. Most of her neighbors also are elderly. Fortunately, this past winter was mild and there was very little snow. Life is difficult (тяжелая), she said. The roof leaks, and she can’t afford to fix it. She has a telephone, but uses it sparingly because service costs so much. Dvasia Mora stands in the doorway of her home. The structure has no indoor plumbing, but a small hand pump stands in the yard to the left of the front door. A fairly large garden adjoins Mrs. Mora’s home. She is no longer able to cultivate it, but someone else does so and gives her some of the produce as rent.


She has very little contact with the three Turkmen girls whom she raised. They decided to remain in Turkmenistan and each now has a family of her own. Turkmenistan is a separate country now [since the demise of the Soviet Union] and it would be very difficult for them to come to Ukraine to see her. Mr. Mora is eager to move to the assisted living center, which will have all the amenities of modern life and where other people will be nearby. She cut some lilacs from one of several large bushes near her home and gave a bouquet to the writer. Katya Israilovna was born in 1927 and appears to be quite healthy. She lives around the corner from Rabbi Kaminezki, who visits her from time to time. Her home is a small cottage not unlike that of Mrs. Mora. The cottage has running water; a spigot can be turned on inside the kitchen, but there is no conventional sink and the water flows into a detached basin. The cottage contains no toilet; an outdoor facility is located some distance away, across a yard in which stand other, similar cottages. Katya Israilovna receives a pension of about $18 monthly, a relatively high sum that includes a bonus for wartime work in a military factory. She never went to university because her widowed mother could not afford to send her there. Instead, she worked in various unskilled jobs. Her husband died some years ago, and her only child, a son, died during the 1980’s at the age of 27. A patronage worker visits Katya Israilovna twice weekly; Katya Israilovna is very pleased with this assistance and with the programs that she attends at the hesed periodically. A hesed minibus takes her to the hesed for these events and then brings her home. She spends a lot of time watching a second-hand old black and white television set. He original set broke down some time ago, and the Jewish community obtained the black and white one for her from a family that went on aliya to Israel. Katya Israilovna is aware that she is a candidate for the assisted living center and is enthusiastic about living there, “if they will take me.”

The Glekels, Dvasia Mora, and Katya Israilovna all are clients of the hesed, which is operated by JDC, but the Joint Distribution Committee is not involved in the Beit Baruch Assisted Living Center in any way. It is assumed that JDC patronage workers will continue to assist clients when


they move into Beit Baruch, but this support has not been assured. A JDC professional in Dnipropetrovsk told the writer that the organization would refer clients. However, the initial selection of residents has been managed without official JDC participation. (Some hesed outreach workers have made personal recommendations without a formal JDC process.) A marketing brochure for the assisted living center shows an artist’s rendering of the facility and carries the project slogan, Старость в радость (Starost’ v radost’, which means OLD AGE IN JOY). The logos of GJARN and the Jewish community Philanthropic Fund are at top left and right respectively. Notwithstanding JDC hesitation about full participation in the housing project, Rabbi Kaminezki is committed to its operation. “We can’t live comfortably in our own homes,” he said, “if the elderly suffer so much in such conditions.” The Philanthropic Fund has discussed the issue of disposition of residents’ prior housing, but no policies have been determined yet. They recognize the sensitivity of the issue. The Fund would like to assume title to marketable property so that it can be sold and the profits therefrom applied to an endowment-type fund for the Center. However, they acknowledge that the apartments should be retained for a period of time so that clients can return to them if the assisted living center does not meet their needs. Further, the Fund is sensitive to the possibility that their efforts to assist elderly and assure an income for the Center might be confused with the practice of swindlers who try to defraud elderly of their homes, leaving some in the street without property. It appears that no legislation exists in Ukraine to cover the assumption of private housing for philanthropic purpose and the use of proceeds from the sale of such property for an endowment fund to support non-profit elderly housing. 22. The American Jewish Medical Center in Dnipropetrovsk is another project of the Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network, a Chabad-associated organization directed by Rabbi Eliezer Avtson. Scheduled to open later this year, it will include departments in: family medicine; ear, nose, and throat; primary care; pediatrics; obstetrics and gynecology; optometry; ophthalmology; family dentistry; plastic and reconstructive health-related surgery; and nutrition. The Center will serve the entire city and surrounding area, not just the Jewish population. It will offer training to Ukrainian medical personnel, including exchanges with Amer-ican medical institutions.


The American Jewish Medical Center is under construction in Dnipropetrovsk. A smaller building to the right of the main structure will accommodate up to seven visiting physicians and also provide a dining room to be used by the entire staff. GJARN intends that people unable to pay for medical care in the new facility will receive it without charge, but the financial parameters for the project are not clear. The Joint Distribution Committee is not involved in its construction or operation. 23. The Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine is the umbrella group for most Chabad operations in the country. Rabbi Meir Stambler is its executive director and its headquarters are in Dnipropetrovsk. Community rabbis associated with FJC work in 16 Ukrainian cities: Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhya, Kharkiv, Poltava, Kremenchuk, Kirovohrad, Kryviy Rih, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Korosten, Odesa, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Simferopol.27 FJC exercises some level of oversight over most Chabad activities in the country.28 Ohr Avner, the educational group associated with FJC, operates day schools in most of these cities and in Kyiv and Khmelnitsky. Rabbi Stambler readily acknowledges that several of the schools are so small that their continuing operation is questionable. FJC operates six regional summer camps in Ukraine that collectively accommodate 5,000 youngsters between the ages of six and thirteen, most in separate three- or four-week sessions for girls and boys. Of the 5,000 campers, 3,000 are recruited from smaller Jewish population centers in which few opportunities for Jewish education exist. Although FJC provides a full subsidy

27 The Chabad rabbi in Kyiv, Rabbi Moshe Asman, works independently of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine. Rabbi Aharon Berger of Korosten is independent, but receives some support from Chabad. Additional rabbis associated with FJC are likely to be posted to Dniprodzerzhinsk, Cherkasy, and Mariupol in the near future. Chabad has designated individuals without smicha to serve as rabbis in two smaller Jewish population centers, Ivano-Frankivska and Chernivtsi. 28 The most prominent exceptions are those associated with Rabbi Moshe Asman in Kyiv, the Simcha day school in Kyiv (which is under the supervision of the Tsirei Chabad faction in Israel), and a boarding school managed by Rabbi Aharon Berger in Korosten.


for youngsters from the smaller towns, rabbis in larger cities are responsible for financing the camp experiences of local children.29 Children in Pavlohrad, a town east of Dnipropetrovsk, attend a seder organized by Chabad. With few opportunities for Jewish education in their town, they are recruited for Chabad summer camp. (Photo: Chabad) Chabad maintains a large data base of Jewish families in Ukraine by asking those who purchase matzot from Chabad to fill out an information form. As an inducement to answer the questions, all forms are entered in a lottery for which a trip to Israel is awarded.30 Rabbi Stambler and other Chabad rabbis in Ukraine have been concerned during the past year that Ukraine remain free of the conflict involving Chabad in Russia. With extensive commercial interests in Russia and close ties to the Putin government that place him in the ranks of Russian oligarchs, as identified by Russian newspapers, principal FJC supporter Levi Levayev often appears to be more concerned with his multiple business interests in the post-Soviet states and his personal ego needs than with the complexity and fragility of post-Soviet Jewish community life.

In Russia, Mr. Levayev collaborated with the Putin government in its attacks on Vladimir Gusinsky, then owner of a Russian media group whose independence had proved a continuing irritant to the Kremlin. When the Kremlin moved to harass and discredit Mr. Gusinsky, who also was President of the respected Russian Jewish Congress, Mr. Levayev insisted that Rabbi Berel Lazar, rabbi of a local Moscow Chabad synagogue, use the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, a weaker rival organization, as a vehicle to undermine Mr. Gusinsky. Well-coached delegates to a FJC conference promptly elected Rabbi Lazar as Chief Rabbi of Russia, thus undercutting two rabbis closely associated with the Russian Jewish Congress, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, Chief Rabbi of Moscow, and Rabbi Adolf Shayevich, the incumbent Chief Rabbi of Russia. Rabbi Goldschmidt had been widely recognized as the leading rabbi of Russia. Concurrently hounded by Russian authorities, Mr. Gusinsky left Russia. His problems with the Putin government severely weakened the Russian Jewish

29 Very few families can afford to pay camp fees that would cover camp expenses. Many camps request the payment of a token fee, perhaps the expenses of one day, but even these are waived for families in distress. 30 Until several years ago, Chabad imported all of its matzot from Israel at great expense. Subsequently, it has purchased matzot from the bakery operated by Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, who is a Karlin-Stolin hasid.


Congress, an effective umbrella organization committed to Jewish community building, Jewish pluralism, tolerance, and Jewish community independence from the Russian government. Mr. Levayev’s actions are widely perceived as legitimizing Russian government interference in Jewish community life. That Rabbi Lazar permitted himself to be manipulated by Mr. Levayev, in collaboration with the Russian government in its attack on Vladimir Gusinsky, has generated considerable discomfort in the larger Jewish world and even within Chabad circles outside Moscow. Mr. Levayev attempted to pursue a similar path in Ukraine, urging Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki of Dnipropetrovsk to became Chief Rabbi of a Chabad Council of Rabbis in Ukraine and thus a Chief Rabbi of Ukraine in competition with Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a Karlin-Stolin hasid who is Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine. Wiser than his colleague in Moscow, Rabbi Kaminezki declined, noting that such a development would not benefit Ukrainian Jewry. Thus, the proposed Ukrainian Chabad Council of Rabbis does not exist. Rabbi Stambler spoke with some satisfaction about the ability of Chabad rabbis in Ukraine to withstand pressure from Levi Levayev, their principal funder, to permit Chabad to be used as a tool for Mr. Levayev’s personal political and economic gain.31 He also noted that Rabbi Bleich builds strong collegial relationships with all rabbis in Ukraine. Nonetheless, Rabbi Stambler continued, many people in Ukraine are aware of the conflict generated by Mr. Levayev in Russia and ask whether a comparable situation might emerge in Ukraine. And, although relations between FJC rabbis and Rabbi Bleich remain civil, the situation in Russia has had some impact on rabbinic relations in Ukraine. Rabbi Bleich and FJC rabbis often “walk separate paths.” Each has sent a rabbi to Chernihiv, when the small and declining Jewish population in that city requires only one rabbi. They appear to be competing to place rabbis in Jewish population centers previously deemed too small to require the services of a fulltime rabbi. 24. A one-room office in the hesed serves as headquarters for the Press Center of the Jewish Community of Dnipropetrovsk. Established in 1997 by JDC and the forerunner of the Philanthropic Fund, the Press Center manages publicity about Jewish community events (such as dedications of new community programs), serves as a resource and information center for local and other journalists and news outlets, and produces its own materials about the local community and other subjects of interest to the Jewish population. 31 Rabbi Stambler did not comment, as have others, that the personal relations between Mr. Levayev and several Chabad rabbis in Ukraine have become very tense as a result of the rabbis’ repudiation of Mr. Levayev’s tactics to intermingle personal economic and political ambitions with community religious affairs.


It is in regular contact with Jewish media in other countries, including those as far away as Australia and New Zealand, which publish news about Jewish life in Dnipropetrovsk. It provides various services to visiting journalists. It produces videos and other materials about institutions and activities in the Jewish community. The Press Center is directed by Oleg Rostovtsev, who supervises a staff of four additional professionals and one cameraman The Press Center also produces a weekly 30-minute television program, Alef – In Our Time, which is repeated three times during the week on a local television channel. Alef provides news about Jewish life and Israel, as well as information about community organizations and activities. 32 It describes Jewish customs and forthcoming holidays. The program also answers questions that are submitted by viewers. According to Mr. Rostovtsev, an independent monitoring service has concluded that over 200,000 people watch Alef; although the program is intended for the Jewish community, the monitoring company reports that most of its viewers are non-Jews. Alef, believes Mr. Rostovtsev, reduces antisemitism because it informs people about Judaism and Jewish life, and thus alleviates the notion of Jews as strange and alien. Mr. Rostovtsev receives many requests for updated information about Israel, which Ukrainian national and local general news outlets provide only sporadically. News about Israel is in great demand, he said, because many local people have relatives there and are eager for information about events in that country. The Press Center sponsored a seder for local non-Jewish journalists this year, said Mr. Rostovtsev. Participants met before the seder to bake their own matzot. During the baking session and during the seder itself, the journalists asked many questions about basic Jewish customs, such as, why many Jewish men wear kipot. They also asked about Chabad. Mr. Rostovtsev and other Jews who attended the seder believe that the event was very successful in improving attitudes toward Jews among an influential population group and hope to arrange regular informal gatherings with non-Jewish journalists in the future. In another venture in working with non-Jews, the Press Center is producing an Internet newsletter, Alef Chronicles that is intended as a news source for general media and other non-Jewish parties. For now, it is published irregularly, but Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki has asked the Press Center for a business plan

32 Mr. Rostovtsev said that one of the most popular series ever shown on Alef was about Jewish life in 10 different cities in Ukraine. Each of the Jewish communities was totally isolated from each of the other Jewish communities, but several were operating programs similar to those in other locales.


covering publication twice monthly. The Press Center is trying to determine what sort of information about the community is of greatest interest to non-Jews. Mr. Rostovtsev said that the Press Center is working on two films. One is about the relationship between the Beit Chana Jewish Women’s Pedagogical Institute and Israel. What has been the impact of their three-month course of study at Orot Women’s College? Do they all expect to make aliyah after several years of teaching in the post-Soviet successor states? Prior to entering Beit Chana, it is likely that some of them had never even heard of Israel, and now Israel is a major factor in their lives. The second film is about Chabad. The Press Center is filming in different areas of Ukraine that are important in Chabad history. They want to recount how a small hasidic sect has become so important in Jewish life. Mr. Rostovtsev thinks that Chabad has been very successful in its “practical work,” probably more so than other groups. It appears to him that Chabad emissaries are very friendly and outgoing, that they believe all Jews are equal. Chabad imposes no conditions on a Jew’s relation to them or to Judaism, continued Mr. Rostovtsev; Chabad emissaries just think it is important that Jews know their roots. Mr. Rostovtsev said that he had been very favorably impressed by Chabad outreach efforts during the Soviet period. He remembers how Chabad representatives would come as far as Zaporizhya, bringing books and matzot. Young Jews in Dnipropetrovsk would learn that people from Chabad were in Zaporizhya and would travel there to meet with them, usually surreptitiously.33 No one else, said Mr. Rostovtsev, made such efforts to reach out to the Jews of Dnipropetrovsk. 25. Shabbat Shalom is a monthly Jewish newspaper that has been published in Dnipropetrovsk for ten years. When publication was started in 1991, said editor Mikhail Karshenbaum, his dream (мечта) was that it would be published on a weekly basis, each issue becoming available on Friday. Hence, the paper was entitled Shabbat Shalom. However, a weekly schedule proved impossible. Nonetheless, great progress has been made and he hopes that a weekly edition may soon become a reality. After all, Jewish life in Dnipropetrovsk is very vibrant now and enough news is generated to justify weekly publication.

33 Dnipropetrovsk was a “closed” city during the Soviet period, forbidden to foreigners, because of the presence in the city of the giant Yuzhmash firm, the largest intercontinental ballistic missile factory in the world.


Past issues of Shabbat Shalom provide a chronicle of Jewish life in the city over the last decade, commented Mr. Karshenbaum. The paper reports the news of

all Jewish organizations in the city, he said. It has a staff of 11, most of whom work from their homes. Only four work from the office, which consists of a single room. One staff member is responsible for layout and general design; she uses Pagemaker software. At left is the tenth anniversary issue of Shabbat Shalom, which was published in April, 2001. The title of the paper is printed in both Russian and Hebrew. (The letter representing the sound “sh” – ш – is the same in its printed form in both languages.) Above the title is a banner wishing readers a happy and kosher Pesach. The photo shows the eleven-person staff of the paper. Editor Mikhail Karshenbaum is in the center of the front row.

The print run for each issue is 4,000 copies. Three thousand are distributed in Dnipropetrovsk itself and the remaining 1,000 are distributed throughout the oblast. The first edition in color was printed in October 2000, to commemorate the opening of the renovated Golden Rose Choral Synagogue. 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.34 The Jewish Community Center pays for its own insert in the paper. Advertising also provides income, but the paper’s low circulation limits its appeal to potential advertisers. Mr. Karshenbaum said that a circulation of 10,000 copies might attract enough advertising to support the paper without subsidy. A weekly publication schedule also would improve advertising prospects.

34 Almost all Jewish publications in the post-Soviet states are heavily subsidized, usually by a similar combination of donors.


Shabbat Shalom also has attracted the interest of non-Jewish readers, commented Mr. Karshenbaum. Many seem to be interested in Jewish customs and Jewish news. Another project of Shabbat Shalom is the Jewish community website (http://jew.dp.ua) which appears in Russian- and English-language versions. It is among the more sophisticated post-Soviet Jewish community websites and is updated regularly. Information on the site is sent to all relevant search engines every week. 26. Shmuel Katziv 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 serves as an Israeli consulate in Dnipropetrovsk, and Mr. Katziv is accredited to the Embassy of Israel in Kyiv as an attaché. The territory covered by the Dnipropetrovsk office stretches from Dniprodzerzhynsk in the north to Berdyansk in the south and from Kremenchuk and Kirovograd in the west to Tokmak in the east.35 The Israeli Cultural Center sponsors Hebrew language ulpans in which 600 people currently are enrolled. A new computer center in the Center facilitates the use of computers in Hebrew-language instruction and also permits the Center to offer various computer activities to the Jewish public. The ICC operates a number of clubs and activities for children, adolescents, and adults, and organizes community-wide celebrations of Jewish and Israeli holidays, the latter often in cooperation with the Jewish Agency and JDC. As the regional representative of the Israeli government, Nativ supervises Israeli Ministry of Education efforts in the area. These include 18 Sunday schools, including one very large one connected to the local ICC ulpan.36 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

35 Other Israeli consulates in Ukraine are in Kyiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv. 36 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.


#144. However, the Ministry does not subsidize the new day schools in the area, all of which are sponsored by Chabad, because it lacks the funds to do so. As attaché to the Embassy of Israel in Kyiv, Mr. Katziv issues visas to those planning to emigrate to Israel. Although aliyah from Ukraine has decreased in recent months, mainly due to the increased violence in Israel, aliyah from the Dbipropetrovsk area actually has grown by 17 percent. Tough economic conditions here in Dnipropetrovsk, said Mr. Katziv, make life difficult even for businessmen. About 60 percent of all local olim, he observed, are Jewish according to halakha (Jewish law) and the remainder qualify for immigrant status in Israel under the Israeli Law of Return. In addition to the impetus toward emigration provided by economic strife in the area, added Mr. Katziv, a positive force in the promotion of aliya is generated by the presence and influence of Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki. Rabbi Kaminezki, he continued, has created a “new generation” of Jews here, who are bold in identifying as Jews. Local Jews fear no one; they have no qualms about going to the synagogue, which, noted Mr. Katziv, is located in the very center of the city. Jews here believe Rabbi Kaminezki, they trust him. They go to the synagogue to be with other Jews; the atmosphere there is comfortable, comparable to an “English club.” Rabbi Kaminezki understands the Ukrainian Jewish mentality better than any other rabbi in Ukraine; this perception and sympathy is visible in his great success in fundraising among local Jews. He is a real leader, he gives people confidence in their Jewish identity and the strength to go to Israel. 27. The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI, Sochnut) office in Dnipropetrovsk covers three oblasts -- Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhya, and Kirovograd. It is directed by Yaakov Rotman, a native of Chernivtsi who emigrated to Israel as a child with his family. Prior to beginning his work in Dnipropetrivsk in September 2000, Mr. Rotman worked as an engineer at Israel Aircraft Industries. JAFI operates a large number of ulpans and a variety of clubs for children, youth, and adults. Its youth programs are well known and highly respected, most of them based at a large separate facility with multipurpose rooms, classrooms, a computer workshop, and a small stage.37 The number of youngsters participating in these clubs continues to grow, reported Mr. Rotman. Activities for children also are expanding and now include Bar and Bat Mitzvah programs. JAFI will operate four summer camps in the region that will enroll a total of 800 children and adolescents.

37 The JAFI student club, Kochav, is considered by observers to be much stronger than the local Hillel student group. See pp. 15-16.


Increasing attention is being given to Jewish identity programming in ulpans and other activities for adolescents and young adults, said Mr. Rotman. A seminar on this subject was held for youth leaders from the entire region. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki addressed the seminar and also meets with other ulpan groups. In one such session, he met with participants for more than 90 minutes to answer questions about conversion and issues affecting intermarried families. JAFI sponsors many large holiday celebrations, often in cooperation with the Israel Cultural Center, JDC, and other groups. In addition to these mass gatherings, it also observes Jewish and Israeli holidays in all of its ulpan classes and special-interest clubs, and sometimes participates in holiday activities at heseds and schools. More than 8,000 people participated in its various Purim celebrations. In addition to active programs, JAFI now is advertising aliyah opportunities on local television programs in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhya. It is posting information about aliyah and local aliyah-related activities on bulletin boards in Jewish community centers and in other buildings. In response to a comment regarding two photographs in his office of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Mr. Rotman said that he is not a верующий or “believer,” but thinks that, thanks to Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, Dnipropetrovsk is the “best place” in all of the post-Soviet Union for Jews.38 He is a very important person in the city; everyone knows him, and he knows everyone, added Mr. Rotman. Rabbi Kaminezki encourages pupils enrolled in his day school to participate in JAFI clubs and events, even in the youth club discos, observed Mr. Rotman. Mr. Rotman estimated the Jewish population in area cities as follows: Krivyi Rih, 8,500; Zaporizhya, 7,000; Pavlohrad, less than 2,500; Kirovohrad and Melitopol, 1,700 each; Nikopol, 1,500; Berdyans’k, less than 1,500; and Zhovty Vody (Zholty Vody), 700. JAFI operates ulpans in three different locations in Zaporizhya, said Mr. Rotman. The JAFI youth director in Kirovohrad is especially good. JAFI, the local hesed, and a synagogue all use the same small building in Nikopol. 28. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki estimates the Jewish population of Dnipropetrovsk at between 35,000 and 40,000, if the definition of a Jew includes people with at least one Jewish parent. Many Jews are leaving, he said, and many more will do so. There has been some migration of Jews from small

38 The Russian word believer or верующий is commonly used by Russian-speakers to refer to those who are religiously observant.


towns in the area to Dnipropetrovsk and some Jewish students from smaller towns remain in the city after university, he added, but these migrants do not increase the city’s Jewish population significantly. Rabbi Kaminezki believes that between 350,000 and 500,000 Jews remain in Ukraine. Probably 150,000 to 200,000 of these Jews are “aliyah material,” so Sochnut “still has work to do here,” said Rabbi Kaminezki. The smaller Jewish population centers probably will disappear within ten years; the larger centers will be smaller than they are now, but enough Jews will remain in Dnipropetrovsk to use the community infrastructure that is under development.39 Some Jews in the city want to emigrate to Germany because of the generous welfare benefits offered in that country, said Rabbi Kaminezki. He tries to talk them out of migrating there because conditions in Germany are such that most Jewish immigrants in that country will assimilate. His efforts at persuading people to go to Israel have been successful in many cases. If people insist on going to Germany, Rabbi Kaminezki tries to keep in touch with them and to help them find Jewish programs with which to associate. Rabbi Kaminezki currently holds four positions in the local Jewish community: Chief Rabbi; Chairman of the Board of the Religious Community; President of the Jewish Philanthropic Fund; and Chairman of the Board of the Jewish Community Center. Unofficially, he is the most respected Chabad rabbi in Ukraine and frequently is asked to formulate Chabad policy regarding the country and to intervene when other Chabad rabbis in Ukraine encounter difficulties of any kind. Although his own skills have generated the respect in which he is held, the fact that he is based in Dnipropetrovsk, an important city in Ukrainian politics, doubtless enhances his authority. His Dnipropetrovsk base also helps to minimize any potential friction with Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, the official chief

rabbi of Ukraine, who is based in Kyiv. Rabbis Kaminezki and Bleich respect each other and confer frequently by telephone. Rabbi Kaminezki speaks on the telephone in his office. Vyecheslav Brez, the executive director of the Philanthropic Fund, and Nella Goryanova, secretary to Rabbi

39 In September 2000, Rabbi Kaminezki said that he thinks the Jewish population of Dnipropetrovsk will be about 15,000 in 2010.


Kaminezki await completion of the call. Rabbi Kaminezki has attained some notoriety for his opposition to Progressive (Reform) Judaism and hostility toward efforts of the World Union for Progressive Judaism to organize a group in Dnipropetrovsk. He has asserted that Chabad should control all Jewish religious activity in a city that that is so significant in Chabad history.40 Pluralism, he avers, can be expressed through the hesed and the Hillel student organization, each of which interprets Judaism as it believes appropriate. Rabbi Kaminezki also maintains that a single Jewish religious culture in the city is beneficial to the Jewish community because the community then presents an image of unity and strength when it interacts with municipal and other outside authorities.41 However, Rabbi Kaminezki realizes that the Progressive movement is in Ukraine and has no objection to their operations in other areas where they can be helpful to local Jews. He has helped their representatives register groups in the nearby cities of Pavlograd and Zholty Vody, and even in Krivyi Rih. Although a Chabad rabbi has recently been posted in Krivyi Rih, the city probably is too long to be covered by one rabbi, said Rabbi Kaminezki; therefore, he continued, a second Jewish religious group might be appropriate there.42 Last year, said Rabbi Kaminezki, the Progressive movement intensified efforts to organize in Dnipropetrovsk itself. Two individuals who have no current following in the city have led the effort into this year.43 One of them approached various city officials, severely criticizing Chabad and Rabbi Kaminezki personally. He told city tax authorities that Rabbi Kaminezki had received $200,000 in cash from the Boston Jewish community and that Rabbi Kaminezki had arranged for the transfer of $6 million to a local medical clinic. Both of these claims were absolutely false, said Rabbi Kaminezki; nonetheless, an investigation team from the city tax department visited the synagogue and spent considerable time 40 Rabbi Levi Yitzhak Schneerson, father of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, served as rabbi of then-Ekaterinoslav from 1909 until imprisoned by the KGB in 1939 for operating Chabad activities against orders from Soviet authorities. He subsequently was sent into exile in Kazakhstan, where he died in 1944. 41 Although her experiences hardly represent a scientific study, the writer has discussed this issue with about a dozen religiously non-observant Jews in Dnipropetrovsk who are active in the Jewish community. All agreed with Rabbi Kaminezki that other forms of Jewish religious expression are unnecessary in the city and might be detrimental to Jewish unity and strength. 42 Krivyi Rih was founded in the 17th century as a small Cossack village. However, it expanded rapidly in the late 19th century following exploitation of high-grade iron ore deposits in the area. The current city stretches some 60 kilometers in length, connecting numerous mining sites, many of them now inactive. 43 One spends most of his time in Kyiv and the other is a Ukrainian Jew now living in Israel.


inspecting various records, demanding documentary evidence of even minor transactions. Of course, said Rabbi Kaminezki, the inspectors found nothing to support the allegations of the Progressive representative. Eventually, the examiners departed and brought the matter to an end, but the episode caused substantial turmoil and generated significant ill will. Recently, said Rabbi Kaminezki, the same individual started spreading rumors that Rabbi Kaminezki had engaged a hit team to kill him.44 In May 2001, a small Progressive delegation led by Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, Executive Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in North America, visited Dnipropetrovsk and met with Rabbi Kaminezki. According to Rabbi Hirsch and several others in WUPJ, the organization has registered a congregation in the city. However, as of late May, Rabbi Kaminezki said that he was uncertain whether the WUPJ claim was valid. He was disinclined to pursue the matter, he continued, because he didn’t want to appear to be interested in any way in the organization or their representatives. 29. Vyecheslav “Slavik” Brez is the Executive Director (Исполнительный директор) of the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community. Mr. Brez, whose education and family background afford him with numerous opportunities for more lucrative employment, enjoys his work in the Jewish community because, he says, no one in the community is ever satisfied with its current stage of development. The community is always considering new projects. The community is very dynamic. Most Jews in the city, observed Mr. Brez, had no exposure to Judaism before Rabbi Kaminezki arrived in the city in 1990. Many families and, indeed, the entire community have changed in the past ten years. Mr. Brez said that he is very proud to participate in the transformation that continues to occur. He finds this experience very inspiring. A strong Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community will help everyone, not just Jews and not just Dnipropetrovsk. Mr. Brez himself has begun to learn Chumash and other texts. He is aware that many Jewish businessmen and professionals in other countries have an opportunity to participate in Jewish study groups that meet in offices for an hour or so every week. He would like to initiate similar programs in Dnipropetrovsk

44 Several individuals with unsavory reputations have used the Progressive movement or other inadequately supervised Jewish organizations in Ukraine to advance agendas at odds with any segment of the Jewish community. In Kharkiv, an incumbent president of a local Progressive group supported various rightwing nationalist forces and committed an arson attack against the local synagogue. See pp. 46-47.


and hopes that the local Jewish community can find learned and charismatic teachers to lead such a program. The Jewish community also must strengthen its existing institutions, especially in education, said Mr. Brez. He thinks that Georgy Skarakhod, the new principal of the Jewish day school, is on the right track in his efforts to improve the level of secular education in the day school. Local companies owned by Jews should offer internships to promising Jewish students, continued Mr. Brez, and should provide financial assistance to those unable to pay for a college education.45 The new preschool building will enable the preschool to absorb a long waiting list and thus introduce many more families to Jewish life. Even before preschool, he noted, the Jewish day care center that will be developed in the current preschool premises will bring families into the Jewish community. The community also should offer more assistance to its poorest children, he said. At one time, he noted, the day school kitchen remained open on weekends to provide meals to children whose parents were unable to feed them. This type of program should be expanded. Mr. Brez said that available space in the synagogue building should be used more efficiently. For example, the balcony is quite large and can be used for various classes and clubs. The back of the synagogue sanctuary also can accommodate such activities. Mr. Brez hopes that members of the Board of the Philanthropic Fund will benefit from a leadership exchange with the Boston Jewish federation later this year. Delegations from the boards of each organization are scheduled to visit the other city before the end of the year.

Zaporizhya

30. 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 fifty 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.

45 Almost all prominent Jewish businessmen in the city are active in the Jewish community.


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. 31. Beginning in 1993, the Joint Distribution Committee allocated significant resources to restoration of a large synagogue building, which includes a spacious sanctuary and small library on its second floor, and several class rooms, a kitchen, and a dining room accommodating 100 individuals at tables for four on its first floor. Rabbi Nochum Ehrentroi, a Chabad hasid from Israel, is Chief Rabbi of Zaporizhya. His original employment in the city was under the auspices of JDC, which engaged him in 1996 in the dual capacity of rabbi and JDC representative in Zaporizhya. 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. 32. JDC has recently developed a four-story hesed and Jewish community center facility in the city. The large size of the structure has generated considerable controversy because the Jewish population of the city is dwindling rapidly.46 33. A Jewish day school -- known formally as Zaporizhya Muncipal Jewish National Gymnasium Alef -- opened in 1992 under the auspices of the Lishkat Hakesher/Nativ Maavar (now Tsofia) program. It quickly acquired widespread notoriety for its Bundist approach to Jewish education, creating the spectacle of 46 Although the writer had intended to visit the facility, a meeting proved impossible to arrange because of the conflicting agendas of several other individuals with whom the writer was traveling on this segment of her trip.


an anti-Zionist school sponsored by the Israeli government. Gymnasium Alef remains an institution of problematic Jewish orientation. All observers ascribe the problems to the principal, a local woman who is militantly anti-religious and anti-Zionist. She actively discourages pupils from participating in the synagogue, observance of religious holidays, Jewish summer camps, and Jewish Agency and other Zionist programs.47 She is said to be a skilled politician with exceptionally strong ties to local authorities, especially the SBU, thus ensuring her continued tenure at the school.48 Both Nativ and Rabbi Ehrentroi tried to replace the principal, but each failed. Substantial tension existed between the school administration and Dina Ehrentroi, wife of Rabbi Ehrentroi, who had been the head Hebrew teacher. The school enrolls about 300 pupils, including a large number of non-Jewish youngsters.49 Notwithstanding the anti-Zionist sentiment of the school administration, emigration to Israel is significant among its Jewish graduates. 34. Unsuccessful in their attempts to introduce a stronger sense of Judaism and Zionism in Gymnasium Alef, Rabbi and Mrs. Ehrentroi opened a new Jewish day school in September 2000. The school is located in remodeled premises of a modern former preschool building on the left bank of the Dnipr River and enrolled 125 children in grades one through six in its first year of operation. Upon opening of the Chabad school in September, individuals associated with Gymnasium Alef mounted a campaign to close the new school and to provoke a demand for revocation of the Ukrainian visas of Rabbi and Mrs. Ehrentroi, who are Israelis. 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 school. Additional pressure was applied by Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk. The attack on the Ehrentrois ended.

47 A foreign observer with considerable experience in Zaporizhya refers to the principal as a very difficult woman who is “at war with the entire Jewish community.” 48 In Russian, the initials SBU refer to Служба безопасности Украины (Security Service of Ukraine). 49 Many schools established under Maavar/Tsofia auspices enroll a significant number of non-Jewish youngsters.


Teachers and pupils in the Chabad school honored Jewish veterans of World War II in a ceremony at the school just before Victory Day, becoming the first and only Jewish institution in Zaporizhya to do so. This couple asked the writer to take their picture. Within six months of its opening, the school had attained an outstanding reputation for the strength of both its secular and Judaic studies programs and for the manner in which the Jewish studies component is integrated into every facet of school life. Several rabbis and educators in other Ukrainian cities refer to the school as the best Jewish day school in the country, an astonishing designation for an elementary school in its first year of operation. The school will add one grade each year as its pupils grow older. Pre-registration for the first grade class entering in September 2001 had reached 50 youngsters by early May. Anatoly Davidovich Rifkind, director of the school, estimates that the capacity of the building is approximately 450 pupils. According to Mr. Rifkind and the Ehrentrois, a large number of young Jewish families resides on the left bank of the Dnipr and provides an excellent population base from which to build the school. In an attempt to encourage peaceful relations with Gymnasium Alef, Mr. Rifkind and the Ehrentrois decided not to accept transfer pupils or teachers from Gymnasium Alef, which is located on the right, more populous, side of the Dnipr. Families were attracted to the school during its first year of operation through advertising; however, no promotional activity has been necessary since the school opened because its fine reputation has spread throughout the Jewish population. Eighty-five percent of the pupils are Jewish according to halakha; the remaining 15 percent all qualify for immigration to Israel under the Law of Return. A major appeal of the school to parents is its up-to-date computer laboratory, which has eight workstations and related equipment. Mr. Rifkind asserted that it is the best school computer facility in the city. Depending on age, every youngster has one to three class hours of computer instruction each week. Pupils are taught English even in the primary grades. The school is clean and attractive, transportation to and from the school is provided, and all pupils eat two

hot meals (breakfast and lunch) at the school. Pupils wear uniforms of navy blue blazers, gray trousers or skirts, and blue or white shirts. The youngsters seem very well-mannered.


Dina and Rabbi Nochum Ehrentroi are at left, Principal Anatoly Rifkind is at right. They are pictured in the main Jewish studies classroom in the school. The Ehrentrois spoke warmly of the ability of Principal Rifkind to find excellent teachers of secular subjects. Teaching conditions are superior to those in other schools, and everyone respects everyone else. Dina Ehrentroi heads the Jewish studies curriculum, which includes three classes in the Hebrew language and two hours in Jewish tradition each week plus one class hour in the weekly Torah portion. As the children grow older, more Judaic studies classes will be included in the curriculum. In addition to Mrs. Ehrentroi, the Jewish studies instructors include one graduate of Beit Chana in Dnipropetrovsk and two young women from Kfar Chabad in Israel. The main Jewish studies classroom is furnished very attractively and is itself a major draw to pupils. Seminars are held for parents before each Jewish holiday. Non-Jewish teaching staff and support personnel also are informed about Jewish traditions, and are invited to participate in holiday celebrations. The school corridors and common areas are very attractively decorated in Jewish themes. The school is strongly Zionist in orientation. Mrs. Ehrentroi said that 12 youngsters had departed for Israel with their families since the beginning of the school year, and she proudly introduced pupils whose aliya was scheduled for summer 2001. 35. Rabbi Ehrentroi expressed concern about the general health of children in the school. Many are weak, he said, because of poor nutrition at home (due to economic distress) and local ecological conditions. The air in the area of the school, he added, is relatively clean, but, nonetheless, the general environment is severely contaminated. Basic medicines are prohibitively expensive, and most immunizations have already expired by the time they reach Zaporizhya. A pediatrician visits the school twice each week, and the school is exploring ways in which pupils can spend more time outdoors in the fresh air. They also are investigating whether the air filtration system in the school can be improved. 36. The Ehrentrois also supervise a preschool in which 52 children between the ages of three and five are enrolled. The school premises are very crowded. 37. Rabbi Ehrentroi repeated a request to the writer that he had made several times previously: that an American Jewish community be found that is willing to


be a sister-city to the Zaporizhya Jewish community. Attempts were made by friends in Boston to find a New England Jewish population center to fill this role because it was thought a Jewish community in the northeastern United States might be able to work with Boston, which has many connections to Dnipropetrovsk, the large city that is closest to Zaporizhya. However, these efforts have not proved successful.

Kharkiv 38. With a population of 1.5 million, Kharkiv is the second largest city in Ukraine. Its proximity to the Don River Basin (Donbas) and the Krivyi Rih iron ore range led to its development as a major industrial hub. It also is a significant academic center, hosting no fewer than 27 institutions of higher education. Neither industry nor academia has been spared in the economic distress afflicting all of eastern Ukraine. A city of unusual political complexity, Kharkiv was capital of Ukraine from 1921 to 1934. The city lies quite close to the Russian border, and its population is strongly russified. To some visitors, much of its architecture appears more central European in character than Slavic. Although some local Jews estimate the Jewish population of Kharkiv to be as high as 45,000, the number of local Jews is more likely to be approximately 30,000, that is, somewhat fewer than in Dnipropetrovsk and probably comparable to the number of Jews in Odesa. 39. Major renovation is underway at the Kharkiv choral synagogue, said to be the second largest synagogue in all of Europe. Until 1999, the structure was the subject of a bitter conflict between Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz, Chief Rabbi of Kharkiv and a follower of Chabad, and Eduard Khodos, a local man who claimed to represent the World Union for Progressive Judaism. For several years, Chabad had controlled the ground floor of the synagogue and Mr. Khodos controlled the second floor. The basement had been divided between them. Because Mr. Khodos controlled the women’s balcony and, thus, the “airspace” in the synagogue sanctuary, the sanctuary was not used. Rabbi Moskowitz holds services (attracting 130 individuals on Shabbat) and other synagogue activities in a large vestibule. This area also accommodates several small Chabad offices and a JDC-subsidized soup kitchen. Chabad built a mikveh in its half of the basement; Mr. Khodos operated an “extreme boxing” (minimoto) club in his portion of the basement. Rabbi Moskowitz obtained foreign funding for extensive


exterior renovation of the synagogue, including restoration of its copper cupola and replacement of gutters and downspouts, which was completed in early 1998. Concurrently, Mr. Khodos or young men in his boxing club periodically vandalized an electric meter located in a basement closet; damage to this installation led to periodic interruptions in electrical service. A fire, which appears to have originated in two places simultaneously, broke out in the synagogue sanctuary on August 30, 1998. It caused severe damage and was attributed to individuals associated with Mr. Khodos. Mr. Khodos espouses strong Ukrainian nationalist and anti-American views. On several occasions, he has purchased time on local television programs in which he is shown burning American flags. His ritual in these performances is to wear a kipa (Jewish headcover) and light a torch from an eternal flame at a war monument. He has asserted during television programs and in newspaper interviews that Jews are money-hungry and that he understands why Hitler wanted to kill Jews. Embarrassed by Mr. Khodos’ words and actions, municipal authorities charged him with vandalism (against the electrical meter). Mr. Khodos was convicted and subsequently evicted from the synagogue. Rabbi Moskowitz then began renovating the interior of the synagogue, a process that the city is encouraging (although not assisting financially).50 40. Rabbi Moskowitz has received contributions of $500,000 from George Rohr, a philanthropist who has supported numerous Chabad-related construction projects in the post-Soviet states, for renovation of the synagogue sanctuary, and $250,000 from Global Jewish Assistance and Relief Network for renovation of the synagogue basement area. Rabbi Moskowitz estimates additional costs at about $900,000, but acknowledges that others believe that the final cost will be significantly higher. Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz, center, stands in the sanctuary of the Kharkiv choral synagogue with Dr. Judith Patkin of Boston and Yan Sidelkovsky of 50 Mr. Khodos, who appears to be in his mid-fifties, now divides his time between Kharkiv and Kyiv. He continues to issue rightwing Ukrainian, anti-American, and antisemitic statements, but, said Rabbi Moskowitz, no longer attracts much attention, probably because he no longer has a Jewish podium from which to speak.


Dnipropetrovsk. Renovation of the sanctuary is on hold, pending collection of additional funds. Reconstruction of the synagogue basement, much of which is above ground, is proceeding rapidly. The area, scheduled to open on September 12, includes a four-room community center (computer laboratory, lecture hall, and two multi-purpose rooms for youth and family activities), kosher kitchen, 150-seat dining room, and a mikveh (with a separate entrance). The second and third floors will accommodate a women’s balcony on the second floor, a women’s club, classrooms for a yeshiva middle and high school for boys, a sports hall, and guest facilities for approximately 18 out-of-town visitors or others who wish to stay at the synagogue for Shabbat. Classrooms for a machon middle and high school for girls will be located elsewhere in the structure. 41. The writer met with Tatiana Muratova and Tatiana Gorbach, senior educators in the elementary and middle/high schools respectively of School #170, the school associated with Chabad in Kharkiv. The two divisions are located in separate buildings. Their collective enrollment, about 500 pupils, is growing modestly from year to year. In response to a question, the educators said that about 25 pupils emigrated from Kharkiv with their families during the school year. Most, they said, have gone to Israel. The basic motivation for departure is economic opportunity in Israel, but family reunification also is a factor. Many pupils in the school have relatives in Israel now. Ms. Muratova and Ms. Gorbach believe that School #170 provides its pupils with a very high level of education, better than is available in Israel. The level of instruction in mathematics is much better than in the United States, they said. As is the case in other Jewish day schools in the successor states, School #170 is able to attract superior teachers by offering excellent teaching conditions and salary bonuses. The school also holds seminars and continuing education programs for teachers. Elementary school pupils have two weekly lessons in English and two in Hebrew. They also have four weekly class periods in a combination of Jewish tradition, Jewish history, and Jewish art. In high school, the Jewish tradition classes are more formal and the number of weekly classes in the Hebrew language


increases to four. High school pupils also are scheduled for four weekly periods in English. Three young women from Israel teach most of the Judaic studies classes in the elementary school. Two husband-wife teams from Israel head the Jewish studies program in the middle/high school. A yeshiva middle/high school for boys has been sponsored by Chabad for some years. Sixteen boys were enrolled during the 2000-2001 academic year. The boys attend religious classes on the second floor of the synagogue during the morning and are taken by bus to the middle/high school for classes in general studies during the afternoon. A machon for girls opened this year and enrolled 11 fifth graders, who attend both religious and secular classes in the elementary school. It is expected that that the machon will add a grade each year. In a separate discussion with Rabbi Moskowitz, he said that his oldest son is the only rabbi’s child in the yeshiva school. None of the other boys is from a religiously observant family; most of the parents, said Rabbi Moskowitz, appear to be single mothers who are attracted to the school because their children study secular subjects in exceptionally small classes, some with only one or two pupils. They are very grateful for the attention that their youngsters receive. Rabbi Moskowitz thinks that most graduates of the yeshiva and machon will go to Israel after graduation, but that only “some” will enter a yeshiva or women’s seminary there. After many years of frustration, School #170 now has a modern computer laboratory with 14 workstations. The school had been promised a small number of computers by ORT, but these were diverted to an ORT school in Kyiv that was already well-equipped with computers. Later, School #170 was led to believe that it would receive a three-room ORT computer laboratory similar to the installation in the Dnipropetrovsk Chabad school. However, at the urging of the Joint Distribution Committee, this laboratory now is scheduled for installation in the new JDC-sponsored Jewish community center currently under development in the city.51 The existing computer facility in the school was donated by George Rohr. 42. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU; New York) operates a multi-faceted Zionist-oriented program in Kharkiv that focuses on Jewish adolescents and young adults. Rabbi Shlomo Assraf, the first OU representative in Kharkiv, continues to direct the project from Israel, where he now resides. The on-site director is Rabbi Haim Pelzner, also an Israeli, currently in the second year of what he anticipates will be a three-year stay in the

51 In correspondence with the writer, a senior official of World ORT Union in London has acknowledged both diversions. The official also acknowledged pressure from JDC on ORT to renege on its commitment to School #170 in favor of a JDC-sponsored Jewish community center.


city. Three other Israeli couples also work in the program, assisted by several American young adults and other Americans and Israelis who visit the city for short periods of time. For example, 35 young American Orthodox Jews came to help with Pesach. Rabbi Pelzner said that he had worked with olim children in Israel prior to coming to Kharkiv. He had intended to remain in Kharkiv for only 10 months (one academic year), but he has become attached to his work. It’s like a virus, he said, you catch it and it stays with you. He needs to be active, he continued, and this position is better for him than teaching in an Israeli yeshiva. The OU headquarters are at the Joseph K. Miller Torah Center52 in the center of Kharkiv. The premises include a synagogue, several meeting and activity rooms, a dining room and kitchen, dormitory space for boys attending the local OU school (see below), and apartments for Israeli staff. Lyc⎯e Sha’alvim, a joint project of the OU Joseph K. Miller Torah Center and Kibbutz Sha’alvim in Israel, is a private school that enrolled 250 pupils in grades five through eleven during the 2000-2001 academic year. Rabbi Pelzner anticipates an enrollment of 250 youngsters next fall as the school will add grades three and four at that time.53 The lyc⎯e building is located some distance away from the downtown Kharkiv center. The main goal of the OU program, said Rabbi Pelzner, is to raise Jewish youth as menschen, educated and proud Jews prepared to live normal Jewish lives. The OU accepts only halakhically Jewish children in its programs. OU becomes the primary care giver in many cases, he continued, because some of the parents who permit their youngsters to live in the OU dormitory don’t want their children to come home. They abandon their kids. The dormitory accommodates 20 high school boys in the Miller Torah Center and 20 girls in another building. Some of the youngsters are from deprived homes in Kharkiv, but others come from such places as Zaporizhya, Kremenchuk, and Simferopol. Many of these youngsters are from single-parent homes, and some are orphans. Some were living on the street (дети на улице). The OU office in Kharkiv receives telephone calls from neighbors and family

52 The Joseph K. Miller Torah Center was established in Kharkiv in 1991 in memory of Mr. Miller, then the treasurer of the Orthodox Union, who was killed in the explosion of Pan American Airways flight #103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. 53 Enrollment in May 1999, at the time of the writer’s last visit to the school, was 90 youngsters in grades seven through 11.


acquaintances about children in distress. In addition to providing these youngsters with housing and food, the OU also provides clothing and medicine. The lyc⎯e offers a comprehensive curriculum in both general and Jewish studies, similar to that provided by a modern Orthodox school in the United States. It is strongly Zionist in its orientation, encouraging and assisting pupils to complete their high school experiences in Israel. Some 54 youngsters were enrolled in the 2000-2001 ninth grade class, said Rabbi Pelzner, but only ten were in the eleventh grade class, the final year of school in Ukraine. Many lyc⎯e pupils go to Israel in the tenth grade, a large number of them participating in the Na’aleh high school in Israel program. Rabbi Pelzner is grateful for the opportunities provided by Na’aleh while expressing strong criticism of it. First, he noted, youngsters are surrounded by other new olim, which delays their integration into Israeli society. Second, he added, Na’aleh accepts only the very brightest teens, excluding those who have great potential to be fine citizens, but whose strengths may be in areas other than traditional academics. Such a practice is “not right.” He would like to open a modern Orthodox boarding school in Israel that would enroll both olim and sabra youngsters. He also thinks there is a need for a boarding facility that accommodates young adult olim on leave from the army or on vacation from university. Many such young people, he observed, are in Israel without their families and have no place to stay when on leave or on vacation. Lyc⎯e pupils in Kharkiv engage in various mitzvah projects. They distributed Chanukah parcels to some 2000 Kharkiv Jewish families, each parcel containing a menorah and candles, Chanukah gifts, and a Russian-language book of holiday songs and customs. At Purim, they distributed 600 mishloah manot gifts to local Jewish elderly.54 After sponsoring large seders, some of which included over 200 people, for several years, the OU arranged a number of smaller seders in 2001 for a total of 400 local people. Thirty-five madrichim from the United States, along with local students, worked in teams to lead separate seders in OU premises and at various other sites. They found that the smaller gatherings were much more pleasant and offered many more opportunities for individual participation and learning. The Orthodox Union also operates a large summer camp at a site near Kharkiv, accommodating 500 children, teens, and young adults between the ages of eight

54 Such gifts usually include plates or small baskets of hamantaschen, cake, fruit, small bottles of wine, etc.


and about 23 during one three-week session. Campers come from towns and cities throughout Ukraine, and some later attend the OU lyc⎯e as boarding students. Young American Jews participating in the OU JOLT program serve as madrichim to the younger campers.55 The Joseph K. Miller Torah Center is busy 24 hours every day, seven days each week, said Rabbi Pelzner. It offers several clubs for adolescents, a small computer facility, and several Shabbat activities. A student club enrolls about 100 young adults, 30 of whom are activists and come to the Center three times a week for learning and social activities. Five or six students work as madrichim or youth leaders to local youth. A young woman madricha (leader) from Los Angeles helps a local teen become acquainted with Jewish texts. The madricha had been learning in an Israeli women’s seminary and came to Kharkiv for several months to work as a volunteer in the OU program. Such one-on-one relationships are not uncommon, and have yielded great respect for the Orthodox Union in Kharkiv. The Center also provides daily hot meals in its dining room for 60 to 70 local Jewish elderly in a program subsidized by JDC. The situation is very difficult (очень тяжело) for them, said Rabbi Pelzner; many receive monthly pensions of only about $10. The OU tries to help some of them with small “supplemental pensions.” The Orthodox Union program is highly regarded by leaders of other Jewish organizations in the city. Special praise is directed toward the personal connections that OU staff and visiting madrichim build with individual local young people, many of whom are in stressful family situations and need attention from responsible young adults and teachers. However, both local OU staff and non-OU observers note that the OU premises are stretched to the limit and that the program is unlikely to maintain its current high quality in the absence of expanded facilities.

55 JOLT (Jewish Overseas Leadership Training) enrolls tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade leaders in a five-week summer travel program to Poland, Kharkiv, and Israel.


43. The Kharkiv Hillel student group is large and active, as might be expected in a city with more than two dozen academic institutions. According to Yulia Pototskaya, its director, the organization has over 300 members between the ages of 15 and 30; among them are students from each of the 27 local universities and technical institutes. The majority of members reside in Kharkiv. As is the case in many other Hillel groups in Ukraine, the Jewish heritage of many Kharkiv Hillel students is tenuous at best. A large number have only one Jewish grandparent, and the Jewish background of others is even more questionable. Hillel is one of the few extra-curricular activities available to students in impoverished Ukraine. Kharkiv Hillel offers the standard range of post-Soviet Hillel activities, including various interest groups and classes in Jewish tradition. Special programs are held for a family club that enrolls about 100 families with small children. This group meets every Friday and on Jewish holidays. Some of the family units include three generations. Hillel has an especially close relationship with School #170, the Chabad day school from which many of its members graduated. Hillel members work with School #170 pupils in several afterschool activities. They are close to Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz and helped him in the early stages of renovation of the choral synagogue by collecting and then removing three truckloads of rubble from the long-neglected sanctuary. Hillel students from several universities in Washington, D.C., joined their Kharkiv counterparts in the 2001 Pesach Project, traveling together in mixed teams to smaller towns to conduct seders and engage in other Pesach activities. Both groups consider the exchange a great success. In a program entitled From Generation to Generation (От поколения до поколения), Hillel leads Shabbat services at the local hesed and celebrates holidays with Kharkiv Jewish elderly. Hillel also has cleaned and helps to maintain an old Jewish cemetery, and has been active in maintaining a memorial site at Drobitsky Yar, a local ravine in which Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Ms. Pototskkaya -- and others in Kharkiv -- spoke emotionally and at some length about a public quarrel now engulfing Kharkiv Hillel and the Joint Distribution Committee. In mid-2000, a regional representative of JDC, which acts as agent in the transfer of budgetary funds from the international office of Hillel to local Hillels in the post-Soviet states, demanded that Ms. Pototskaya be replaced. The representative, referred to by some as “Napoleon,” claimed that


she had committed financial irregularities in the exercise of her responsibilities. Ms. Pototskaya denied the charges and declined to step aside. Two hundred Hillel students locked themselves inside the JDC-sponsored Jewish community center, where the Hillel office was located, as a show of support for Ms. Pototskaya. The national headquarters of Hillel in Ukraine rejected the accusations of “Napoleon” and also continued to support Ms. Pototskaya. JDC began to delay the transmission of Hillel funds to Kharkiv Hillel, apparently in an attempt to coerce Ms. Pototskaya to resign. After considerable acrimony, Hillel moved out of the JCC and found its own quarters, two large rooms in a centrally-located Kharkiv building. The students themselves renovated the new premises. Because JDC retained most Hillel office equipment, Hillel turned to friends and visitors for assistance. The Washington, D.C., Hillel group gave $400 for a printer, tape recorder, and boom box, and another American visitor contributed $500 for a fax machine and scanner. The office has one computer and is stretched to pay fees for Internet access. JDC continues to transmit international Hillel funds to Kharkiv Hillel, but both Kharkiv Hillel and local observers contend that the transfers often are delayed. According to Ms. Pototskaya, rent for the new premises consumes 60 percent of the local Hillel budget. After the salaries of Ms. Pototskaya and several other (mostly part-time) staff members are paid, Hillel is left with $60 for monthly program expenses. It no longer serves food at any events, a matter of some significance in Ukraine where many individuals are poorly fed. Unlike almost every other large-city Hillel in the post-Soviet states, it publishes no newspaper or any other student media. The cost of Hillel staff and student participation at Hillel national and other conferences is paid by national Hillel. “Napoleon,” said Ms. Pototskaya, persists in issuing complaints against Hillel. Hillel continues to conduct Shabbat services at the JDC-sponsored hesed, said Ms. Pototskaya, because the hesed supports Hillel in this dispute.56 Hillel members also continue to serve as counselors at JDC-sponsored family camps because the camps cannot operate without Hillel leadership. JDC, claimed Ms. Pototskaya, argues with everyone whom they cannot control. Every day they [JDC] attempt to impose new “rules.” There are no laws here. (В нашем городе законов нет.) Ms. Pototskaya commented that JDC had given Hillel a JDC banner, which, asserted Ms. Pototskaya, cost $75. “That’s how they help us!” (“Tак они помогают нам!)

56 Rumors persist in Kharkiv, verified in part by JDC itself, that JDC intends to close the current hesed and replace it with another hesed, complete with new staff. See below.


In an attempt to fill the void left created by the departure of Hillel, the JDC-sponsored Jewish community center in Kharkiv has created a “youth club,” the program of which seems to mimic that of Hillel. When the Hillel members from Washington, D.C., came to Kharkiv for the Pesach project, JDC attempted to insert members of the “youth club” in the Kharkiv Hillel delegation. Kharkiv Hillel declined to include the “youth club” members in the project. Ms. Pototskaya and other observers believe that the crisis can be resolved only through intervention at the executive level of the Joint Distribution Committee. They are bitter that upper-level JDC professionals, although fully aware of the situation, have not bothered to visit Kharkiv. These same individuals, they note, travel frequently in the post-Soviet states, and it is not difficult to reach Kharkiv. They also are aware that “Napoleon” caused similar problems in a previous position with JDC. JDC, they observe, does not seem interested in pursuing a solution to the problem. Ms. Pototskaya spoke emotionally about the support that she has received from the national Hillel office in Kyiv and the international Hillel office in Jerusalem. She also expressed gratitude for the support extended by other Jewish leaders in the city, and said that a new group of businessmen, the Union of the Jewish Community of Kharkiv, may provide some financial assistance in the future. (See below.) In response to a question, Ms. Pototskaya said that emigration of students is not a major concern for Hillel. She estimated that about 15 Hillel members had departed in the last three years. Her goal, she said, is that Jewish young people remain in Kharkiv and that Hillel remain active in Kharkiv as well. Several individuals associated with the Jewish Agency for Israel (Sochnut), which has cooperative relationships with Hillel in some post-Soviet cities, consider Kharkiv Hillel and Kyiv Hillel the most strongly anti-Zionist Hillel groups in Ukraine. 44. International Solomon University was founded in 1992 as a commercial undergraduate and graduate degree-granting institution in Kyiv. It opened its first (and, so far, only) branch in Kharkiv in 1998. Its curriculum similar to that of its Kyiv parent, the Kharkiv branch offers academic concentrations in seven areas: Judaic studies (focusing on Jewish history), economics, computer science, law, sociology, biology, and medical engineering.57 The approximately 250 students pay $400 per year in tuition costs. 57 A description of courses suggests that the economics concentration might more appropriately be designated as a business administration degree. The medical engineering concentration prepares students for careers in the specialties of “biotechnical and medical apparatus and systems.”


According to Dr. Boris Elkin, formerly a mathematics professor at a leading Kharkiv institute and now director of Kharkiv ISU, about 70 percent of Kharkiv ISU students are Jewish according to the Israeli Law of Return. Some of the 60 students in Jewish studies, which is the largest of the seven departments, are non-Jewish; Dr. Elkin and others welcome the enrollment of non-Jews in Jewish studies because the exposure of non-Jews to Jewish subjects should help to reduce antisemitism. Several local universities, noted Dr. Elkin, have very strong history departments, but none teaches Jewish history; the ISU Jewish history concentration fills an important gap and the strength of history disciplines in other Kharkiv institutions should encourage a high level of Jewish history study at ISU. Dr. Elkin outlined several problems affecting Kharkiv ISU. First, he said, it is difficult for a new educational institution located outside the national capital to achieve credibility and to attract funding. Second, a new university inevitably lacks a full complement of faculty specialists; visiting lecturers must be brought in to the city from Moscow and abroad to complement local competence. Obviously, the engagement of such individuals is very expensive. Third, continued Dr. Elkin, study of the Khazars may assume an unhealthy emphasis in Jewish history as some evidence speaks of a Khazar settlement in the Kharkiv region. ISU Jewish history students have participated in archaeological expeditions with other local history students to sites believed associated with Khazar history.58 Fourth, the premises available to Kharkiv ISU are inadequate for their needs. They are now “guests” in a large secondary school building. Both JDC and JAFI, said Dr. Elkin, are trying to help Kharkiv ISU find new facilities. Dr. Elkin himself identifies strongly with Judaism and the Jewish community. Although not a practicing Orthodox Jew, he is a past lay leader of the Orthodox Union program in Kharkiv and is the current Chairman of the Board of Beit Dan, the JDC-sponsored Jewish Community Center (see below). Two of Dr. Elkin’s three sons have emigrated to Israel. His second son was in the first Na’aleh program; the experiences of the son and several other families with whom Dr. Elkin is acquainted have led him to conclude that the Na’aleh program should be overhauled or, instead, alternatives to Na’aleh should be developed. The most critical problem in Na’aleh, continued Dr. Elkin, is that the most outstanding high schools in Israel are not available to the brightest Na’aleh pupils. A solution to this issue, said Dr. Elkin, is development of a pre-university lyc⎯e that enrolls bright pupils considering emigration to Israel. In such a lyc⎯e, according to Dr. 58 Khazars are an ethnic group of Turkic origin who inhabited the Caucasus-Volga area and even beyond to the Dnipr between the sixth and tenth centuries CE. Many leading Khazars professed Judaism during part of this period. The Khazars were conquered by Russians in the tenth and eleventh centuries.


Elkin’s plan, youngsters would study in Ukraine for ninth through eleventh grade and in Israel for twelfth grade. They would receive diplomas recognized by both Ukraine and Israel. The program would be much less costly to operate than a full high school program in Israel, said Dr. Elkin, because Ukrainian teachers are paid much less than their Israeli counterparts. Dr. Elkin would like to see such a school developed in close collaboration with Kharkiv ISU. The new lyc⎯e should be non-religious so that it would complement the existing Chabad and OU high schools. It should develop clubs for middle school pupils so that these youngsters would become familiar with the lyc⎯e and choose to enroll in it. Dr. Elkin is seeking funding for such a school. Without prompting from the writer, Dr. Elkin raised the issue of the conflict surrounding JDC and the Beit Dan Jewish Community Center. As Chairman of the Board of Beit Dan, he is being swept into the dispute. Outsiders, he said in reference to JDC, must realize that it is impossible to develop a totally unified Jewish community in a large Jewish population center such as Kharkiv. From his research in local Jewish history, he knows that at least ten separate Jewish organizations existed in Kharkiv prior to the 1917 Revolution and that no “wars” ever broke out among them. JDC must realize that multiple interest groups exist in contemporary Kharkiv, and each has its own interests. For example, continued Dr. Elkin, the “able” (способные) working adult Jewish population between the ages of 25 and approximately 65 has one set of interests, and the retired older and disabled Jewish populations have other needs. Local wealthy Jews also must be brought into the community, he said. He observed with a sigh that Kharkiv is not like Dnipropetrovsk, where most wealthy Jews have been mobilized on behalf of various Jewish interests. Also, noted Dr. Elkin, Kharkiv has a large Jewish intellectual elite connected with the numerous educational and medical institutions in the city; because of budgetary problems affecting these institutions, many such individuals are in great difficulty at the present time. However, few of them are associated with the Jewish community in any way. Many local Jews tried to conceal their Jewish identity during the Soviet period, said Dr. Elkin. Some are now emerging into Jewish life. The Jewish community here in Kharkiv is very isolated, as in a местечко, a small town.59 Local Jews need input and advice from many different sources, and must not submit to the domination of any one group. A new generation of Jews, continued Dr. Elkin, will be more serious and more professional. Inevitably, they will challenge anyone who tries to control them. The conflict in the city, said Dr. Elkin, is more about power and ambition than about anything else. It is very dangerous.

59 The term mestechko is often applied to small, isolated towns in Ukraine and Belarus. The appellation carries a sense of dullness, ignorance, slothfulness, and general backwardness.


45. The Kharkiv Jewish Cultural Center, also known as Beit Dan, hosts a number of clubs and activities available to the Jewish community of the city.60 It offers interest groups for children, families, and adults in art, music, drama, dance, sports, and self-defense. It sponsors a weekly radio program, holiday celebrations, and three family camp sessions. The facility has a small auditorium seating 70 people, a library, small café and kosher kitchen, a small gymnasium (sports hall) used for sports and dance, a computer room with seven workstations, and several general activity rooms. A Kharkiv artist has created attractive murals and other wall art depicting local and Israeli scenes. JDC recently has purchased a larger building that is being renovated to accommodate Beit Dan activities by September 2001. Beit Dan is scheduled to move into the building at right by the Tishrei holidays in 2001. Five times larger than the current JCC, the facility is in good condition and requires reno-vations only to meet specific JCC requirements. The new facility will have activity areas on all four floors, said Dani Gekhtman, JDC Representative in Kharkiv and the surrounding area. Among its features will be a three-room ORT computer center with a total of 36 workstations.61 The new center will be light and airy, said Mr. Gekhtman, and high-quality art is an integral feature of its design. He believes that the new Beit Dan will become the center of all Jewish activity in the city.62

60 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. 61 The ORT computer workshop had been promised to one of the two Jewish day schools in the city. Because the OU school was well-equipped with computer technology, it deferred to the Chabad school. However, JDC intervened and persuaded ORT to install the new laboratory in the planned JDC-sponsored Jewish community center. See p. 49. 62 Local detractors of JDC, who are numerous, note that the new building is not centrally located and that the tension afflicting all areas of JDC operations in the city is likely to limit the appeal of


The writer met with Mr. Gekhtman in the current Beit Dan. Mr. Gekhtman has worked in Ukraine for approximately ten years, previously representing Nativ/Lishkat Hakesher in Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Kyiv. He reports directly to the JDC regional director referred to by many in Kharkiv as “Napoleon.” Mr. Gekhtman reviewed activities in the current Beit Dan, escorting the writer on a tour of the premises. The former office of the Hillel student club now carries a sign that says “Youth Club.” A schedule on the wall shows some activities similar to those of Hillel, but the list is far less comprehensive than that offered by Hillel. The Youth Club has 60 to 70 members, said Mr. Gekhtman. Mr. Gekhtman acknowledged that the Hillel student group had been based in the building and then left (ушℑл). An audit showed improper bookkeeping, misuse of funds, and money laundering, said Mr. Gekhtman.63 When JDC protested these practices to Hillel, he continued, Hillel moved out of the building. He knows that they now want to return, he maintained, and he is confident that Hillel will rejoin Beit Dan when it moves into its new facility.64 Beit Dan will welcome them back because, Mr. Gekhtman said, Hillel’s own audit shows that all of the past problems have been corrected. Hillel also has its own lawyer, he added. In response to a question concerning JDC ‘s role as a transmitter of funds to Hillel, Mr. Gekhtman said that JDC continues to fund Hillel, although it had delayed transmitting funds for some months until it could be confident that monies were being recorded and used appropriately. The Kharkiv hesed, said Mr. Gekhtman, has been successful in developing the professionalism of its workers and continues to improve its services. It has made particular progress in the periphery of the city, he continued. However, a major problem exists in that the current hesed facility is dark and gloomy. It is likely that JDC will purchase a new building for the hesed in three to four months and will close the current facility as soon as the new premises are available.65 any JDC-associated activity. The tension will not be eased, they aver, until “Napoleon” is transferred out of the area and his controversial policies are reversed. 63 Hillel management in Ukraine acknowledges some minor bookkeeping errors in Kharkiv Hillel accounts, but asserts that these were innocent mistakes devoid of malevolent intent. It vigorously denies accusations of misuse of funds and money laundering. 64 The writer heard nothing suggesting that Hillel is eager to return to Beit Dan, although the student group certainly would appreciate some relief from the additional rent expenses incurred by its move to commercially-priced office space. It is unlikely that Hillel would feel comfortable in a JDC-controlled facility while “Napoleon” remains JDC regional director. 65 Local Jewish activists contend that the impending closure of the Kharkiv hesed is related much less to shortcomings in the facility than to conflict between the hesed management and JDC, i.e., “Napoleon.” When the hesed re-opens in new premises, they predict, its current upper-tier staff will have been dismissed and replaced by individuals loyal to “Napoleon.” The change in buildings will provide JDC with a “cover” to change management staff as well.


Mr. Gekhtman bemoaned the low level of Jewish identification among the Jewish population in the city. Seven of ten individuals responding to an advertisement in local newspapers for a new director of Beit Dan knew nothing of existing Jewish community institutions, including Beit Dan itself or the choral synagogue. All of these individuals are Jews according to halakha.66 On a more positive note, Mr. Gekhtman observed that several wealthy local Jews are coming forward as donors. The Orthodox Union, Chabad, and the Maccabee sports club have all received significant contributions from local individuals in recent years. It seems to him that Kharkiv Jewish organizations have now reached the level of Dnipropetrovsk in 1994-1995 in terms of attracting local Jewish money. 45. Miron Lahat is director of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI, Sochnut) office in Kharkiv, which covers Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, and Luhansk oblasts. Together, this area covers about one-sixth of Ukraine. About 30,000 Jews reside in the entire area, most of them in Kharkiv itself, he believes. The largest aliyah from the area in recent years was in 1999, when 4,200 people departed for Israel, said Mr. Lahat.67 The aliyah total for 2000 was 3,080, and he anticipates that the 2001 figure will be somewhat lower than that for 2000. The major reason for lower aliyah, stated Mr. Lahat, is not the current violence in Israel, but the declining aliyah pool. Fewer and fewer younger Jews, who constitute the majority of those likely to make aliyah, remain in the city. Economic opportunity and family reunification drive emigration, he said, and the intifada is likely to have little impact on those who are suffering economically in Kharkiv or who already have family in Israel. However, if these factors do not apply in specific cases, individuals eager to emigrate probably prefer to go to Germany, the United States, or Australia. About 1,000 people currently are enrolled in JAFI ulpan classes throughout the area, 400 of them in Kharkiv alone. About 1400 participate in various JAFI clubs and interest groups in Kharkiv, 600 on a regular basis.

66 Mr. Gekhtman did not explain that “Napoleon” had fired the immediate past director of Beit Dan. Several individuals with whom the writer spoke consider the search process for a new Beit Dan director to be a sham. The new director, they said, has already been chosen by “Napoleon.” 67 Reflecting the Russian economic collapse in 1998, 1999 was a record year for aliyah from many areas of the post-Soviet states. The situation in Russia had a ripple effect throughout former Soviet territory.


JAFI will operate summer camps in 2001 for 200 youngsters between the ages of eight and eleven, 400 between the ages of 12 and 16, and 140 students. Additionally, it will provide subsidies to the Orthodox Union for its summer camp and for 30 students participating in the Solomon University summer school. It also will select youngsters (probably 150) for a camp to be run by Hashomer Hatzair and subsidize operation of the camp. Hashomer Hatzair held a seminar in Kharkiv in late May to train 50 local madrichim, said Mr. Lahat. Twenty-six JAFI activists between the ages of 16 and 22 or 24 will attend a seminar in Israel this summer, said Mr. Lahat. The seminar will cover several elements, including leadership training. The Sochnut student club is the largest in the city, attracting more than 300 students. However, said Mr. Lahat, Hillel is almost as large and offers a very rich program. He is troubled by its strong anti-Zionst stance, especially because some of its members probably will remain in the city and form the next generation of local Jewish leadership. 46. Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz, a Caracas-born follower of Chabad, is Chief Rabbi of Kharkiv. He, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki of Dnipropetrovsk, and Rabbi Yaakov Bleich are the longest-serving rabbis in Ukraine, all having been in the country since 1990. Despite community tension over the actions of JDC personnel in the city, Rabbi Moskowitz seemed much more positive and optimistic than during the writer’s most recent previous visit, in 1999. The removal of Eduard Khodos as a contender for authority in the Kharkiv Jewish community has enabled Rabbi Moskowitz to look forward;68 the JDC situation underscores the necessity of doing so. The ongoing renovation of the synagogue, including its generous space for community activity, appears to be a major focus of Rabbi Moskowitz’s current work. The activation of the community rooms during the Tishrei holiday period will thrust Chabad into a position of prominence that it has not previously enjoyed. Rabbi Moskowitz is working with two groups of local businessmen and other leaders to provide support to his and other Jewish community institutions. The first, Friends of the Synagogue (Друзья синагоги), includes 20 local businessmen who extend some support to the synagogue, although no specific

68 See pp. 46-47.


level of contribution is required.69 Rabbi Moskowitz noted that it is much easier to persuade people to contribute to the synagogue than to convince them to donate to the day school. He tries to develop a relationship with the donors and to bring them closer to Judaism. The second group, the Union of the Jewish Community of Kharkiv (Объединение еврейской общины Харьковы), is now in formation. Its purpose is to bring various local Jewish institutions together in a common forum; among those that have joined are School #170, Hillel, a local Jewish theater group, a Jewish television program, a Jewish women’s group (Malka), and the hesed. The Beit Dan Jewish community center, noted Rabbi Moskowitz, has refused to join the Union. The principal lay leader in the Union is Alexander Borisovich Feldman, a wealthy local businessman who is close to Rabbi Moskowitz. Among the other businessmen active in organizing the Union are some individuals already involved in Friends of the Synagogue. The Union is not a fundraising organization, said Rabbi Moskowitz. (However, it was made clear in discussions that the writer held with representatives of several of the member organizations that these organizations are anticipating allocations from the Union.) Friends of the Synagogue is the fundraising organization, added Rabbi Moskowitz, perhaps suggesting that he fears a conflict between the two groups. The eruption of hostile feeling (взрыв) between JDC and other major community institutions (Hillel, the hesed), commented Rabbi Moskowitz, has its origin in the lack of clearly defined policy by JDC. “Everyone complains” that no clear policies exist, that there are “too many secrets” and no “guidelines.” There are “no visible by-laws” and no one knows what is expected. JDC issues dictates, whereas organizations want independence. Rabbi Moskowitz is not certain that the vast gap between JDC and other organizations can be bridged; certainly, JDC is not trying to close the gap. Their top professionals are aware of the tension in the city, but no one has come to Kharkiv to investigate it or to try to resolve it. Because Boris Elkin, Director of International Solomon University in Kharkiv, is Chairman of the Board of Beit Dan, continued Rabbi Moskowitz, he has absorbed much of the anger directed toward JDC. Boris Elkin is a visible target, JDC is not present. Boris Elkin is unable to do anything, Rabbi Moskowitz suggested. Dr. Elkin is “a tool” of the Beit Dan Board of Directors, and the Beit Dan Board of Directors is “a tool” of JDC, said Rabbi Moskowitz.

69 It is common for such groups in the post-Soviet states to require specific gifts on a monthly basis for membership on a board. In Ukraine, the amounts seem to range from $50 to $600, depending on the community.


Rabbi Moskowitz continued that International Solomon University in Kharkiv asked him to be a member of its Board of Directors. He refused, said Rabbi Moskowitz, because he thinks that it would be improper for him to sit on the board of a commercial institution. ISU enrolls many non-Jewish students, he noted, and he fears that the institution desires a rabbinic presence on its board in order to deceive potential Jewish donors into thinking that they are contributing to a Jewish organization. Kharkiv Chabad will operate two three-week summer camp sessions in 2001, said Rabbi Moskowitz, one for 150 boys and one for 150 girls. Each camp session will include a 10-day camp within the regular camp for a smaller number of university students -- 25 males and 18 females -- who already study twice a week with Chabad during the academic year.

Kyiv

47. As the capital of Ukraine and its largest city (estimated population 2.63 million), Kyiv also seems to be one of its most attractive cities. At the time of the writer’s visit in May, the numerous trees lining its major streets were in full spring glory, not yet seared by summer heat. The Khreshchatyk, Kyiv’s best-known boulevard, and streets feeding into it are host to increasingly well-designed shop windows. Elegant older buildings, particularly those accommodating government offices, are being restored to prior dignity. The Jewish population of the Ukrainian capital is estimated by most local Jewish officials and outside observers at between 70,000 and 100,000. Jews reside in various sections in the city, on both sides of the Dnepr River. 48. The writer’s first visit in Kyiv was to the office of Chava, a grassroots women’s group concerned with the welfare of approximately 300 single-parent families that include about 500 children.70 The group developed from a women’s club that met in the early and mid-1990s in the Shekavitskaya street synagogue of Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine. Now independent from the synagogue, Chava maintains good relations with it and with Rabbi Bleich. Its office is housed in a two-room apartment near the synagogue. Chava

70 Although single mothers constitute the overwhelming majority of custodial parents in Chava, the group also includes some single fathers and some grandparents, both singles and couples, with custodial responsibility for children.


receives small subsidies from the Joint Distribution Committee to cover rent and utilities for the office and from the Jewish Community Development Fund (American Jewish World Service). Merchants and others also contribute to the organization, but Chava has no regular donors other than JDC, AJWS, and the family of Maya Zaitseva, its volunteer executive director. The first part of the meeting with Mrs. Zaitseva took place in a darkened room illuminated by a single small lamp. The larger of the two rooms in the ground floor apartment has several windows, but these were covered by metal shutters to conceal a computer and other office equipment from passersby who might wish to appropriate them for their own purposes. Neither Mrs. Zaitseva nor an assistant knew how to open the shutters. After some time, another volunteer arrived; his expertise apparently includes opening shutters, for he accomplished this task with great speed and ease. Mrs. Zaitseva reviewed the client base of Chava. All 300 families are Jewish, she said, showing the writer several neat and well-organized notebooks full of copies of birth certificates, internal passports, and other documentation. Of the 500 children, at least 300 reside in the city of Kyiv and the others live in Kyiv oblast, probably 20 to 30 minutes from Kyiv itself. Most of the families who live outside the city have relatives in the city; the city relatives usually make the initial contact with Chava on behalf of those outside the city. Perhaps 20 percent of the Chava children are handicapped, said Mrs. Zaitseva. The most common handicap is cerebral palsy, followed by Down syndrome. Some have vision and/or hearing impairments, and others are just generally weak, usually a consequence of impoverishment. All of these youngsters, continued Mrs. Zaitseva, need fresh air, sports, and summer camp. However, provision of such accoutrements is beyond Chava capacity. Most camps in the area require some payment, and even a token payment exceeds the resources of Chava or the families. Further, many of the families are uncomfortable with the Orthodox lifestyle imposed by several sponsors of Jewish camps. Chava has no access to local sports facilities or play areas. The major activity of Chava is purchase and distribution of food parcels to the neediest families. “Without us, they would be hungry.” Contents of these parcels usually include rice, groats, buckwheat, pasta, flour, processed fish or meat, bouillon cubes, cookies, powdered milk, sunflower seed oil, sugar, and fruit juice. Fresh fruit (usually apples or oranges) and food associated with seasonal Jewish holidays is also included. Whenever possible, Chava tries to purchase small Chanukah toys or other gifts, such as individual sets of felt-tipped pens, for the children. Chava families, said Mrs. Zaitseva, cannot afford to buy such “frills.”


Mrs. Zaitseva estimated that perhaps five percent of Chava families live in communal apartments, that is, in one or two rooms of a larger apartment in which multiple families share kitchen and bathroom facilities. The “norm” for Chava families, she continued, is a very crowded apartment of two rooms (plus small kitchen and bath) shared by three generations -- one or two grandparents, a single parent, and one or more children. One person in such a family may be earning a salary, said Mrs. Zaitseva, and that salary often is about $20 per month. The lowest would be $14 or $15 monthly. Even $20 is not enough to feed and clothe three or more persons; there would be no money even to buy a bar of soap. In many Chava families, no one has been able to find work. Mrs. Zaitseva observed that more than 60 percent of the Ukrainian population lives below the official poverty line of between $50 and $60 per month. The situation is a “terrible catastrophe” (ужасная катастрофа) for children. Hunger (голод) among children is appalling, frightening (устрашний). Nothing compares with it, said Mrs. Zaitseva. Conditions are deteriorating further, continued Mrs. Zaitseva. Jews have long roots in Ukraine, she said. Each family who is still here has its own reasons for not leaving. Parents cannot educate their children in Judaism because the parents themselves are ignorant in Judaism; impoverished families have no energy for education even if they have knowledge to transmit. Therefore, she asserted, another goal of Chava is to “go out and find” Jewish children and educate them in Jewish tradition, to “reverse 70 years of forced assimilation.” Lacking the means to do so, Chava offers no formal Jewish education programs. They had hoped that a new Sunday school opened by the Masorti (Conservative) movement would provide a good opportunity for Chava youngsters, but the school is not working well. (See below.) Chava is able to sponsor holiday celebrations in the Kyiv hesed. Children participate in various art and other activities during these festivities. Small groups of children meet in the Chava office from time to time for art classes and various small group activities. Chava distributes books and other materials about holidays to families. The Chava women, said Mrs. Zaitseva, like to attend lectures arranged for them twice monthly at the Makor Jewish community center.71 The lectures usually are given by specialists at the Institute of Judaica (see below) and include such topics as Jewish culture, Jewish painting, and Jewish Kyiv. Sometimes Chava women are taken on excursions of Jewish Kyiv. When Chava mothers meet at Makor, activities are arranged there for their children as well.

71 This facility closed in mid-June. See below.


The Chava dream (мечта), said Ms. Zaitseva, is to open its own facility in which a Center for Jewish Music would be located, along with premises for general Jewish education, art, and computer training for both Chava children and their parents. There are “New Ukrainians,” 72 she continued, but, unfortunately, few “New Jews.” Few newly wealthy Jews, at least in Kyiv, have Jewish souls; they don’t understand the meaning of the word mitzvah. She herself was unable to keep kosher, to refrain from work on Shabbat during the Soviet period. More important, she said, is that people were unable to retain their souls. She thinks it is unlikely that the new community facilities required by Chava and others ever will be built. It also is very difficult to work in the Jewish community while various Jewish groups are quarreling with each other. Rabbi Bleich and Rabbi Moshe Asman, the Chabad rabbi in Kyiv, are waging a battle in public through Jewish periodicals that they control; it is all very ugly.73 However, she acknowledged, Rabbi Bleich’s school does help many people. The Progressive Rabbi in Kyiv, Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, helps very few people, she added. Through telephone calls from her daughter, who was in Chicago at the time of the writer’s meeting with Mrs. Zaitseva, and through some discussions with JDC, Mrs. Zaitseva was aware that a wealthy Ukrainian Jewish immigrant in Chicago has pledged $50,000 each year for three years to Chava for purchase of food to be distributed to its families.74 The food is to be purchased in bulk by JDC and turned over to Chava for packing and distribution. The benefactor also hoped to include multivitamins and clothing for children in his donation. Mrs. Zaitseva expressed gratitude for the gift, but insisted that Chava could do a better job of purchasing food than JDC. Chava has had considerable experience in buying food in bulk, she said, and always is very careful in handling money. If the donor would like receipts from their purchases, Chava can provide these, she said. She and an assistant showed the writer numerous catalogued receipts from recent purchases. Chava’s needs change from day to day, and JDC is inflexible. She works with JDC quite often, she continued, and their relations are “normal.” However, JDC is too inflexible to buy clothing for individuals or medicine for individual clients.75

72 “New Ukrainians” usually refers to the new class of enormously wealthy post-Soviet Ukrainians, including many Jews. Many such individuals are believed to have accumulated their wealth illegally, sometimes through organized crime. 73 Ten Jewish newspapers and magazines are published in Kyiv. 74 The food distribution will be implemented in the context of the Kehilla Project of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, a sister-city partnership between the Jewish communities of Chicago and Kyiv. 75 The Chicago donor insists that food purchases be managed by JDC. JDC acknowledges that it lacks the ability to buy clothing (mainly school uniforms) for individual children, and the price estimates that it submitted for the purchase of children’s multivitamins were extraordinarily high. Subsequently, a second Chicago donor agreed to make a contribution directly to Chava for the


49. The writer met with Vladimir Glozman, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Representative in Kyiv, and Dr. Amos Avgar, JDC Country Director for Ukraine, at the JDC office in Kyiv. Incongruously, the office lobby area is furnished with bamboo chairs and tables, thus providing a tropical ambiance in the Ukrainian capital. Mr. Glozman said that Hesed Avot continues to expand its services. Its major accomplishment in the city of Kyiv in recent months is that all of its various soup kitchens are now open four to five times each week, whereas some of them previously provided meal service only twice a week. Hesed Avot now operates three kosher dining programs (in Hesed Avot itself and in the synagogues of Rabbi Bleich and Rabbi Asman) and six non-kosher programs, the latter in restaurants with which it has contracts. New heseds have been opened in six Jewish population centers in western Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi (formerly Proskurov), Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivska, Ternopil, Lutsk, and Uzhorod. The hesed in Khmelnytskyi is called Hesed Besht, in memory of Israel b. Eliezer Ba’al Shem Tov (1700-1760), the founder of modern Hasidism, whose tomb is located in the nearby town of Medzhybizh. JDC is expanding the use of hesedmobiles, specially-fitted vehicles that bring hesed services to Jews in population centers too small to justify the opening of a local hesed. Kyiv oblast, which has many small towns in which fewer than 500 Jews remain, is a major target for this service. A hesedmobile will “reach each and every Jew” in such smaller Jewish population centers. JDC has initiated a new program, the SOS Fund, which currently is in an experimental stage. The SOS Fund is designed to provide resources for individuals requiring emergency or extraordinary support not commonly supplied by heseds. For example, it might provide milk or fresh vegetables to people whose health conditions suggest a need for such items. The Mazal Tov program, said Dr. Avgar, uses the existing Jewish community infrastructure in a cost-effective way. Originally designed to educate young mothers and their children under three years of age, the program has been extended to children up to 12 years of age in peripheral towns where no Jewish schools exist. Mothers come to the hesed for classes in child development, pediatric nutrition, and Jewish tradition; concurrently, the smallest children are

local purchase of school uniforms and other children’s clothing, and Jewish Healthcare International, an Atlanta-based organization, has assisted the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago in finding an inexpensive source of children’s multivitamins.


cared for by older women participating in hesed programs for the elderly, and older youngsters attend formal and informal classes in Judaism, art, and other subjects. Of the large-city Mazal Tov programs, said Dr. Avgar, the one in Odesa is probably the best. JDC also has directed additional resources toward the restoration of synagogues in such cities and towns as Lviv, Khust, Rivno, Slavuta, Shepetivka, and Khmelnytskyi, Given the small Jewish populations remaining in most of these towns, it is likely that these facilities will be used more for community gatherings and cultural programs than for religious observance. Consonant with new objectives stated several years ago, JDC also is directing additional resources into Jewish cultural programs. Among these are family clubs, community theaters, lecture series, and interest groups of various types. In Kyiv, plans are being developed for the development of a Jewish Heritage Community Center to be located to the right of the Soviet monument to the victims of Babiy Yar.76 The facility will include a Holocaust research center and museum, as well as an active Jewish community center focusing on programs related to Jewish heritage and culture. All permits have been secured for the project, and fundraising for its construction is underway. Mr. Glozman spoke with great enthusiasm about the Chicago-Kyiv Kehilla Project program involving the Chava group. (See pp. 62-65.) Dr. Avgar was unaware of the program, but responded with interest when its features were described. He suggested that the program (1) explore participation of Chava children in the proposed Jewish Agency day camp in Kyiv (see below), and (2) engage a facilitator to assist single parents in developing contacts with the Jewish Agency and planning aliyah. Dr. Avgar thinks that stronger families in Chava should be encouraged to emigrate to Israel.

76 Babiy Yar (“Old Woman’s Ravine”) is the site where as many as 80,000 Jews were murdered by Nazi forces in 1941. Responding to public outcry in the early and mid-1960s about official suppression of information regarding the site and the Holocaust in general, Soviet authorities announced the forthcoming construction of a monument at Babiy Yar. In 1976, the monument was unveiled some distance from the actual site of the massacre, revealing a characteristic “Soviet” representation of heroic figures that ignored the specifically Jewish martyrdom at the ravine. Only in 1991, upon the 50th anniversary of the Babiy Yar slaughter and as the Soviet Union was in its final stages of decay, was a Jewish monument (in the form of a menorah) dedicated close to the ravine itself. Rabbi Yaakov Bleich is building another structure close to the Jewish commemorative site. See below.


When the writer informed Mr. Glozman and Dr. Avgar about the planned visit of Chicago physicians to Kyiv in September in cooperation with Jewish Healthcare International, Dr. Avgar responded with some irritation. He expressed the view that JDC should play a central role in planning and coordinating such a visit, and asserted that the Kyiv hesed should decide which medical specialties would be the focus of a future Chicago medical assistance project. The hesed, he said, must be able to derive significant benefit from any Chicago medical program. The writer responded that the Chicago medical project has multiple stakeholders, among them the hesed. Each of these stakeholders would have a voice in determining the medical specialties to be emphasized in the program. After consulting with all such interest groups, the Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund and JHI will determine the projects to be pursued. 50. School #299, the school associated with Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, is the largest Jewish school in Kyiv, currently enrolling about 500 youngsters from nursery school through 11th grade, the last grade in contemporary Ukrainian schools.77 It also is the oldest Jewish day school in the city, celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. School #299 has four buildings, each in a different area of Kyiv: a boys’ school, a girls’ school, a boys’ dormitory, and a preschool (46 boys and girls) and girls’ dormitory in different sections of a single building. The writer met with Khariton Gilgur, principal of the school, and Inna Yoffe, director of the dormitory program, in the building that accommodates both a preschool and the girls’ dormitory. Mr. Gilgur said that enrollment in the school had been decreasing, mainly due to emigration of Jewish families. Also, he added, about ten older boys had transferred to the new ORT school; however, several subsequently returned to #299.78 Several additional boys had transferred to Simcha, a Jewish day school operated by Tsirei Chabad, an Israeli-based Chabad group, mainly because they wanted to attend a fully coeducational school. Notwithstanding emigration and transfers, Mr. Gilgur thinks that enrollment will justify operation of the school for at least another ten years. Fifty-three young people graduated from the eleventh grade this year. Half of them will enter various educational programs in Israel next fall, said Mr. Gilgur; ten of these will enter Machon Lev in Jerusalem, a popular post-secondary institution for graduates of post-Soviet religious day schools. 77 The Ukrainian school system now is in transition from a 10-year curriculum (grades one through eleven with no fourth grade, ages seven to 17) to a twelve-year curriculum (ages six to 18). 78 See the writer’s A September Journey to Ukraine, September 2000, pp. 28-30, esp. note 32.


Some School #299 graduates, continued Mr. Gilgur, are unlikely to do well in traditional post-secondary academic programs. To serve their needs, School #299 is organizing a vocational/technical college that will teach various trades along with Jewish studies courses. The first programs will be in jewelry-making and in computer graphics and design. An enrollment of 50 is anticipated when the college opens in September, continued Mr. Gilgur. Most students will be drawn from recent graduates of #299, he said, and some boys still in high school have already begun a transition program to the college. Classes will be held in the boys’ dormitory building, and space has been set aside in both dormitories for residences for these older students. Mr. Gilgur acknowledged some uneasiness about the response of city educational authorities to the college venture. No precedent exists for the opening of a vocational/technical college by an elementary/ high school, he said, and he is concerned that the jewelry-making program, in particular, might be misunderstood. Seventy boys and 36 girls between the ages of six and 17 currently live in the dormitories, said Ms. Yoffe. Some are from Kyiv and others are from other places in central and western Ukraine. She anticipates that the census of girls will increase in September. Many of the youngsters are from normal families in outlying areas where educational opportunities are limited. Others, however, are from troubled homes, and some have been abandoned. If there is a “typical” child from a troubled home, continued Ms. Yoffe, it is a youngster whose father disappeared long ago and whose mother is an alcoholic. Some of these children arrive at the residence with all of their belongings in one small plastic bag. Rabbi Bleich and his associates learn of Jewish children requiring residential stability through telephone calls from relatives of the children, family acquaintances, or Jewish community workers who know of such cases. Some youngsters who attend Rabbi Bleich’s summer camp go directly to the dormitory from camp upon recommendation of camp staff who come to know about a child’s home living conditions. Many of the children from troubled homes are severely traumatized, said Mr. Gilgur. Some suffer from various health problems that have been untreated since birth, such as vision and hearing deficiencies. Mr. Gilgur bemoaned the lack of qualified professionals available to work with children, especially “modern” [non-Soviet] psychologists, dormitory counselors, and educators in almost all categories. It is almost impossible to find English teachers, he said, because speakers fluent in a foreign language can find employment in the private sector that pays much more. However, he added, School #299 has had an excellent complement of Judaic studies teachers this year -- 10 couples from Israel. Not only are they skilled in their teaching, he said, but they have integrated well into the school.


Mr. Gilgur also praised the work of Ms. Yoffe. He noted that financial strain prevents the school from providing her with the well-equipped office that she needs for effective communica-tions with both children in the dormitory and their parents. The school cannot even afford to provide her with a computer, he said. School #299 has expended re-sources in renovation of its dorm-itories, especially in transforming large hospital ward-type rooms for girls into smaller rooms for two or three girls. Each room has its own full bathroom. The school operates a fleet of six buses to transport youngsters between their homes and the school and between the dormitories and the school. The dormitory youngsters also go to swimming lessons once weekly and are taken on various excursions. The buses are old and very expensive to maintain. As in past summers, Rabbi Bleich will operate a summer camp that accommodates about 300 youngsters in separate four-week sessions for girls and for boys. About 30 counselors from abroad, few of whom speak Russian, will serve as madrichim. Few campers pay any significant camp fees. 51. In a meeting with Yosif Akselrud, Director of the Hillel student organization in Kyiv and in Ukraine, most of the discussion focused on the Hillel groups in Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv.79 Mr. Axelrud’s information and conclusions about these situations corresponded to those of the writer. On a national level, said Mr. Akselrud, Hillel has registered its sixth group in Ukraine (after Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and Lviv); the new center, based in Simferopol, will serve all of Crimea. Also, he noted, a local donor has come forward to fund a four-day leadership training seminar for 30 Hillel leaders from throughout Ukraine. Locally, about 60 percent of all Kyiv Hillel members, said Mr. Akselrud, attend International Solomon University in the Ukrainian capital. Perhaps 60 to 70 Hillel students in Kyiv participate in Hillel-sponsored Shabbat services, he said. One of the major accomplishments of Kyiv Hillel during the past academic year, 79 See pp. 15-16 and 52-54.


continued Mr. Akselrud, was an extremely successful staging of Fiddler on the Roof. A local donor and JDC underwrote the traveling expenses of the troupe to perform the musical production in small Jewish communities in Ukraine and even to present it at a conference in Moscow. 52. The international Jewish outreach organization Aish Hatorah maintains three centers in the post-Soviet states -- in Moscow, Minsk, and Kyiv. Its Kyiv center opened in 1994, led by its current Director, Mark Bruk, a native of Kyiv.80 The writer met with him and two Aish Hatorah rabbis, Rabbi Mordechai Raikhenstein, Director of the Religious Community, and Rabbi Yehoshua Kanevsky, Director of Education. The organization sponsors a broad range of outreach and educational activities. About 2,000 people visit its premises every month. The majority of participants are students and intellectuals, many of them in computer science and related fields. Aish Hatorah offers evening classes in Torah, Talmud, Mishna, Hebrew, and Jewish ethics; an evening lecture series on Jewish history, philosophy, and tradition; “Torah and Science” and “Torah and Psychology” seminars; a variety of Shabbat activities; and a Jewish history seminar that includes travel to historic Jewish sites in the region. It sponsors film and Internet clubs, monthly jazz concerts, and intellectual games. Aish Hatorah maintains a multilingual library of books and audiotapes. Its (Russian-language) website (http://www.aish.kiev.ua) is managed by some of the many programmers who are among its activists and carries information about Jewish Ukraine, as well as basic Jewish texts and commentaries. Twenty young men are enrolled in a fulltime course of Jewish studies at Aish Hatorah. In addition to learning, participants also teach in Jewish Agency Jewish identity seminars and in outreach programs sponsored by Rabbi Yaakov Bleich. Some of these programs are conducted in such distant places as Khmelnitskyi and Rivno; more such programs would be done if more funds were available. Until this year, Aish Hatorah conducted Pesach seders for as many as 300 people in a large hall. However, they sensed that these mass events were becoming productions with more attention to logistics than to the spirit of the holiday so, in 2001, they held 10 seders, each for about 30 people, in the most comfortable restaurants that they could find. It was much easier to express the spirit of Pesach in such settings, they found.81

80 Mr. Bruk holds a graduate degree in computer science from a leading Kyiv university. He is not a rabbi. 81 The Orthodox Union program in Kharkiv has had a similar experience. See p. 51.


Mr. Bruk stated, with the concurrence of the other two men, that Aish Hatorah aims for good relations with all Jewish organizations. They are “non-judgmental” about people’s backgrounds and current or past associations. They acknowledged the participation of some former members of the Hatikvah Progressive congregation (see below) in their activities, but appeared not to find anything noteworthy in this circumstance. They had no statistics on the number of individuals from Hatikvah who are now active in Aish Hatorah. They will not enter into a contest with Progressive Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny for adherents, they said; they will not compete with any other organization for the loyalty of Jews. Only about 10 percent of local Jews are active in any Jewish religious or cultural activity, they continued. Therefore, every organization should be able to develop its own community. The Aish Hatorah facility was seriously damaged in a suspicious fire one year previously. (A USAID office across the street suffered a similar attack at the same time.) Rabbi Raikhenstein said that they do not know the identity of the perpetrators. They are very grateful to Rabbi Bleich and others who came forward with assistance at this very difficult time. In response to a question, Rabbi Raikhenstein and his colleagues said that the greatest impact of the fire was the blow to their morale after they had worked so hard to develop the facility and build their program. However, they are still here in Kyiv, as is obvious. Their large hall was destroyed during the fire and, due to lack of funds, has not yet been restored. Their library also lost many books in the fire, only some of which have been replaced. The right side of the Aish Hatorah building in Kyiv was severely damaged in a suspicious fire in May 2000. It has not yet been repaired. (Photo: Aish Hatorah) 53. The Institute of Judaica is an independent research organization headed by Dr. Leonid Finberg, an internationally recognized sociologist. It pursues work in Jewish history, sociology, demography, and art. The institute presents its findings in academic and popular publications, conferences and seminars, lecture series, and exhibitions. The writer met with Dr. Finberg at the Makor


Jewish community center (see below), where scholars associated with Makor often present popular lectures. Photo and art exhibits arranged by the Institute also are displayed at Makor. Dr. Finberg said that the Institute of Judaica currently is preoccupied with planning for an August conference entitled Jewish Culture and Heritage in the Twentieth Century. The meetings will celebrate the revival of Jewish culture in

the post-Soviet states during the 1990’s and will include various academic presentations as well as displays of contemporary Jewish art. The Institute also is working with JDC in preparation of materials for the museum at the new Jewish Heritage Community Center to be erected at Babiy Yar. It also is working on an encyclopedia of Jewish Ukraine. At left is a page from the 2000-2001 Jewish calendar prepared by the Institute of Judaica and published by the Joint Distribution Committee. The calendar features Ukrainian and Russian Jewish art. The depicted wooden sculpture, entitled The Philosopher, is by Kyiv resident Georgiy Khusid. Other Jewish groups in Ukraine, such as Chabad, also publish and distribute Jewish calendars.

The Institute of Judaica is supported by grants from JDC, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the Soros Foundation, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, the Kyiv Municipal Jewish Community, and other groups. Its website (in Ukrainian and English versions) can be accessed at http://www.judaica.kiev.ua. 54. Makor is one of four small Jewish community centers in Kyiv.82 Located in the center of the city, it consists of one large multipurpose room, several small offices, a small kitchen, and a bathroom. The multipurpose room is equipped with tables and chairs, a piano, and four computers, a scanner, and a printer

82 The others are Kinor, sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Ukraine; Mishpacha, a Jewish arts and crafts center; and Sunflower, a general facility sponsored by JDC. A fifth small JCC, used mainly by Rabbi Asman and by the Progressive movement, has been closed by Vadim Rabinovich, the President of the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress, who owned it.


along one wall. Its walls provide space for art and photography by local artists. Makor is referred to by some as an “Orthodox” facility because it is sponsored by Rabbi Yaakov Bleich; however, a variety of groups use its premises. Among those meeting in Makor during the spring months in 2001 were: separate Jewish amateur theater and dance groups for children and adults; several Jewish youth groups; a dining program for Jewish elderly; a twice-weekly preschool for mildly handicapped Jewish children; a section of the JDC Mazal Tov program; a day long Sunday school; computer classes for children and adults; Jewish art and history clubs; Institute of Judaica groups; B’nai B’rith; Chava women’s group lecture program; kabbalat Shabbat gatherings; and a Jewish newspaper editorial board. Makor also sponsors various holiday celebrations. According to Anatoly Shengait, the Executive Director of Makor, the space currently rented by Makor has been sold by the landlord and Makor must vacate the premises in June. “Мы будем на улице,” he said. (“We will be on the street.”)83 Mr. Shengait does not know where the current programs will meet after June. He observed that a general preschool located close to Rabbi Bleich’s synagogue has closed recently; perhaps organizations associated with Rabbi Bleich will try to purchase this facility. It would provide a great deal of space that is needed by the community.84 However, as far as he knows, the community lacks the financial resources to purchase the building and arrange for its renovation. 55. Eli Yitzhaki, the Chief of Mission of Jewish Agency operations in Ukraine, is completing a three-year tour in this position and returning to Israel. One of his proudest accomplishments during the period is the completion of the Gateway to Aliyah (Sha’ar l’Aliyah) center in Kyiv, a large building that accommodates all JAFI functions in the Ukrainian capital. The Gateway to Aliyah center provides premises for ulpan classes, various children’s activities, youth and student clubs, a computer center offering classes to various groups (including engineers and other professionals wishing to upgrade computer skills prior to aliyah), and consultation rooms. The ground floor, which was the last to be renovated, includes several large multipurpose

83 Rabbi Bleich had long considered purchasing the Makor premises and some adjacent space, but was unable to raise the necessary funds. 84 Among the features of the building, said Mr. Shengait, is a sports hall. Such a property would be especially welcome because the community now is forced to pay high hourly rental fees for use of sports facilities. Although its proximity to the Shekavitskaya street synagogue of Rabbi Bleich might be advantageous in some respects, this area of the city (Podil) has a very small Jewish population and is much less convenient to many people than the centrally-located Makor.


rooms in which the Jewish Agency hopes to operate a summer day camp. The Gateway to Aliyah building is accessible by public transportation from all districts of the city. Mr. Yitzhaki estimated the Jewish population of Ukraine at about 260,000. However, he said, the number could be between 350,000 and 400,000 if members of families in which one person is Jewish are counted as Jews. The Jewish population of Kyiv is probably 80,000, he said. Expanding on the impact of the high intermarriage rate in Ukraine, Mr. Yitzhaki said that many Jews now entering Jewish Agency programs are “less Jewish” than those who entered the same programs just three or four years ago. Fewer than 40 percent of the current applicants for Na’aleh, Selah, and Chalom are Jewish according to halakha, he said.85 They are third- and even fourth-generation members of intermarried families. The Jewish population becomes less Jewish as one goes further east in Ukraine [and closer to the border with Russia], Mr. Yitzhaki continued, but the rabbis in eastern Ukraine are better than those in central and western Ukraine and are able to attract more Jewish youngsters into Jewish schools and Jews into Jewish activity generally. Jews in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Donetsk, he said, seem to be more comfortable as Jews and, therefore, are more visible as Jews. Jewish life is much more lively in these eastern cities, he asserted. Notwithstanding problems of Jewish identification in Kyiv, however, various Purim celebrations in the city appear to have attracted at least 18,000 people this year. Nonetheless, many half-Jews, anywhere in Ukraine, do not know that they are Jewish. Aliyah is lower this year than in 2000, said Mr. Yitzhaki. Certainly, the intifadah in Israel is one of the reasons for this development, but the economy here in Ukraine has improved. Employment and housing difficulties in Israel also are deterrents to aliyah. Employment prospects for individuals over 50 years age are especially bleak -- and people over 50 now constitute 60 to 70 percent of the Ukrainian Jewish population. Jewish identity programming in Hebrew-language ulpans is progressing very well, said Mr. Yitzhaki. Instructors have developed some excellent programs. A waiting list exists for the 40-hour seminars, he added. Participants find the content very interesting -- and it doesn’t hurt that the seminars are held in conference centers or resorts; people regard the experience as something of an

85 Na’aleh is a high school program, Selah prepares high school graduates for entrance to Israeli universities, and Chalom is a combined ulpan and professional training program. All are based in Israel.


educational holiday. Some seminars include tours of Ukrainian Jewish sites in their curriculum; such ventures are very popular. Without any prompting from the writer, Mr. Yitzhaki noted that all Jewish identity programming in JAFI ulpans in Ukraine is presented from the Orthodox perspective. JAFI, he said, had tried to enlist Progressive Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, or someone appointed by him, as an instructor. However, Rabbi Dukhovny does not appear to be interested in presenting a Progressive point of view to Jewish identity participants. Mr. Yitzhaki also noted that Rabbi Dukhovny often dresses very casually and “doesn’t look like a rabbi.” JAFI will operate summer camps in Ukraine in 2001 that enroll 3,500 children and adolescents and 1,100 university and institutes. Additionally, it will subsidize camps organized by several rabbis. Mr. Yitzhaki estimated that only about 30 percent of the youngsters enrolled in JAFI camps are halakhically Jewish. Ten years from now, predicted Mr. Yitzhaki, there will be no Jewish youngsters of camp age. The Jewish birthrate is diminishing rapidly, and most contemporary Jewish adolescents in Ukraine will emigrate to Israel. Their children, he said, will be born in Israel. By encouraging aliyah, he continued, JAFI is cutting the tree at its roots, but that is the intention of its work in Ukraine. The Jewish Agency and the Embassy of Israel co-sponsored a festive concert in each of Ukraine’s major cities in celebration of Israel Independ-ence Day. The Kyiv celebration took place on May 13, complete with a Ukrainian military band greeting concert-goers as they entered the building. An aliyah fair was held prior to the concert, in which different aliyah programs were featured in booths. JAFI employees in the booths answered questions of visitors. 56. The writer met with Anna Azari, Ambassador to Ukraine from the State of Israel, in her office at the Israeli embassy. She asked that her remarks, which were candid and perceptive, remain off-the-record, a request that will be respected. A long line of individuals waited outside the building, preparing to


enter its consular section and to proceed with the course of aliyah. Another large group of future olim was visible inside the Embassy, already engaged in the documentation procedure. 57. Carlos Pascual is the new Ambassador of the United States to Ukraine. The writer met with him and an aide, Louis Crishock, in the Ambassador’s office. Mr. Pascual said that Ukraine currently is undergoing three interlocked political crises. The first crisis, said Mr. Pascual, concerned freedom of the press and the rule of law. Political freedom and the rule of law are very fragile, he continued. The Gongadze case and the concentration of news media in the hands of individuals close to and dependent on government good will raise many doubts about Ukraine. Ukraine must demonstrate seriousness about its commitment to freedom if it expects to maintain good relations with Western countries, he stated. The second crisis is government instability and disarray, manifest in the paralysis of Parliament and the capacity of oligarchs to control the press and manipulate the government for their own gain. The crisis in government has exacerbated existing conflicts and rivalries. President Leonid Kuchma opened the door to the dismissal of Prime Minister Victor Yushchenko because Mr. Yushchenko supported various government reforms that would have curbed the power of oligarchs (to whom Mr. Kuchma is beholden for favorable press coverage) and encouraged the free markets that are anathema to Communists (and to oligarchs as well because truly free markets would welcome competition). The third crisis is in Ukrainian foreign policy. The appointment of Victor Chernomyrdin as Russian ambassador to Ukraine and the Russian purchase of equity in Ukrainian energy assets suggests Ukrainian acquiescence to a larger Russian role in Ukrainian government and economic affairs. The United States, continued Ambassador Pascual, is holding back on high-level government contacts with Ukraine until some satisfaction is achieved on these issues. The United States is looking for specific actions in economics, security, and other areas, and is “developing engagements” in which to pursue such measures. In response to a question about Ukrainian dependence upon Russian energy resources, Ambassador Pascual said that only about one-third of Ukrainian energy costs are accountable. Those Ukrainians who control the distribution of energy in Ukraine also control Ukrainian politics. They have a vested interest in concealing transparency regarding financial transactions related to Russian energy.


Ambassador Pascual affirmed that the Ukrainian economy had shown a growth rate of between six and seven percent during the first four months of 2001. A large part of this growth rate, he continued, results from successful efforts of the Ukrainian government to curb the role of barter in the economy. More and more transactions are being settled on as cash basis. Electricity and other bills are being paid in cash, and salaries and pensions are being paid in cash and on time. Thus, consumers have cash on hand and consumer demand has increased accordingly. Consumer demand has, in turn, encouraged the growth of small businesses. Agrobusiness has increased. Devaluation of the Ukrainian currency also has helped. Ukraine must take several steps to sustain its economic growth, said Ambassador Pascual. First, the government must reduce barter even more. Second, the rule of law must be developed and institutionalized. Land and civil codes, tax codes, and intellectual property laws all require extensive development. Foreign firms are afraid to invest in Ukraine because their assets are likely to be compromised. (Pfizer, he noted, recently sent an investment team to Ukraine, but it returned to the United States without any agreements. Two pirated versions of Viagra, a key Pfizer product, are sold widely in Ukraine.) The judiciary, Ambassador Pascual continued, must become truly independent. Third, said Ambassador Pascual, Ukraine must eliminate the massive corruption, especially in energy, that pervades its economy. Responding to a question about the immense historic and current influence of Dnipropetrovsk in Ukrainian and former Soviet politics, Ambassador Pascual said that such influence was bound to diminish in the future, if only because other cities and areas are envious and their local politicians and businessmen are looking for ways in which to displace Dnipropetrovsk authority. The three remaining large cities [in addition to Kyiv] -- Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Odesa -- in Ukraine all resent Dnipropetrovsk influence and are eager to assert their own interests in the national arena. However, one should not hope for any enlargement of Donetsk authority because the extent of corruption in that city is enormous. Regarding Vadim Rabinovich, who remains on the “watch list” of the U.S. State department, Ambassador Pascual said that Rabinovich seems to be adopting a lower profile lately, probably because his protectors, the Derkach family, have not fared well in recent government power shuffles.86 Perhaps the influence of Rabinovich will “fade.” Responding somewhat uncomfortably to a question concerning Ukrainian Jewish oligarchs about whom Jewish organizations should be cautious, Ambassador Pascual said that Rabinovich is the “worst one.”

86 Leonid Derkach was ousted as head of the SBU (Security Council of Ukraine, analogous to Soviet KGB) in February 2001. His son, Andrey Derkach, is an oligarch close to Vadim Rabinovich.


The United States has “documented evidence about [Rabinovich] contacts with organized crime.” Ambassador Pascual added that there is “smoke, but no fire” regarding Hrihory Surkis. Ambassador Pascual welcomed the concept of the kehilla project between Chicago and Kyiv. He suggested that the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago identify specific projects and approach United States government agencies for assistance. For example, he said, the Department of Public Affairs (formerly USIA) could offer training courses in management, and the European [Military] Command in Germany is eager to unload certain excess inventory, such as generators and beds. USAID also might be helpful. 58. Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny is the only Progressive movement rabbi in Kyiv and all Ukraine. A native of Kyiv, he became a lay leader in the post-independence Hatikvah congregation in the city and subsequently was sent by the World Union for Progressive Judaism to study for the rabbinate at Leo Baeck College in London. He was ordained in July 1999 and returned to Kyiv as a Progressive rabbi shortly thereafter. The writer met with him and Professor Alexander Zlotnyk, the new President of the Religious Union for Progressive Jewish Communities of Ukraine, in the office of the union.87 Mr. Zlotnyk is a well-known writer/composer of operas, songs, and ballets. He recounted that he has worked in Slavic culture his entire life, but also has very strong Jewish roots. He is unable to “find himself” in hasidic Judaism, he said; only Progressive Judaism provides a home for him. His wife is not Jewish. There are many Jews in Ukraine, he said, whose situations are similar to his own. They need to find themselves; many are ashamed to be Jews, he continued. Rabbi Dukhovny said on several occasions during the discussion that Progressive Judaism is “multicolored” and that “all doors and windows are open.” He believes that Progressive Judaism has a natural appeal to the intelligentsia, and his goals include developing the movement in such a way that it becomes a

“Jewish home” for the Jewish intelligentsia. He also is eager to engage in interfaith dialog with Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. The Progressive movement includes 42 communities or societies in Ukraine, said Rabbi Dukhovny, although none

87 Boris Kutik, the former President, and recently appointed (March 2001) Executive Director of the Religious Union for Progressive Judaism in Ukraine, was not present at this meeting.


other than his own in Kyiv has a rabbi and only a very few have their own premises.88 The Religious Union for Progressive Jewish Congregations of Ukraine publishes a newspaper called Open Door, a phrase that Rabbi Dukhovny often uses. Immediately below the title of the newspaper is the slogan “Progressive Judaism – One More Path Toward Being a Jew.” This issue (April 2001) carries articles about Progressive Judaism, Progressive Judaism news, the Pesach and Lag b’Omer holidays World War II, the Holocaust, Jewish history, Progressive Judaism in Ukraine, and other topics. The principal language is Russian, but several pages are in Ukrainian, and several titles appear in both Russian and English. Rabbi Dukhovny appears in the picture on the front page. The issue is 20 pages in length. Hatikvah Congregation in Kyiv, said Rabbi Dukhovny, has 1, 000 members. It holds Friday evening services in the old Karaite synagogue, which is now a theater. It sponsors Judaic enrichment components in two state-run preschools that enroll 75 and 25 children. The Kyiv congregation pays a graduate of the WUPJ machon program $100 per month to teach and supervise this activity.89 Approximately 60 percent of the children in these preschools are non-halakhic Jews, 25 percent are halakhic Jews, and 15 percent are either Russian or Ukrainian without any Jewish heritage at all. Hatikvah also offers a family Sunday school in which 35 families meet for five hours on Sundays. Many of these families, said Rabbi Dukhovny, are intermarried. Other activities of Hatikvah Congregation include a children’s musical ensemble, a chapter of the Progressive movement Netzer youth group, a student club, and an adult education program. Rabbi Dukhovny noted that some “graduates” of Hatikvah adult education classes enroll in Aish Hatorah classes. The Religious Union will sponsor one Jewish Agency camp session during the summer of 2001. Both JAFI and the Religious Union are paying $12,000 to support its operation. The camp will enroll 150 youngsters from throughout Ukraine, said Rabbi Dukhovny, of whom 75 will be activists in the movement’s Netzer youth group and 75 will be selected by the larger congre-gations/communities. Premises continue to be a major problem for Progressive Judaism, especially in Kyiv, acknowledged Rabbi Dukhovny. It leases an office suite in a centrally located building; the suite includes one conference room and several smaller offices. The congregation has no synagogue of its own; it rents the former 88 The World Union for Progressive Judaism budget for all of these groups is $72,000 annually. There are no local donors, except Vadim Rabinovich of the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress, who provides each group with approximately $200 every year. 89 The World Union for Progressive Judaism operates a two-year machon in which paraprofessionals are trained to operate its programs in the post-Soviet states. Originally based in Kyiv, the program was moved to Moscow several years ago.


Karaite facilities for several hours on Friday evenings. The cost of each facility is $12,000 annually. The World Union for Progressive Judaism and the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress each pay half of the rent for the office suite, and JDC and the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress each pay half the rent for the synagogue. Rabbi Dukhovny and Mr. Zlotnyk are very sensitive to their dependence on the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress and Vadim Rabinovich, its benefactor. They are aware of Mr. Rabinovich’s unsavory reputation and would like to find alternative sources of support. Several of Hatikvah’s community programs, such as the family Sunday school, are held in a Jewish community center owned by Mr. Rabinovich; their access to these premises, which had been provided free of charge by Mr. Rabinovich, is ending in the very near future because Mr. Rabinovich has decided to sell the space to the Embassy of Brazil. Rabbi Dukhovny and Mr. Zlotnyk said that they are looking for a building to purchase in downtown Kyiv for use as a synagogue, community center, and headquarters for all Progressive activity in Ukraine. They have no money and no prospective donors. In addition to program space, they need teaching materials, books (especially Russian-language Tanakhim), and six para-rabbis who are graduates of the WUPJ machon in Moscow. However, no funding exists for their salaries. President Leonid Kuchma sent congratulations and conveyed best wishes to the Religious Union for Pesach. Rabbi Dukhovny perceives this gesture as a very important form of recognition. 59. The writer attempted to visit a daylong family Sunday school opened by Midreshet Yerushalayim, the Russian outreach arm of the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem, in Kyiv on Simchat Torah. However, prior inquiries to the individual at the Schechter Institute who is responsible for supervising this venture yielded no information about its address or contact people, and local individuals in Kyiv were unable to provide appropriate information in time for the writer to arrange a visit to the program. The writer learned later that this program, although continuing to operate, has been beset by difficulties, probably caused by the inexperience of a very young director. Attendance at the Sunday school is said to have declined substantially. No Masorti (Conservative) professional is posted in Kyiv. 60. Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman, a native of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) is the rabbi of the well-known and recently remodeled Brodsky Synagogue in downtown Kyiv. Rabbi Asman was appointed to his position in 1996 by Tsirei Chabad (Young Chabad), an Israeli-based faction of Chabad that emerged after the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in 1994. However, Tsirei


Chabad terminated support for Rabbi Asman several years later and subsequently filed suit against him in a rabbinic court. Rabbi Asman is one of very few rabbis in the post-Soviet states without major organizational support. In response to a question, Rabbi Asman said that his relationship with the Ukrainian representation (Представительство в Украине) of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the C.I.S. (Федерация еврейских общин СНГ), the major Chabad umbrella group in the successor states, is “good.” He helped them find a building for their new school in Kyiv and to secure necessary permits from officials, he continued.90 He would like to establish a connection with FJC, he said, but remain independent. Rabbi Meir Stambler, the director of FJC in Ukraine, is now developing a contract to cover such a relationship, he said. Rabbi Asman confirmed that he continues to receive major financial support from Vadim Rabinovich, the notorious head of the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress. Initially, Rabbi Asman attempted to make light of his ongoing relationship with Mr. Rabinovich, saying “Rabinovich, Haimovich, Petrovich -- does it really matter?” Later, he commented that Mr. Rabinovich is “a little better than Arafat.” However, his own organization, the Jewish Religious Community of Kyiv, through its 25-man Board of Trustees also contributes money, “but not enough.” The Board members, continued Rabbi Asman, are “good people” and include “no Mafia.”91 Rabbi Asman said that synagogue services in the Brodsky Synagogue now are operated at a “higher level” than previously,92 and that a yeshiva connected to the synagogue enrolls 20 students on a fulltime basis and another 10 to 20 on a part-time schedule. Religious seminars are presented for people in various age groups; in all, said Rabbi Asman, about 300 people are enrolled in adult education courses. The synagogue also operates a number of social programs, he continued. A soup kitchen, subsidized by JDC, serves meals to 200 people every day in a large dining area in the basement. The synagogue is beginning to

90 Tsirei Chabad continues to support a day school, known as Simcha, in Kyiv. In an attempt to gain a foothold in Kyiv, a city in which it has no other representation, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, through its Ohr Avner education arm, opened its own pre-school and day school in the city in late 2000. 91 Rabbi Asman’s continuing relationship with Mr. Rabinovich is a deterrent to the establishment of productive ties with the Federation of Jewish Communities. The Jewish Religious Community of Kyiv is a competitor to a similar organization established by Rabbi Yaakov Bleich. Rabbi Asman also has been successful in raising money among Jewish emigrants from Kyiv in the United States and Israel. 92 Some attendees consider the Brodsky services to be chaotic. Foreigners claim that few aspects of the synagogue are managed in a way appropriate to a major synagogue in a national capital.


rent apartments to accommodate seniors whose existing living arrangements are unsatisfactory. Rabbi Asman noted that the hesed does not provide welfare assistance to individuals under 60 years of age. Therefore, the synagogue is helping jobless and homeless Jews under 60 by providing food and clothing, as well as subsidies for visits to physicians and for purchase of medicines. They provide financial assistance to Jewish families with sick children. A hevra kadisha provides free burials. Just before Purim, said Rabbi Asman, the Brodsky synagogue convened various Jewish organizations in the city, including the Embassy of Israel, to formulate a joint strategy and action plan for countering the increasing activity of missionary groups in Kyiv. Rabbi Alexander Lockshin, a specialist in anti-missionary activity now working for the Federation of Jewish Communities in Moscow, came to Kyiv to help the group develop its plans. Rabbi Asman said that several individuals of Jewish heritage who attend his synagogue apparently do so in order to recruit Jews to Christian groups; he recognized these people on a television program about the missionaries. They frequently sponsor Jewish holiday celebrations, said Rabbi Asman, in order to ensnare local Jews. Rabbi Asman identified Jews for Jesus, Good News Travels, and Ebenezer as among the most active missionary groups working among Ukrainian Jews. They have been most “successful” in Odesa, he said, followed by Kyiv. 61.Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, is a Karlin-Stolin hasid from Brooklyn. His working base in Kyiv is the Shekavitskaya street synagogue in Podil, an area in which few Jews now live. Rabbi Bleich is associated with several national and local Jewish umbrella organizations, specifically, the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine (Єврейська конфедерація украіни) and the Kyiv Municipal Jewish Community (Киівська місьска єврейська громада), as well as the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine (Об’єднання іудейських релігійних організацій Украіни). Of these groups, the Kyiv Municipal Jewish Community has been most effective. His efforts to develop functional national Jewish umbrella organizations have met with limited success, thwarted by the refusal of Chabad rabbis to endorse and participate in such ventures.93

93 Chabad rabbis clearly respect Rabbi Bleich in his role as Chief Rabbi of Ukraine. They are reluctant to support his community organization ventures, in part because of opposition to their participation from Levi Levayev, chief funder of the Federation of Jewish Communities. Mr. Levayev has encouraged Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki of Dnipropetrovsk to become chief rabbi of a Council of [Chabad] Rabbis of Ukraine so that he could be called a Chief Rabbi of the country in competition with Rabbi Bleich, but Rabbi Kaminezki has declined to assume such a role. His stance is supported by almost all other Chabad rabbis in Ukraine. It was Mr. Levayev who led


Rabbi Bleich and Rabbi Meir Stambler, the Director of the Dnipropetrovsk-based Chabad Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine,94 hold periodic discussions about cooperation between their two groups on such issues as kashrut standards, conversions, and foreign relations. Collaboration on other subjects has been difficult, says Rabbi Bleich, because no responsible individual in Chabad is comfortable in assuming a leadership role in the absence of approval from their chief donor, Levi Levayev. The weakness of FJC Chabad in Kyiv is another deterrent to Chabad willingness to consider cooperative action with Rabbi Bleich in Kyiv. The opening of an Ohr Avner Chabad day school in Kyiv is perceived by many as a step in redressing the balance between the two Chabad groups in the Ukrainian capital. In addition to the absence of Chabad from national Jewish organizations that he has been promoting, Rabbi Bleich acknowledges that the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine is burdened by excessive bureaucracy that was written into its bylaws by its former Executive Director, Yosif Zissels. Such bureaucracy has inhibited the growth of the Confederation. Rabbi Bleich expects that Vitaly Nachman-ovich, a former Muscovite and the new Executive Director, will lead a restructuring of the Confederation that will enable it to be more responsive to community needs. Another major problem is a lack of qualified lay leadership.95 Rabbi Bleich spoke in some detail about projects in the Kyiv Jewish community. He is aware of the JDC-sponsored Jewish Heritage Community Center to be located to the right of the Soviet monument to the victims of Babiy Yar. Rabbi Bleich is sponsoring a different Babiy Yar project, an assemblage of monuments to be constructed near the site believed to be the actual place of slaughter and in the vicinity of the existing Jewish monument, a menorah. An eight-meter Star of David with an eternal flame will be placed at this location at the end of a memorial path lined with 200 flat stones on which will be engraved the names of 12,000 known Jewish victims of the slaughter.96 Names of Righteous Gentiles also will be inscribed at the site. Rabbi Bleich is applying to

Rabbi Berel Lazar of Moscow to adopt the titles of Chief Rabbi of Moscow and Russia in competition with (non-Chabad) rabbis already holding these positions. Rabbi Bleich represents Ukraine in the European and World Jewish Congresses and in several other international Jewish organizations and endeavors. 94 See pp. 29-32. 95 The Russian- and English language website of the Jewish Confederation can be accessed at www.jewukr.org. 96 In all, more than 80,000 Jews were shot at Babiy Yar, but the names of many remain unknown.


various organizations for the $500,000 required to complete the project. All necessary permits already have been secured from the city. Rabbi Bleich added that a monument to Roma murdered during World War II is being erected across the street from the Babiy Yar site. Renovation of the Shekavitskaya street synagogue is underway. The roof is being replaced, and the basement is being remodeled to include offices, a conference room, a second (and smaller) synagogue, and a store selling kosher food and ritual items. In total, this work will cost about $1 million. No decision has been made regarding construction of a small Jewish community center on available land adjacent to the synagogue; at this point, no funding appears to be accessible for such an endeavor. Rabbi Bleich escorted the writer on a tour of an assisted living center under development by the Jewish Confederation. The cost of the building is estimated at $1.6 million, of which $700,000 is provided by the United States Department of Agriculture under conditions of its Food for Progress program.97 Local sponsors have contributed another $550,000, and $350,000 remains to be solicited. Completion of the center (including furnishing), which probably will require four or five more months, is awaiting collection of these funds. The facility is located in a pleasant outlying residential neighborhood and includes 77 apartments, including 46 one-room units with kitchen and bathroom and 28 two-room units with kitchen and bathroom. It is anticipated that all of the two-room apartments and some of the single-room units will house two people. Some of the apartments have balconies. The ground floor includes a small dining room and kitchen, several multipurpose rooms, library, physicians’ offices, dental clinic (available to residents of the neighborhood as well), and a day center available to elderly Jews who live in the area. The sixth and top floor includes an apartment for house staff, five units for guests, an infirmary, and

office space. Originally designed as a con-ventional apartment building, this facility is being constructed as an assisted living center for Jewish elderly in Kyiv. A ramp is planned alongside the stairs at the front entry, but several features inside the

97 The Food for Progress program remits funds for social welfare projects to non-profit organizations in foreign countries in return for the sale by these organizations of excess U.S. agricultural commodities to other non-profit organizations. Rabbi Bleich established a dedicated office in Kyiv to sell such commodities as rice and powdered milk at discount prices to various Ukrainian welfare organizations.


building, such as doorsills and high-walled bathtubs may prove hazar-dous to building occupants. Rabbi Bleich said that Holocaust survivors, homeless elderly, and individuals with chronic conditions often associated with aging, such as Parkinson’s disease, will be given priority access to the facility.98 He anticipates that individuals will give their current apartments to the community in exchange for admission to the center, but acknowledges that such a practice has not been thoroughly investigated. He will discuss the issue with Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki of Dnipropetrovsk who is considering a similar question regarding the assisted living center now under construction in Dnipropetrovsk. Initially planned as a conventional apartment house, conversion of the building into an assisted living center for elderly people, i.e., individuals with declining mobility, seems to have been undertaken without full consideration of the needs of this population group. Rabbi Bleich acknowledged that many frail elderly might have problems with the bathtubs, which have high walls. He pointed with pride to doorframes that had been widened to accommodate wheelchairs, but seemed unaware that many doorways have sills that will be hazardous for elderly. He expects residents to prepare their own breakfast and supper, and use communal dining facilities only for the heavy mid-day dinner that is common in Ukraine. At the same time, he realizes that some seniors may be too frail to prepare any meals at all in their own apartments. Further, the dining hall is too small to accommodate all residents at one sitting; a complex schedule of meal shifts may be necessary to feed all those who live in the center as well as individuals using the day center. Although he hopes that the hesed will operate the day center in the building and continue services to residents that it is currently providing them in their individual homes, the hesed has made no commitment to do so. JDC remains aloof from development of the assisted-living center. Rabbi Bleich noted that the community crisis provoked by JDC in Kharkiv is well-known in Ukraine. Similar, although not identical, situations exist in other communities as well, he said. Rabbi Bleich commented that funds from an American donor transferred through JDC to his residential facility for children and to similar programs in two other cities, were “lost” inside JDC for more than a year. The episode has caused great hardship and embarrassment to the managers of these facilities (and to the youngsters who reside therein) who had

98 It is unlikely, said Rabbi Bleich, that many Jews in Kyiv live in housing without indoor plumbing, unlike Dnipropetrovsk.


undertaken certain commitments for renovations or other enhancements based on the promise of funds by specific dates.

Observations

62. Power is increasingly concentrated in the office of the President in Ukraine (and in Russia). Freedom of the press has diminished, and antisemitism is rising. Although these conditions do not necessary portend a return to the general and specifically anti-Jewish oppression of the long Soviet period, current trends are not encouraging to the growth of democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion. 63. The Jewish community continues to be tried by a lack of leadership, both volunteer and professional. Few individuals raised under Soviet conditions are comfortable with the concepts of individual initiative, accountability, consensus-building, planning and priority setting, or transparent budgeting. Few acknowledge the notion of a conflict of interest. Jewish community professionals in Ukraine lack social service administration skills, expertise in specific education and welfare fields (such as education administration, Jewish education, special education, psychology, geriatric care, and social work). Several rabbis in Ukraine are initiating development of specialized institutions, such as residences for autistic children or elderly individuals; their prior education and experience ill prepare them for such ventures, and local expertise often is unavailable. 64. Most observers agree that the potential for aliyah from Ukraine remains high, certainly as many as 100,000 individuals and possibly as many as 200,000. Yet aliyah is declining, a function of several conditions: (a) current turmoil in Israel; (b) a depleted aliyah pool in many areas, due to prior emigration, especially emigration of young adults of child-bearing age; (c) aging of the Jewish population; and (d) somewhat improved local economic conditions in several areas of Ukraine. 65. Regardless of current aliyah, demographic conditions suggest a bleak future for Ukrainian Jewry, especially in smaller Jewish centers where the proportion of elderly exceeds 80 percent of the Jewish population, community cannot be sustained, and general living conditions are detrimental to human well-being.


Jewish organizations pursuing Jewish renewal efforts in such environments should determine the focus of their work with great care, lest these efforts encourage younger Jews to remain in surroundings where their futures are dubious at best. 66. The remaining younger Jewish population, whether in large cities or in smaller towns, is less and less Jewish. Most individuals with a strong Jewish identity left Ukraine during prior waves of emigration. Many of those who remain are second and third generation offspring of mixed marriages, some of whom have only one Jewish grandparent or even more tenuous ties to the Jewish people. Several organizations find it difficult to pursue Jewish agendas with this population and, consequently, develop ways of excluding them from community activity. Yet, any individual with one Jewish grandparent or who is married to a Jew is eligible for aliyah. 67. Jewish education remains a critical need, particularly as some younger Jews delay emigration in favor of immediate economic comfort, inertia, or fear of violence in Israel. Expanded educational opportunities, particularly in informal settings that seem to appeal even to some assimilated Jews, may help to retain Ukrainian Jews within the Jewish people as they consider their futures. Those organizations that, inadvertently or not, contain anti-Zionist elements in their programs should be encouraged to explore how such components can be restructured to provide a more positive message about Israel. That some Hillel groups, i.e., communities of younger Jews, should develop a notoriety for the anti-Zionism that is transmitted to their membership, seems particularly abhorrent; many in the Hillel constituency face futures of dubious promise in the successor states. For those who remain in Ukraine or migrate to other Diaspora countries, the possibility that their identification with Judaism and Jewish life is informed by anti-Zionism bodes ill both for them and for the Jewish people generally. 68. The conflict between the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Kharkiv and several Jewish institutions in Kharkiv, at least two of which JDC itself created, is in some respects not solely a JDC problem. Almost every external Jewish organization working in the post-Soviet states has encountered serious difficulties with individuals sent into these countries from abroad on their behalf; other employees of JDC as well as the Jewish Agency for Israel and Nativ (Lishkat Hakesher) have caused severe problems for their agencies and, in some


cases, have been recalled to Israel and dismissed from their positions.99 Such extreme action is not easily undertaken; it acknowledges a breakdown in organization standards and often causes a critical disruption in service as appropriate alternative personnel rarely are available in an opportune timeframe. Nonetheless, the actions of the individual known as “Napoleon” are striking because the organization in which he is employed is singled out from all of the others in the post-Soviet states for the depth of its institutional arrogance and the hostility and resentment that it engenders. Its critics are angry and numerous; they also are thoughtful and generous, because most are quick to acknowledge the enormous benefits that the Joint Distribution Committee has brought and continues to bring to the multitudes of Jewish elderly and to certain other Jewish population groups in the post-Soviet states. It is unfortunate that the numerous good works of this agency of the Jewish people often are tarnished by the spirit of its policies and the demeanor of its employees. Betsy Gidwitz June 21, 2001 Unless otherwise attributed, all translations and photographs in this report are by the author.

99 Personnel problems are not limited to secular organizations. Several rabbis working in the post-Soviet states appear ill-suited to their responsibilities. However, the Chabad movement, in particular, has no mechanism for replacing unfit shlichim (emissaries).

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