Ukraine Refugees in Israel Relish Reuniting With Friends From Home

Two months have passed since Ukrainians woke up to the sickening thud of bombs. For those who fled the country, many long weeks have passed since they last saw their homes (if they are still standing) or their loved ones who remain behind.

Over Passover, many Ukrainian Jewish refugees in Israel enjoyed reuniting with old friends at Passover programs arranged especially for the members of their home communities who are now in Israel.

For transplants from Kiev’s Left Bank, that meant getting together with 120 members of their community in the Beit Chanah campus in Safed for the duration of the week-long holiday.

They came from as far south as Ashkelon and as far north as Haifa, all varying in their life stories and levels of religious observance. But for the entire week of Passover, all 120 of them prayed, studied, toured and consumed copious amounts of kosher-for-Passover cuisine together.

During the Chol Hamoed intermediate days, the Kiev expat group toured Israel’s north, enjoying both natural attractions and spiritual destinations, including the mystical village of Meron.

Devorah Levenharts, who directs the Left Bank Chabad center with her husband, Rabbi Mordechai Levenharts, says the weeklong program was made possible by organizations including Colel Chabad, the Federation of Jewish Communities in the CIS and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.

Similar programs for Ukraine refugees from other cities took place all over Israel, including in Kfar Citrin and Ma’ale Adumim.

For many, it was their first time seeing Israel with their own eyes, an unexpected silver lining of a devastating war. At the same time, Levenharts says she and her husband continue to care for those left in Kiev (their center hosted several dozen for the Seder and distributed 600 Seder kits for those celebrating in home and in shelters), as well as those sheltering all over Europe.

“We have seen the tremendous power of the Chabad family,” she says. “All over Europe, we have connected members of our community with the local Chabad emissaries, who have gone above and beyond to provide them with their spiritual and material needs.”

Click here to donate directly to Chabad of Kiev’s Left Bank.

Click here for a prayer you can say and a list of good deeds you can do in the merit of the protection of all those in harm’s way.

Refugees got a much-needed break.

They enjoyed reuniting with old friends at Passover programs arranged especially for the members of their home communities who are now in Israel.

Some took part in a scribal arts workshop.

Kids from Ukraine enjoy a barbeque in Safed.