April 1999. I was sitting with a group of young Ukrainian Jews in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil shortly after a Pesach Seder. They were so excited to spend time with North Americans. A group of us, studying at Hebrew University of Jerusalem for the year, were in the country on behalf of various North American Jewish organizations, including the Joint Distribution Committee and the predecessor to Jewish Federations of North America.

It was eight years after independence. Newfound freedom for the Jewish community could be felt as organized Jewish life was in its nascent stages. Most of the remnants of the Jewish communities we visited in western Ukraine—Ternopil, Chernovitsi, and Khotyn—were the elders, either too old or sick to make their way to Israel or elsewhere.

The size and vibrancy of the Ukrainian Jewish community then surprised me. I am happy to hear that Jewish life in Ukraine has flourished since then. At the end of February, over 70,000 Jews lived in Ukraine, and they estimated another 350,000 people to be eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.

Over the last week, I have spent a lot of time thinking about my time in Ukraine 23 years ago. I’ve looked up the places I visited to see whether Russia has attacked them, and they have. I think of the young people who I spent time with there after a Pesach Seder, wondering if they are now fighting for freedom. I find myself cheering when the Ukrainians have withheld Putin’s ongoing onslaught of my grandmother’s family’s home in Mikolaiev, near Odessa.   

I’ve also tried to reconcile how I can root for the Ukrainians given our people’s unpleasant (to put it mildly) past there. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has helped with those feelings. To see a Jew rise to be the president of Ukraine is astonishing, given our past. To see him become a hero in the free world should make us all proud.

Despite the history the Jews have with Ukraine, this is a fight of a country for its survival against a ruthless dictator who is trying to take that from them by force. Killing innocent civilians, sending fathers and mothers into bomb shelters with their children. Watching refugees pour into neighbouring countries. We should never treat our neighbours or anyone how the Ukrainians are being treated.

It is imperative that we stand with Ukraine today, and until the defeat of Putin and his forces. As Jews, who yearn for peace with our neighbours, we can see a parallel to the struggles that are being felt today in Ukraine.   

Jewish Federation of Edmonton has opened up a Ukraine Emergency Appeal to assist the Jewish communities in Ukraine right now. To date, members of our community have contributed about $55,000. However, we are told that the Jewish community’s needs are over $20 million USD to maintain welfare services, provide food, medicine and clothing, to assist those who want to make Aliyah to Israel, to provide temporary housing and transportation to safety and to secure schools. Jews around the world must help, and we are doing our part. I hope that you, too, can add your name to the cause. If you have the time, I invite you to donate. For more information on what Jewish Federations from across North America, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency from Israel are doing, read about it.

Let’s hope that this week brings reprieve to all of those in Ukraine.

Shabbat Shalom,

Steve Shafir
Past President
Jewish Federation of Edmonton