(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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In an attempt to boost income, the home is now renting apartments on the third and
fourth floors to several families, including a rabbinic family of 10 individuals. However,
said Mr. Popov, the financial situation remains dire, mainly due to inflation. The cost of
almost all utilities has risen enormously, he noted. He has had to fire several staff, and
salaries are being paid at least one month late to those employees who remain.
Various communal facilities are located on the ground floor of the building, including a
kitchen and dining room, synagogue/social hall, and medical offices. A new hair
dressing salon has been added, and some repairs have been made to the exterior of
the building.
Ukrainian Jewish Organizations
The Kyiv Jewish Home for Assisted
Living is located in a pleasant
residential area near markets and
public transportation.
Photo: Rabbi Bleich’s office.
75. The Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine, better
known as the Ukrainian Vaad, is chaired by Iosif Zissels, a longtime Jewish community
observer and leader in Ukraine. The Vaad works in four main areas: Jewish property
preservation and restoration, as well as archival research; interethnic tolerance;
representation of Ukrainian Jewry in various international forums; and operation of
Jewish community programs in small Jewish population centers, focusing on summer
camps for adolescents. The Vaad has sponsored heritage expeditions to places of
Jewish interest in Ukraine, and Mr. Zissels himself is regarded as a capable analyst of
Ukrainian Jewry.
Mr. Zissels stated that the Vaad currently is working on as many as 100 different
projects in its areas of interest. These include research, interfaith activities,
strengthening Jewish studies in Ukrainian universities (especially in Kyiv-Mohyla
Academy, a prestigious Kyiv university), development of small Jewish museums in
various parts of Ukraine, strengthening Jewish identity, preserving the Jewish cultural
heritage through restoration of old synagogues, monitoring local antisemitism (see
below), and assisting the smaller and much poorer Jewish population in neighboring
Moldova to undertake similar measures in their country.
Fulfilling all of these tasks is very difficult, observed Mr. Zissels, in the current situation
of economic crisis in Ukraine. The country is recovering very slowly, he continued,