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

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128 Holocaust massacre grounds, to build monuments to the slaughtered at sites of mass shootings. Clearly, the Jewish identity of many Ukrainian Jews is defined less by Jewish religious tradition, contemporary Jewish culture, or Zionism, than by a vaguely understood Jewish cultural legacy against a background of successive tragedies. Examination of this history has provided a gateway to Jewish identification that many post-Soviet Jews have found elusive through other institutions. Such programs as academic Jewish studies, secular Jewish seminars, Limmud, Hillel, Taglit, Masa, Jewish camping, and heritage travel that build on this complex history may indeed encourage a cultural Jewish identity and sense of Jewish peoplehood that is consonant with contemporary Ukrainian Jewish life. A strong Jewish religious identification may or may not follow. A strong identification with Zionism and Israel may be a consequence of such Israel experiences as Taglit and Masa. 89. Contemporary Ukrainian Jewish emigration to Israel is almost entirely a consequence of local economic malaise and political anxiety. The Jewish Agency for Israel, which actively encourages and facilitates aliyah (immigration to Israel), is well aware of these conditions and operates its programs accordingly. It is seeking resources for strengthened Israeli experience programs and is emphasizing personalized aliyah and enriched absorption assistance in Israel. 90. Almost every Jewish-interest program in Ukraine is limited by inadequate financial resources. In addition to weakened fundraising results in western countries and the declining value of the United States dollar, Ukrainian inflation challenges the continuation of established and proven programs. Corruption often is a decisive factor in impeding acquisition of appropriate program premises; not only does it increase costs, it carries a heavy toll in abandonment of ethical and moral standards. Western and Israeli organizations almost uniformly reject the payment of bribes, but burdensome new tax measures in Ukraine will test the capacity of any organization to fully adhere to Ukrainian law. 91. The current generation of Ukrainian Jewish young people is newly empowered – by a growing variety of Jewish organizations and programs, by their own increasing command of the English language that enables them to participate in international Jewish life, and by electronic communications. They can reach beyond the Chabad rabbis who dominate Jewish communal existence in some areas of Ukraine and connect with other, more contemporary means of Jewish expression. Hillel, Limmud, different Israel experiences, and other programs have broadened their horizons. Accordingly, the Hasidic dominion over Jewish communal life may be less tolerated, the ascendance of Chabad may be a phenomenon of the past. Notwithstanding the forthcoming completion of the massive Chabad Menorah Center in Dnipropetrovsk, younger urban Jews even in that city are looking beyond Chabad for a Jewish life that
129 accommodates modernity and their twenty-first century aspirations. Surveys suggest that these aspirations include Jewish pluralism, which rarely is associated with Chabad. Jews of all ages might be aided in their quests for a more open Judaism by more vibrant and accessible representations of Progressive/Reform and Masorti/Conservative Judaism than currently are available in Ukraine; modern Orthodoxy, which might appeal to some young Jews, seems to have abandoned Ukraine altogether. 92. Israel commands a major role in the lives of many Ukrainian Jews, if only because most of them have relatives or friends in that country. Air links between the two states are strong, and recently instituted visa-free travel regulations facilitate the maintenance of relationships between individuals, families, and institutions. Emigration of Ukrainian Jews to Israel continues and is increasing, reflecting economic distress and political uncertainty in Ukraine – and also reflecting acknowledgement of Israel as a welcoming home. 93. Fundamental differences exist between Jewish life in Ukraine and Jewish life in Russia. Among these are the concentration of Jewish activity in two Russian cities and the more dispersed nature of Jewish initiatives in Ukraine. Neither country hosts an indigenous Jewish civic organization with a broad funding base, but the Russian Jewish Congress has progressed much further in that direction than United Jewish Community of Ukraine; the Russian group also demonstrates a more encompassing and thoughtful allocations process than its Ukrainian counterpart. Wealthy Jews in Moscow have joined forces to establish the Genesis Philanthropic Group, which supports Jewish identity-building among Russian-speaking Jews in multiple countries, but, with few exceptions, wealthy Ukrainian Jews seem unable to maintain civil relations with each other outside Dnipropetrovsk (and even in that city collaboration often is forced) and lack the vision necessary to create a comparable fund of national, let alone global, Jewish significance. Betsy Gidwitz Chicago, Illinois August 22, 2011 Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs and translations are by the writer. Modified Ukrainian orthography generally is favored over Russian orthography.
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OBSERVATIONS ON JEWISH COMMUNITY LI
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3 begin to pay taxes that they had
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5 Dnipropetrovsk Founded in 1778 on
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7 The major entrance to the Menorah
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9 The preschool is operating “at
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11 pupils (503) and the number of y
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13 families whose relationship to C
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15 boys’ home (a former synagogue
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17 The overwhelming majority of lit
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19 homes, sometimes bringing them s
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21 program in Kharkiv come to Beit
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23 return for the teaching done by
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25 started as more funds become ava
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27 Holocaust, and rebirth of Jewish
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29 manufacturer inevitably will ent
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31 Two newcomers were expected to j
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33 individual needs, providing food
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35 managing. He has heard of very f
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37 committee for the clinic was est
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39 Jewish community. Another 120 in
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41 Natalia Rier, who directs the lo
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43 speakers are fluent in English a
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45 The consul noted that the ICC wi
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47 Ms. Katz confirmed that Hesed Me
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49 Dnipropetrovsk. The relationship
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51 It is very difficult to raise mo
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53 are the daughters of local rabbi
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55 requires that all private school
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57 Vkontakte, to recruit students a
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59 seniors purchase in order to rec
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61 Rabbi Moskovitz noted, a busines
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63 writer met with George Faingold,
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65 males if they would willingly se
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67 utilities, petrol, transportatio
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Jewish Education and Culture 69 44.
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71 46. It is common in Ukraine and
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73 purchase new clothing. Donetsk,
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75 The fitness hall is a gift from
Page 77 and 78: 77 National and International Jewis
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Page 81 and 82: Jewish Education and Culture 81 52.
Page 83 and 84: 83 Surrounding the prayer hall are
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Page 87 and 88: 87 preschools. Authorities could fo
Page 89 and 90: 89 in its generally poor neighborho
Page 91 and 92: 91 connected to the Internet; howev
Page 93 and 94: 93 60. Rabbi Yonatan and Mrs. Ina M
Page 95 and 96: 95 accounting procedures require th
Page 97 and 98: 97 Other individuals in Kyiv with w
Page 99 and 100: 99 64. An organization bearing the
Page 101 and 102: 101 group, but the young women them
Page 103 and 104: 103 worked in Jewish schools and ca
Page 105 and 106: 105 Lo Tishkach arranges all travel
Page 107 and 108: 107 Ukraine in this period. They cl
Page 109 and 110: 109 kashrut, and/or work in secular
Page 111 and 112: 111 Odesa, said Rabbi Dukhovny, pro
Page 113 and 114: The writer observed 12 to 15 univer
Page 115 and 116: 115 and funds simply do not exist,
Page 117 and 118: 117 rightwing antisemites, i.e., ne
Page 119 and 120: 119 songs, the Holocaust, Jewish he
Page 121 and 122: 121 countries are eligible for aliy
Page 123 and 124: 123 The JDC welfare caseload in the
Page 125 and 126: 125 In response to a question, both
Page 127: 127 Commentary 84. The Jewish popul
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