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

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The consul noted that the ICC will work with almost any Jewish affinity group in the
area, including those rejected by the synagogue because some or all of its members
are not halachic Jews. A number of different Jewish organizations use the ICC large
multi-purpose room for their own meetings and/or social activities.
26. Esther Katz, an Israeli, is the new director of the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (Joint, JDC) in Dnipropetrovsk, replacing Amir Ben-Tzvi who
has been transferred to Kyiv. 44 Ms. Katz stated that Joint provides welfare services to
7,000 Jewish elderly in the city through Hesed Menachem. 45 Additionally, said Ms.
Katz, JDC provides various forms of assistance –
welfare, psychological, legal, vocational, and instruction
in childcare – to 510 at-risk Jewish families. About 120
special needs children and youth rotate in various groups
according to disability and age through Hesed
Menachem, each group coming to the hesed one day
every one to two weeks for programs geared to their
specific needs. In addition to Dnipropetrovsk clients,
Joint provides assistance to additional Jews who live in
smaller cities and towns. 46
Esther Katz, left, a veteran JDC professional, is in her first
year of fieldwork in Dnipropetrovsk.
Photo: the writer.
In response to a question, Ms. Katz estimated the Jewish population in the city at
50,000 to 60,000 people according to the Israeli Law of Return, that is, individuals with
at least one Jewish grandparent and thus eligible for citizenship in Israel. Emigration
of Jews from the Dnipropetrovsk area is high and generally removes those individuals
who are more actively engaged Jewishly from the community; those who remain, said
Ms. Katz, are less like to be committed to Jewish peoplehood and Jewish continuity.
Further, she continued, the rate of intermarriage is very high and is a deterrent to local
leadership development; individuals with diluted Jewish identity are unlikely to be
interested in volunteer work on behalf of the Jewish community.
Answering another query, Ms. Katz said that JDC continues to operate family camps
as part of its Jewish renewal agenda. Joint partially subsidizes these programs, but all
participants pay at least a portion of the cost. About 1200 families from nine cities in the
Dnipropetrovsk region have taken part in such workshops, which usually are held at
resorts. Although JDC had once been optimistic that participants would become
community leaders, it is now recognized that few are eager to assume leadership roles;
44 See pages 123-124 for an account of an interview with Mr. Ben-Tzvi in Kyiv.
45 See pages 28-29 for information about Hesed Menachem in Dnipropetrovsk.
46 See pages 84-85 for information about JDC services in Krivoi Rog.