Despite intensified attacks across Ukraine, we continue our extensive Rosh Hashana aid campaign that will bring holiday food packages to tens of thousands of Jews across the country.
At the center of the operation is a honey facility operating in an industrial area of the Kyiv region where logistics centers and large warehouses have sustained heavy damage in recent weeks.
Despite the attacks, the facility has remained standing, and workers are continuing production under difficult conditions, with the sound of machinery at times accompanied by air raid sirens.
“We are operating under complex conditions, but the sweet tradition of Rosh Hashana will not be stopped,” said a factory lead.
We made a strategic decision to produce many of the basic food and holiday items inside Ukraine. The honey facility in the Kyiv region is one such facility. In addition to honey, meat and poultry are also being produced locally.
Next week, a fleet of trucks will be loaded with pallets of food that will be delivered to Jewish community centers in cities across Ukraine. From there, local distribution networks will bring the packages directly to community members’ homes.
The packages will include poultry, fresh meat and jars of locally produced honey, along with dairy products, canned foods and more. Special honey cakes are being flown in from Israel, and honey cookies are being brought from eastern Ukraine. The packages will also contain materials that explain the significance and customs of the High Holidays, as well as specially produced Jewish calendars.
“We are preparing for an unprecedented number of people to come for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services,” said JRNU's Rabbi Simcha Levenhartz who is coordinating the distribution operation.
“After such a long and exhausting period of war and uncertainty, people are looking more than ever for togetherness and tradition,” he said. “We are all looking ahead and will pray together that the coming new year will finally be a peaceful, calm and sweet year.”
Together we save lives and restore hope.
