The upcoming holiday of Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah will be joyous inside synagogues all across Ukraine, with singing and dancing, and the traditional “hakafot” to celebrate the completion and beginning of the annual Torah reading cycle. For many individuals and families in Ukraine, the joy of coming together and celebrating with their community members is more important than ever, as their days are filled with fear and uncertainty. Just this week more than 80 rockets landed in Ukraine, causing severe damage in Kyiv, as well as Dnipro, Kharkov, Zhitomjer, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia and Lviv. Miraculously, families survived devastating blasts that destroyed apartment buildings such as the one pictured, in Zaporizhia.
Thirty percent of the country is without electrical power and many lack water as well. Winter has arrived and people have been advised to don warm clothing and stock up on blankets as power is not expected to return anytime soon. JRNU staff and volunteers accompanied the Chabad rabbis going door to door in each community, checking on the residents, providing assistance where needed. Sukkot services were held at every shul, giving people a brief respite from the frightening chaos they have endured, and a little sense of normalcy. We continue to provide food, medicine, housing and more to the people of Ukraine.
We wish everyone a joyous holiday with friends and family, and ask that we continue to remember those who are suffering. We all look forward to better days ahead.
