On Thursday evening, October 23rd, the synagogue in Kherson was struck by a missile, heavily damaging the prayer hall and the office of the city’s Chief Rabbi, Yosef Yitzchak Wolff. Miraculously Rabbi Wolff had stepped out seven minutes earlier to affix a mezuzah at a community member’s home:
“What can I tell you, it is another miracle,” said Rabbi Wolff.
The attack came around 7 p.m. local time. And while the synagogue hosts daily morning and afternoon prayers, due to a city-wide curfew, no evening prayers are held, which is why there were few people in the building. A large shell ripped through the roof and slammed through the second-floor sanctuary before landing in the rabbi’s office on the ground level. Fortunately, there were no casualties, though several synagogue staff were inside, along with a woman who has lived there for the past three months, after she was forced to flee her home in a particularly dangerous part of the frontline city.
“This was an open moment of Divine providence,” Rabbi Wolff said. “The walls shook, and the sanctuary, the heart of the community, was destroyed. Our spirit will not be broken. We will strengthen the community and rebuild the synagogue so that prayers continue to be heard there, with God’s help.”
The synagogue serves as the focal point of Jewish life in Kherson. In addition to holding services and events, it is distribution site for JRNU where we provide food, medicine, and other aid. Built in 1895, the building was seized by Communist authorities in 1930 and returned to the Jewish community in the early 1990s. It underwent a full restoration in the 2000s, and reopened in 2010.
“We’re going to repair the synagogue, and we are going to continue our work here. We are not abandoning the Jews of Kherson,” pledged Rabbi Wolff.
The Rabbi has survived previous close calls during the war. In mid-July, a drone directly hit and destroyed his family’s vehicle as they were traveling outside Kherson. He, his wife, and their daughter were unharmed.
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