Rabbinic
Presence
70.
Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, a native of Brooklyn and a Karlin-Stolin
hasid, is the Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine. He arrived in the
country in 1989 and presides over the Great Choral Synagogue in the Podil district of Kyiv, an
area of significant Jewish population prior to World War II. In the more than 20
years that he has served in Kyiv, Rabbi Bleich has developed a number of Jewish
community institutions, including the Orach Chaim day school, homes for Jewish
children from unstable families, a Jewish summer camp, an assisted living
residential center for elderly Jews, a matza factory, the Jewish Confederation
of Ukraine, the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine, and the
Kyiv Jewish Religious Community.
Rabbi
Bleich’s native American English and familiarity with American culture have
facilitated easy access to American representations in the Ukrainian capital.
He also represents Ukrainian Jewry in the European and World Jewish Congresses
as well as in other international Jewish organizations. Yet he is increasingly
an outsider, noted more for his absence from the country while attending to
family matters, fundraising, and appearances at international conferences than
for local presence. Further, he is a Karlin-Stolin hasid in a country in which
Jewish religious life is dominated by Chabad. His outsider status, compounded
by ongoing economic developments, is felt within his own institutions in Kyiv.
Several of his umbrella organizations have shriveled, his publications have
ceased, his day school is withering, and his own synagogue no longer is open on
a daily basis.
Rabbi
Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, no longer resides in the
country on a fulltime basis.
Photo: the writer.
In
a meeting in his synagogue office, Rabbi Bleich told the writer that he has
engaged a fundraiser in the United States to seek support for his
various community institutions. Because the fundraiser is being compensated
according to the amount of money he raises, he has a strong incentive to work
diligently, Rabbi Bleich noted.
The
new community building to the right of the synagogue remains incomplete,
Rabbi Bleich acknowledged. However, he is confident that new sewage pipes will
be installed in the near future and that the structure will be ready for a
grand opening in September, in time for the yahrzeit (annual anniversary
of a death) of the mother of the principal donor, Aleksander Rodnyansky,
a Kyiv communications magnate. As he had stated in previous discussions, Rabbi
Bleich will try to lease space in the community building to an independent
kosher restaurant operator and perhaps to another independent individual
capable of managing a small hotel to be located in the structure. Other
program areas to be located in the community building are a large multipurpose
hall for community events, a kosher food and Judaica store, and a mikveh.
About
50 young men are learning in a yeshiva that is housed in the Vladimir
Shifrin Educational Center, a structure located to the left of the
synagogue. The yeshiva is a “serious” learning institution, stated Rabbi
Bleich, but smicha (ordination) is not a goal for most students.
Contemporary Ukraine offers few employment positions for [non-Chabad Orthodox] rabbis,
Rabbi Bleich continued, so it is anticipated that young men in the yeshiva will
remain there only a few years and then leave to teach, supervise kashrut, and/or
work in secular positions; all will be educated to live observant Jewish lives
and those who are successful in the general economy will be able to contribute
funds to Jewish life in the city and the country. He expects that all will
contribute in some way to “building [Jewish] community” in Kyiv and Ukraine.
The
heder for boys from religious families also is located in the Shifrin
building. Rabbi Bleich volunteered that its program of secular studies
requires improvement. About 35 boys from a variety of Orthodox backgrounds are
enrolled in the heder, Rabbi Bleich said. The machon for religious
girls enrolls about 30 girls, continued Rabbi Bleich, and convenes at the Orach
Chaim girls’ day school. About 60 percent of the girls in the machon are from
Russian-speaking homes and only 40 percent are from homes of rabbis, Rabbi
Bleich noted.
The
older building in back of the synagogue continues to accommodate a matza
factory that will have produced 200 tons of matza in 2011, Rabbi Bleich
said. The matza will be distributed throughout the post-Soviet states, much of
it in custom cartons carrying the design and logo of different Jewish
organizations.
Rabbi
Bleich acknowledged that his assisted living center is facing severe
economic difficulties. Only two floors are occupied because no funds are
available to furnish the remaining two residential floors. The endowment fund
consisting of money from residents who sold their apartments in order to move
into the assisted living center does not yield sufficient income to support
building operations. Some unfurnished units are being rented to students and
other people of limited income who will bring their own furniture and prepare
their own meals in the apartment kitchenettes, rather than eat in the general
dining hall. This rental program will be expanded, said Rabbi Bleich, in the
hope that rental income will improve the financial viability of the assisted
living project.
In
response to a question, Rabbi Bleich acknowledged that several of his Jewish
umbrella organizations are dormant or functioning only at a low level.
These will be re-organized, said Rabbi Bleich, so that they provide real
services in an economically efficient manner.
71.
Rabbi Aleksandr Dukhovny, a native of Kyiv, has been rabbi of the Kyiv
Hatikvah Congregation for 12 years, succeeding several foreign-born rabbis
who had served in the position for much shorter periods of time. Rabbi
Dukhovny completed his rabbinic studies at the Leo Baeck Rabbinic Training
Seminary in London.
The
Hatikva Congregation currently has almost 500 members, said Rabbi
Dukhovny. Most members pay dues, which are limited to 1.5 percent of income
for employed individuals and a lower sum for retired individuals. The
congregation occupies a 110 square-meter ground-floor apartment, which includes
a 60-seat hall, several smaller rooms, and offices. The premises also serve as
a base for World Union of Progressive Judaism activities in Ukraine.
Hatikvah
Congregation operates a family Sunday school, said Rabbi Dukhovny, which
includes English-language instruction, art, and drama. About 25 teens are
active in a Netzer youth club. The congregation also sponsors
Jewish activities in two municipal preschools in Kyiv that enroll a
total of 65 children. Parents of some of the children in these kindergartens
are active in Hatikvah.
The World Union for
Progressive Judaism currently is raising funds for new Hatikvah premises,
Rabbi Dukhovny stated. The desired property will be between 300 and 500 square
meters, which will accommodate existing Hatikvah/WUPJ programs in the Ukrainian
capital (excluding the preschools) and allow room for expansion. The likely
site, con-tinued Rabbi Dukhovny, is a floor or significant portion of a floor
in a modern commercial building near public transportation. He is confident
that more attractive premises will bring new members to Hatikvah.
Rabbi
Alexander Dukhovny stands in front of the ark in the Kyiv Hatikvah
Congregation, joined by Alexandra Haydar, President of Hatikvah.
Photo:
the writer.
The Great Choral Synagogue on Schekavitskaya street in the Podil
district of Kyiv should not be confused with the Main Choral Synagogue in
the same city. The latter, better known as the Brodsky synagogue, is larger and
more centrally located. Built with funds contributed by Lazar Brodsky of the
wealthy sugar industry family at about the same time as the Schekavitskaya
street synagogue, the Brodsky synagogue was confiscated by Soviet authorities
in 1926 and converted into a workers’ club. It later became a variety theater
and a children’s puppet theater. After substantial international pressure, the
Brodsky synagogue was returned to the Jewish community in the 1990’s and
restored. Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman, an independent Chabad rabbi, presides over
the Brodsky synagogue.
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