Welfare
59.
Instead of meeting with the director of the hesed in Kharkiv, as she
usually does, the writer met with Oksana Galkevich, the outgoing director
of all JDC operations in the Kharkiv region.
Ms. Galkevich responded to the writer's questions about current hesed work with
various at-risk population groups.
As was the case
last year, the hesed works with approximately 9,000 clients, the overwhelming
majority of whom are elderly, in Kharkiv and the surrounding region.
The proportion of elderly on their caseload who are not victims of Nazi persecution
is now 53 percent and is growing as Nazi victims die.
The financial implications of this situation are serious because only Nazi
victims are eligible for support from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against
Germany.
Most elderly people in Kharkiv, Ms. Galkevich stated, are struggling. Inflation is eroding the value of
their pensions; they lack purchasing power to obtain the food and medicine that
they need, pay utility bills, and cover other needs.
The smart card program of the hesed is helpful, she said, but it cannot cover
normal expenses. Officially, responded Ms.
Galkevich to a question, the rate of annual inflation is nine to ten percent, but
real inflation is significantly higher.
The hesed is placing
new emphasis on children-at-risk and on handicapped individuals between the
ages of 20 and 50, said Ms. Galkevich.
They have established a club for handicapped adults to improve socializing opportunities
for this population group, and are trying to obtain a van that accommodates wheelchairs. The municipality has such a van, stated Ms.
Galkevich, but it is not always available.
She is hopeful that grant applications to Western foundations will yield funds to
expand existing programs and create new ones.
Synagogue-Related
Programs
60. Rabbi
Moshe Moskovitz has served the Jewish population of Kharkiv for more than
20 years. A native of Caracas, Rabbi Moskovitz
is among the veteran Chabad rabbis in the post-Soviet states and is highly respected
in the city and beyond. In addition to the
education programs noted earlier in this section, the Chabad community in Kharkiv
owns and operates its own summer camp for children and also conducts a significant
food assistance program for impoverished Jewish elderly.
Rabbi Moshe Moskovitz leads a major
Chabad program in Kharkiv.
Photo: the writer.
The local Chabad
community board consists of about 50 individuals, said Rabbi Moskovitz, most
of whom give moderate contributions to the Chabad program on a steady basis. Oleksandr Feldman, a local oligarch
and member of the Ukrainian Rada (Parliament) is the only major donor.
(See below.) Several donors have suffered
business reversals in the current economic crisis, Rabbi Moskovitz stated, and have
reduced their gifts significantly. He has
been unable to find any outside donors, such as Jewish federations in the United
States
or Chabad patrons abroad. The financial situation
is difficult, acknowledged Rabbi Moskovitz; currently, his major problem is obtaining
funds for repairs to the synagogue roof.
Chabad continues
to maintain a sizeable welfare program, including two dining halls - one
in the synagogue and the other in the preschool/lower school building - that serve
free hot lunches to a total of 100 Jewish elderly people every weekday.
Additionally, Chabad provides free medical assistance to many local Jews,
including funds for surgery and hospital expenses.
The Joint Distribution Committee offers no financial subsidy to any of these
programs, noted Rabbi Moskovitz, and appears to ignore many elderly Jews who need
support. Chief among the areas in which the
hesed has proved inadequate, Rabbi Moskovitz stated, are nutrition (specifically,
hot meals) and socializing opportunities; a revived substantive warm home program
would do much to address both of these issues, he observed.
JDC has shown no capacity to respond to the current economic crisis, Rabbi
Moskovitz said.
A major supporter
of Chabad welfare efforts has been Oleksandr Feldman, who distributes
approximately $15,000 to needy local Jews almost every month.
Receiving petitioners at the synagogue, Mr. Feldman responds to requests
for assistance with food, medicine, housing, and legal expenses.
Mr. Feldman, continued Rabbi Moskovitz, is highly respected in the city,
maintaining excellent relations with the mayor and with many other people, both
Jews and non-Jews. In addition to his support
of Jewish concerns, he also is a major donor to various civic projects.
The synagogue building itself is one of the largest
in Europe, designed by Jacob Gevirtz, a noted St. Petersburg architect, and constructed
in 1903. It was used as a sports training
facility during most of the Soviet regime and then left to deteriorate.
Its interior was a mass of rubble when recovered by Rabbi Moskovitz. Its renovation to original specifications is
considered a major achievement and a point of pride for many local Jews.
It also is a significant tourist attraction.
Photo of synagogue
exterior: www.jpeopleworld.com. Retrieved
August 22, 2013.
Photo of synagogue
prayer hall: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=cfe30ad3-cb0c-48cf-9f9f-ba8f426b484c. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
In addition to a
large prayer hall, the structure now includes: a basement with a large kitchen and
dining hall, medical dispensary, and three classrooms; a ground floor with a sizeable
lobby, the prayer hall, and offices; and two upper floors with a total of eight
classrooms, several club rooms, and a library.
In response to a
question, Rabbi Moskovitz described the general mood (настроение) in the city as gloomy. The worst part, he continued, is that people
have no hope for the future; even young adults, he said, feel that that they are
at a dead end (тупик). Many
students are leaving the country. Jewish
students and young adults enroll in the Jewish Agency MASA program to explore
career opportunities in Israel. These young
people, said Rabbi Moskovitz, have "one eye on [permanent] departure,"
an outlook that is "understood by all."
Many graduates of Chabad school #170 have enrolled in MASA, selecting various
programs that meet individual needs. The
Chabad staff keeps in touch with these young people, Rabbi Moskovitz stated, and
they know that "all of them are happy" with the choices that they have
made.
Older Jewish
adults
may prefer to go to Germany, said Rabbi Moskovitz, because Germany provides very
generous welfare benefits. However, younger
Jews are not interested in emigrating to Germany; it is not "in", not
"fashionable" for young people.
The move of the
major office of the eastern Ukraine Israeli Consulate and attached Israel Culture
Center
from Dnipropetrovsk to Kharkiv has boosted the self-confidence of local Jews,
said Rabbi Moskovitz; the location of a major Israel institution in the city makes
Kharkiv Jews feel more important. The Consulate
and ICC are doing excellent work in local universities, enhancing the image of Israel
as a scientific and high tech powerhouse.
In contrast, Rabbi
Moskowitz stated, the Jewish Agency for Israel representation in the city
has been downgraded significantly. The influence
of JAFI in Kharkiv has declined accordingly.
While acknowledging
the economic crisis in the Kharkiv Jewish community, Rabbi Moskovitz said that the
situation in smaller Jewish population centers is even worse.
Their need for assistance is more acute, he stated, because the younger,
more dynamic cohort of the Jewish population has left these areas, emptying them
of productive community members and leaving weaker individuals behind.
Some Chabad schools in smaller cities are closing, he said.
61.
Chabad also conducts a prison chaplaincy service, visiting approximately
25 local Jews incarcerated in five local prisons, including a pre-trial detention
center. The largest number appear to be in
the detention center, said Rabbi Levi Raices, who directs the program, so
he visits that facility most often; however, he also visits convicts in the other
prisons at least once yearly. The detainees
have included two former Chabad students and a Kharkiv-born Israeli.
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