Another camp-like
project that Rabbi Weber organized was a nine-day Pesach seminar for
students in the See the Light program.
Convening in the old shtetl town of Vyzhnytsia in the Carpathian Mountains
near Chernivtsi, the seminar attracted 80 young men and women, most of whom
were from Dnipropetrovsk, although some were from Kyiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, and
other places in Ukraine. (The capacity of the seminar was 120, said Rabbi
Weber.) The program included lectures on Jewish tradition, training in Jewish
religious practice, social activities, and sports. Participants paid the
equivalent of about $70 in seminar fees, an amount that can be submitted in
installments over several months. The total cost of operating the camp was
$50,000, Rabbi Weber said.
His major project in adult
tourism, said Rabbi Weber, is utilizing the Menorah Center as a base for hasidic
groups from Israel and North America who wish to explore the Ukraine-based
heritage of their own movements. Not only Chabad, but also such groups as
Vyzhnytser and Gur hasidim have important shrines and other points of interest
in Ukraine. Followers of such movements come to Dnipropetrovsk in charter
flights from Israel. They stay in the Menorah Center for four days of study
and worship with their own rebbes, where they are assured of kosher food and
suitable hotel accommodations, and then go to their shrines. Because Rabbi
Weber assures that all of their needs are met, hasidim are now visiting
Dnipropetrovsk and other Ukrainian venues as an alternative to Sfad in Israel,
especially during the Shavuot holiday.
National and
International Jewish Organizations
33.
The Dnipropetrovsk office of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI, Sochnut)
serves as headquarters for Jewish Agency operations in all of eastern Ukraine.
The writer met with the immediate past director Ilana Shpak and the new
current directors, Natasha Nabitovsky and Max Lurie just a few
days after the latter two had arrived in Dnipropetrovsk from Israel. Ms.
Shpak, who already had assumed responsibility in her new JAFI post in Kyiv,
had returned to Dnipropetrovsk to assist Ms. Nabitovsky and Mr. Lurie, a
married couple with several small children, in accommodating themselves to
their new positions. Ms. Nabitovsky directs JAFI operations in Dnipropetrovsk
and certain smaller Jewish population centers close to that city, whereas Mr.
Lurie is a roving emissary whose primary responsibilities are the Kharkiv
area to the north and the Donetsk/Luhansk area to the east.
Natasha Nabitovsky and Max Lurie, the
couple at left, had arrived in Dnipro-petrovsk from Israel just a few days
before the writer met them in late March. Ilana Shpak, at right, who was the
previous JAFI director in Dnipropetrovsk, had already moved on to Kyiv, but
returned briefly to Dnipropetrovsk to orient the new emissaries to their
positions in eastern Ukraine.
Photo: the writer.
Jewish Agency premises
are located in the Menorah Center and include a small multi-purpose room,
several conference rooms, a computer room, and offices. When additional space
is required for specific programs, JAFI rents Menorah Center facilities by the
hour at the discount rate available to non-profit organizations.
Jewish Agency goals in its post-Soviet
operations are to strengthen the Jewish identity of local Jews, bolster ties
between local Jews and Israel, encourage aliyah (immigration) to Israel, and
develop local Jewish leadership. The current situation in Ukraine has
generated new interest in aliyah, both among those who have been active in the
Jewish community for some years and among many people who have never
participated in Jewish life previously. Indeed, aliyah figures in March 2014
from the Dnipropetrovsk region increased almost 467 percent over those from
March 2013 and notable increases were reached in JAFI offices in Odesa,
Kharkiv, and Kyiv as well.
Ms. Shpak expressed
relief that, after moving its eastern Ukraine consulate from Dnipropetrovsk
to Kharkiv one year previously,
the Israeli government had attached a part-time consul to its Israel Culture
Center in Dnipropetrovsk a few months ago. Although the part-time consul is
based in Kyiv and is in Dnipropetrovsk only two weeks each month, his presence
simplifies the aliyah process. Potential olim are able to check documents and
receive Israeli entrance visas in Dnipropetrovsk instead of traveling to Kyiv,
a journey that is costly and time-consuming.
The current political
and economic crises in Ukraine have generated many new inquiries about
aliyah to Israel, noted Ms. Shpak. Since the recent upheaval, she
continued, many of those visiting JAFI offices have had no previous contact
with any Jewish organization. They are very unsophisticated about Israel as a
country. It is unlikely that all of them will make aliyah, she predicted, but
they want to be prepared if they feel that they must leave Ukraine. At any
rate, aliyah is a process, she stated; people need time to explore their own
situations and absorption options in Israel, make decisions, and plan their
futures.
The increase in
aliyah, Ms. Shpak stated, has strained the system of immigrant absorption
in Israel. Clearly, Israel needs new programs to absorb professionals,
that is, programs that combine Hebrew language instruction with classes that
teach new olim (those who have made aliyah) how to upgrade their professional
skills and apply them in the Israeli economy. Young people who have had
experience in Israel on Taglit (birthright Israel) and MASA (more extensive
programs) know exactly what they want, she continued, demanding positions and
housing only in the large cities; they will not settle for housing in nearby
towns, even as "starter" accommodations. Israel simply cannot meet
their demands.
About 80 young people
from the Dnipropetrovsk area participated in JAFI Taglit pro-grams in
2013, along with others who joined Taglit through Hillel and other organ-izations.
MASA attracted 60 young adults to Israel programs last year, Ms. Shpak
said.
The JAFI Youth
Club in Dnipropetrovsk engages approximately 120 students on a regular
basis, and similar clubs in Krivoi Rog and Zaporizhzhya attract 50 and 40
students respectively. The Meod program (incubator projects combined with
elements of the Stockholm-based Paideia curriculum) has three constituent
groups of young adults in Dnipropetrovsk and one in Krivoi Rog, said Ms. Shpak.
JAFI also remains in contact with Taglit alumni, sponsoring events and programs
when financial resources permit.
Almost 200 youngsters
from eastern Ukraine attended JAFI summer camps in 2013 and a modestly
larger group is expected in 2014, Ms. Shpak stated. Another program focusing
on children is secular Sunday schools that operate in Dnipropetrovsk and
Krivoi Rog, each enrolling 20 youngsters.
34.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee maintains its eastern
Ukraine regional headquarters in a Dnipropetrovsk office directed by Yoni
Leifer, an Israeli who assumed the position in December after similar posts
in Belarus and Kaliningrad.
In Belarus, he was stationed in Minsk and had certain diplomatic
responsibilities, he noted; in Dnipropetrovsk, this portfolio component is
missing.
Yoni Leifer directs JAFI operations in a large
area of eastern/southeastern Ukraine. His office is located in a small
commercial building that is separate from the JDC hesed.
Photo: the writer.
Referring to the relocation
of Hesed Menachem from its former building to the Menorah Center in
February 2014, Mr. Leifer said that he had been somewhat ambivalent about the
move at first. He had feared that the "luxe" atmosphere of the
Menorah Center would stain the image of the hesed and of JDC generally;
perhaps, he continued, clients would feel uncomfortable in such upscale
surroundings. Further, the space available to JDC was one-third smaller than
that available in the older building.
However, it is important that the hesed be in the "Kaminezki
building" for the sake of maintaining community spirit, JDC decided. It
turns out that clients are very happy being in the middle of a busy community
structure, and proximity to other program areas - such as the Hillel computer
center - has created many benefits for older clients, Mr. Leifer said. He
observed that many hesed grandparents sometimes see their grandchildren in JCC
or other activities. The Menorah Center staff was very helpful to the hesed
and clients during the move-in period and remains attentive to the needs of these
older adults. Although the space limitations of the new premises are real, Mr.
Leifer stated, they have managed to find room for everything.
The JDC client
caseload throughout the region - including Dnipropetrovsk, Krivoi Rog,
Donetsk, Melitopol, and several other cities - includes 18,240 individuals,
3,000 of whom receive home health care. Homecare is very expensive; in fact,
explained Mr. Leifer, it accounts for 85 percent of the budget. Of the 18,240
total clients, Mr. Leifer continued, 39 percent are considered Holocaust
victims and, as such, receive services subsidized by the Conference on
Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
With the passage of
time, the number of Holocaust victims diminishes and the resources provided by
the Claims Conference are reduced accordingly. Whereas the number of clients
eligible for such assistance once exceeded 80 percent of all clients, said Mr.
Leifer, the current ratio of 39 percent is expected to lessen further as more
survivors die. The supplemental funding provided by the Claims Conference
enables a much more generous package of services to constituents; for example,
Nazi victims receive 25 hours of homecare each week compared with ten hours of
homecare for individuals who were not affected by the Holocaust. Similarly,
Nazi victims receive a monthly allowance of $25 for food purchases, where as
non-victims receive one payment of $25 every three months.
In response to a
question, Mr. Leifer said that state pensions are still being paid on
time, but that inflation has eroded their value and the resulting loss
of income has become very burdensome for many seniors. The average pension for
hesed clients was 17,612 hryvnia in March, which now (end of March) is
equivalent to about $161. A few months ago, the value of the average monthly
pension was $220. As gas prices are due to increase on April 1, everything
that is transported by road vehicles will rise in cost.
At some point, said
Mr. Leifer, JDC would like to introduce a fee for service system that
would require clients to pay at least a partial cost of certain services that
they receive. Perhaps the fee structure would be graduated for seniors
according to their ability to pay and, of course, such a system must be
introduced gradually.
Apart from JDC
welfare services, Mr. Leifer noted briefly a JDC Jewish community center
program that soon would move from the old community building behind the
synagogue to the Menorah Center, the JDC Tikvah program for people with
disabilities that already is in the Menorah Center, and the Metsuda young leadership
program that offers five seminars throughout the year, each one in a
different part of Ukraine.
JDC needs to engage more young professionals in leadership development
programs, he stated. Nonetheless, when asked by the writer, Mr. Leifer said that
JDC was not contemplating the granting of local management authority to local
individuals. He observed that a hesed Board of Directors exists, consisting of
ten to 12 individuals, but he did not define the responsibilities of this
group.
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