68. Limmud, the popular Jewish
learning program first established in Britain, has operated in Ukraine for five
years, said Irina Knopova, who volunteers as a transportation and
logistics manager for Limmud in Ukraine. Puralistic by design, a Limmud
conference operates on a residential conference model, offering lectures and
discussions on Jewish topics, debates, workshops, music, and dance. Multiple
sessions are held simultaneously, giving participants an opportunity to select
topics of interest to them. A festive Shabbat celebration, with various worship
and non-religious cultural options, always is on the schedule, as are
activities for children and families.
The chief administrator of Limmud Ukraine is
the only compensated employee; she also is responsible for Limmud in Belarus
and Moldova, said Ms. Knopova. The President, Yosif Akselrud,
is a volunteer. Volunteer committees on programs, organization, public
relations, and other subjects make their own decisions. Feedback on all
aspects of Limmud conferences is solicited and used in planning subsequent
conferences.
Russian-language
Limmud conferences now are held in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Israel, the United
States, Canada, and Australia, although the number of such gatherings varies
from country to country. Russian-speaking Jews from one country often attend
Limmud in other countries. Although Limmud is subsidized by outside
foundations and organizations, all participants pay a portion of their
expenses, said Ms. Knopova. Volunteers receive discounts, she noted.
Irina
Knopova manages Jewish education programs at the Jewish Agency for Israel as a
career. She directs transportation and other logistics matters as a volunteer
in Limmud. She serves as a member of the Limmud organizing committee.
Photo: the writer.
The first ever Limmud conference in Ukraine
attracted 1,000 people, Ms. Knopova
stated, attributing the high number to its novelty at the time and the fact
that it was free. Since then, she continued, Limmud has convened several times
in Odesa and once each in Vinnytsia, Uzhorod (in the Carpathian mountains near
Slovakia), and Truska-vets' (in the Carpathian mountains near Poland). These
subsequent conferences typically draw 300 to 400 people, said Ms. Knopova, and
often are held in conference facilities near airports.
69. Due to illnesses of several of its
residents, the writer was unable to visit Moishe House, a program in
which young adults prepare various Jewish activities engaging other Jewish
young adults.
70. The writer met with Marina Lysak and
Masha Pushkova at the Sholom Aleichem House in downtown Kyiv
where the two young women maintain an office within a small multi-purpose room.
The well-known Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem had lived in another building on
the same site, said Ms. Lysak and Ms. Pushkova. That building was in bad
condition and was torn down some years ago, the two women continued, and the
current two-story building was constructed in the same place. The government
maintains it as a small museum, with a gallery showing the work of Jewish
artists on the first floor and a Sholom Aleichem museum and the multi-purpose
room on the second floor.
JAFARI,
the urban Jewish safari (scavenger hunt) that the two women operated, has
collapsed, they said. Access to many areas of downtown Kyiv now is limited by
the continuing closure of the Kreschatyk (main boulevard in Kyiv) and adjacent
areas, and few people retain the economic well-being that would permit them to
drive their cars around the city on scavenger hunts. Further, increased city
crime might endanger cer-tain aspects of this activity. Teaching Hebrew and
planning special events has become their "Plan B," they said. They
teach Hebrew classes in the Morasha program of Rabbi Bleich's synagogue
and also tutor private clients. They design and supervise special programs for
the Jewish Agency, they stated.
Masha
Pushkova, right, has broad work ex-perience in Jewish education and culture. Marina
Lysak, who earned an MBA at a British university and previously worked as an
investment adviser, now is unemployed and attempting to work in the Jewish
com-munity. Both women work only part-time.
Photo: the writer.
They both were heavily involved in the Maidan
protests, they said, and they organized the airlift of wounded
protesters to Israel following the shootings on February 18-20. They
were on the square when shooting began. The police, who were closely allied
with Yanukhovych, blocked the movement of medicines and medics to those who
were wounded; in fact, the women stated, the police actually shot some people
who attempted to assist the wounded. Demonstrators raised money on the square
to purchase medications and medical equipment; after buying out local medical
supply stores, they organized convoys to drive to outlying areas in search of
the required materials. Along with others, Ms. Lysak and Ms. Pushkova realized
that the injuries of the victims were too serious to be treated properly in
Ukraine; complicating the physical wounds was the fact that many of the wounded
had lost their personal documents in the struggle on Maidan, so it was
difficult to identify them.
It so happened, said the two women, that some
Czech physicians were visiting Kyiv at the time of the Maidan protests;
they volunteered to take some of the wounded back to Prague for treatment, but
the Czech government balked at issuing entry visas, apparently believing that
assistance to injured Ukrainians would antagonize the Russians.
Although no attempt had been made to formally
organize a group of Jewish quick responders, related the two women, most people
working in that capacity on Maidan were activists in Jewish community
organizations. Therefore, it seemed natural to contact Israeli health
officials for assistance to seriously wounded protestors. Israeli
officials were not helpful, the two women continued, perhaps because the Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs was on strike at that time. Consequently, Ms.
Lysak and Ms. Pushkova contacted different Israeli hospitals directly, using
Facebook as a com-munications tool. Finally, several hospitals agreed to
accept several wounded pro-testors each, as long as payment was secured in
advance. The two women quickly raised $500,000 from both Ukrainians and
foreigners to charter a German plane and cover initial medical costs of the
wounded in Israeli hospitals; 10 seriously wounded protestors were airlifted to
Israel, five of whom had returned to Ukraine by mid-April.
Ms. Lysak and Ms. Pushkova continue to
work with wounded Maidan victims and with Ukrainian soldiers wounded in
battle with the Russians, sending some to other countries for therapy.
Obviously, they need to raise money for this purpose and work with partners in
foreign lands.
The sudden need for emergency medical
services, sophisticated surgery, and complex long-term therapeutic care has
underlined the glaring inadequacies of the Ukrainian medical system,
said the two women. No rehabilitation institution worthy of the name exists
anywhere in the country, the two women continued. Further, medical
profes-sionals seemed absolutely unaware of the condition of post-traumatic
stress disorder, now afflicting many who were on Maidan. Ms. Lysak and Ms.
Pushkova, well-educated and fluent in English, had never heard of it until a
foreign associate suggested that the two women themselves might be victims of
PTSD. With their English-language skills, Ms. Lysak and Ms. Pushkova used the
Internet for self-education, but that option is not available to everyone in
the country and probably is insufficiently professional for medical and social
service specialists.
When asked about their own futures now
that their JAFARI business had ended and Ms. Lysak no longer worked in the
investment field, Ms. Lysak and Ms. Pushkova said that they were now living
"another life." Each acknowledged strong feelings of stress. They
continue to volunteer with the wounded and families of the wounded, to organize
volunteer groups to do similar work, to teach Hebrew, and to work with the
Jewish Agency whenever such opportunities occur. They would like to help
Ukraine as a country, but are not certain what they can do. From their own
experiences, they understand that Ukraine needs a much stronger and much more
sophisticated medical system and a much stronger and much better organized
military force, but they themselves lack qualifications in these fields. They
also noted that the government of Ukraine has no financial resources with which
to implement necessary reforms and improve services.
71. PresenTense is a Jewish
organization currently working in the United States, Israel, and certain
Russian-speaking countries. Its goal is to encourage and develop an
entrepreneurial approach to Jewish leadership and community development. It offers
training in necessary skills and provides a support network. It is backed by
several Jewish foundations, North American Jewish federations, and certain
large Jewish organizations, including the Joint Distribution Committee and the
Jewish Agency for Israel. In Ukraine, it is housed within the Jewish Agency
and coordinated with the JAFI incubator program (Hamama).
The
writer met with Ihor Kozlovsky, Director of PresenTense in Ukraine, and
several other individuals connected with the organization. Mr. Kozlovsky and
his colleagues declared that one of their key programs is Face-to-Face,
which brings local Jewish young adults together with different successful Jews
- perhaps a businessman, rabbi, professor, and physician - to discuss their
perspectives on current issues. Another forum enables younger entrepreneurs to
interact with older, more established business people.
Ihor
Kozlovsky directed PresenTense in Kyiv at the time of the writer's visit in
April. However, he expected to emigrate to Israel shortly after her visit.
Photo: the writer.
From these and other experiences, organizers
hope to develop a "social entre-preneurship community" that will
enhance Jewish life in a "socially responsible" man-ner. PresenTense
has invited program/project proposals from Jews in Kyiv, Dnipro-petrovsk,
Kharkiv, and Odesa; implementation funding will be sought from outside sources
for those projects that are judged to have the greatest potential for success.
When asked for examples of proposals received to date, Mr. Kozlovsky listed the
following, noting that all required implementation within the Jewish community:
an open space for Jewish young adults in which creative and performing arts
could be explored, along with research into local Jewish history, music, and
dance; a history of Jewish heroism in World War II; a hamburger restaurant that
would feature Jewish and Israeli variations of this food; a project on Israeli
music; a technology bridge between Israel and Kharkiv; compilation of case
studies on the conduct of business according to Torah; and replication of
Israeli emergency medical services in Kyiv, initially just within the Jewish
population of Kyiv and then extended to the broader population.
A committee drawn from the PresenTense
13-member local board
will evaluate the proposals and select the awardees. The awardees must
sign a contract to attend a five-session seminar that will address
business skills, budget development, public relations, website development, and
public speaking. They also must meet with a PresenTense Board member, who will
be a mentor, at least once monthly. Professional coaching also will be
required.
Notwithstanding the detailed attention given
to this plan, it had not foreseen the possibility that some of its principal
personnel and targeted entrepreneurs soon would find its content irrelevant to
their needs. Mr. Kozlovsky stated early in the writer's meeting with him,
"Of course, aliyah is at the top of everyone's priorities."
He then mentioned that "most" PresenTense Board members no longer
live in Ukraine and that some applicants also are emigrating to Israel.
Finally, in response to the writer's question, he acknowledged that his own
aliyah plans are in a very advanced stage and that he would be on his way to
Israel in the near future.
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