79. Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief
Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, sponsors a Home for Assisted Living that is
located in a pleasant residential area close to public transportation.
Originally planned as six-story conventional apartment building, Rabbi Bleich
reconfigured it to accommodate 85 Jewish elderly in one- or two-bedroom
apart-ments, each with its own bathroom and kitchen facilities. It was
expected that residents would pay for their new apartments with proceeds from
the sale of their old apartments; the proceeds were deposited in a trust that
was expected to yield a return sufficient to support operation of the
building. In addition to residential apartments, the facility includes a
kitchen and small dining hall, a synagogue/multi-purpose room, other program
rooms, a suite of medical offices, and several staff rooms.
The number of
residents in the Home never reached even half of its capacity. Other
organizations, principally JDC, blocked grants from foundations and other
institutions that had been approached about start-up funding, assistance for
Holocaust survivors, or other forms of support.
Locally-generated income never reached its goal because social conditions
forced Rabbi Bleich to accept several residents who were homeless, that is, who
had no property to sell and thus no proceeds to transfer to the Home. In
recent years, the general economic condition in Ukraine has further damaged the
capacity of the Home to operate according to original plans.
In response, the
number of residents was reduced to 28 people, who now occupy apartments on the
second and third floors. Part of the first floor and the upper three floors
were converted into office space, the rent from which now pays the cost of
maintaining Jewish elderly on the second and third floors. A separate entrance
was developed and a new elevator installed so that the commercial tenants and
residents are separated from each other.
Viktor Popovich, the manager of the
facility, stated that all commercial space is occupied and that rental income
from this space covers almost all expenses incurred by the Home. However, he
acknowledged, the declining value of the Ukrainian hryvnia and Ukraine's
galloping inflation are taking a toll. He estimated that food prices have
increased 20 percent and that the cost of utilities has risen much more.
Further, he said, the Kyiv municipality is now charging fees for certain
services, such as garbage collection, that it previously provided at no cost.
The 28 residents
range in age from 67 to 97. Four are bedridden, stated Mr. Popovich; their
condition required that the Home purchase new, special beds for them. Two
health professionals, including a nurse, are on duty around the clock, and
physicians visit according to a regular schedule. In response to a question,
Mr. Popovich said that applicants learn about the home from the "Jewish
telegraph" (word of mouth), synagogues, the hesed, and Jewish newspapers.
 
Aliza Greenberg, age 77, relaxes in
her room at the Home, as seen in the photo at left. A dentist before her
retirement, she is the aunt of a prominent Jewish leader in Moscow who arranged
her entry into the facility. In the photo at right, facility manager Viktor
Popovich poses with another female resident in the lobby of the Home. Mr.
Popovich knows all of the residents by name.
Photos: the writer.
In addition to the
residential program, the facility accommodates a day center used by up
to 50 Jewish elderly every day. The costs of the day center are covered
jointly by JDC, income from the office rentals in the building, and a subsidy
from Rabbi Bleich's office.
Asked about the role
of JDC in the Home, Mr. Popovich responded that the hesed sometimes
provides adult diapers for residents who need them. Otherwise, it is not
involved and it doesn't "bother" (мешает) them.
Mr. Popovich
expressed concern about the political and economic situation in Ukraine.
Ukraine may be a sovereign state, he said, but, in reality, the future of
Ukraine depends upon Vladimir Putin of Russia. Born in 1972 and a former
officer in the Ukrainian armed forces, Mr. Popovich recently received a
reserves notice from the new Ukrainian National Guard. Showing the writer his
military identification card, Mr. Popovich said that he keeps fit and is ready
to resume national service if called.
Ukrainian Jewish
Organizations
80. The Association of Jewish Organizations and
Communities of Ukraine, better known as the Ukrainian Vaad, is
chaired by Iosif Zissels, a longtime Jewish community observer and
leader in Ukraine. Although strapped for funds in the current economic
environment, the Vaad works in four main areas: Jewish property preservation
and restoration, as well as archival research; interethnic tolerance;
representation of Ukrainian Jewry in various international forums; and
operation of Jewish community programs in small Jewish population centers,
focusing on summer camps for adolescents.
The Vaad has sponsored heritage expeditions to places of Jewish interest in
Ukraine, and Mr. Zissels himself is regarded as well-informed and a capable
analyst of Ukrainian Jewry.
Iosif Zissels is a veteran
professional in the Ukrainian Jewish community. He is a native of Chernivtsi.
Photo: the writer (in 2013).
When the writer asked
Mr. Zissels how things were going (Как
дела?) as an opening question, he responded (in
Russian), "The most important thing is that we are alive, we are
well." The biggest problem, he continued, was the situation in
Donetsk and Luhansk, where Russian separatists have created major difficulties.
The separatists, he continued, are supported and controlled by Russia; no
support exists for them in Ukraine. Everyone in Ukraine is very nervous about
Russian intentions, the Jewish population more so than others, Mr. Zissels
stated. Instability is never good for the Jews, he observed.
The Jewish
population of Ukraine, stated Mr. Zissels, is united in its support for
Ukrainian sovereignty and opposition to Russian intervention in Ukraine.
Fortunately, no Jews were particularly close to former President Viktor
Yanukhovych, so there is no stain of collaboration attached to local Jews.
Jewish support for the "Maidan revolution" is well-known; Ukrainians
are aware that three Jewish protesters were among those killed on Maidan.
However, he lamented,
although Jews may be united in support of a free and independent Ukraine, the
Ukrainian Jewish population in general is disorganized with no strong leaders.
Everyone does what he wants. Neither of the "strong" rabbis in Kyiv
can lead anyone else.
Vyecheslav Likachev,
the Vaad-associated specialist on antisemitism now is in Israel, said
Mr. Zissels. Nonetheless, Mr. Zissels continues to monitor anti-Jewish bigotry
in Ukraine closely. He has excellent contacts in the Ministry of the Interior
and the Ministry of Culture, he stated. From their records and his own
contacts, he is confident in saying that no increase in antisemitism has
occurred in Ukraine. It is true, he noted, that several small Ukrainian
political parties have fascist components, but these views have found no
support among the general Ukrainian population. Russia exploits these small
expressions of anti-Jewish bigotry for its own use.
The situation in
Russia itself is very serious, stated Mr. Zissels. Democratic practice is
declining and political repression is increasing. Antisemitism is more serious
there than in Ukraine. The dissident movement in Russia is growing, Mr.
Zissels observed, and many Jews play prominent roles in it.
81. United Jewish
Community of Ukraine was established as the All-Ukraine Jewish Congress in
1997 by controversial Ukrainian Jewish oligarch Vadym Rabynovych.
Its current name was adopted in 1999. In 2008, Ihor Kolomoisky of
PrivatBank formally succeeded Mr. Rabynovych as UJCU leader; however, Mr. Kolomoisky
appears to have abandoned the organization, perhaps because he is consumed by
the Ukrainian-Russian confrontation.
Iosif
Akselrud,
who is executive director of Hillel, also is the executive director of UJCU.
Mr. Akselrud stated that the UJCU now "barely exists." Mr.
Kolomoisky ceased contributing to the organization in 2014, apparently
mobilizing his ample resources in support of the Ukrainian armed forces and
other organizations/institutions defending Ukrainian sovereignty. Without the
financial contribution of Mr. Kolomoisky, said Mr. Akselrud, UJCU literally has
no budget. It no longer supports the 31 Jewish community Sunday schools to
which it had made major contributions in previous years.
Ihor Kolomoisky, the nominal president
and principal benefactor of UJCU, no longer contributes to the organization or
is active in it. His major concern now is defending Ukrainian sovereignty.
Photo: Https://www.google.com/search?q=igor+kolomoisky&rlz=1T4GGRP.
Retrieved September 12, 2013.
UJCU continues to
publish a periodic Jewish newspaper and to monitor antisemitism
in various communities through telephone calls and use of Skype. He has seen
no increase in antisemitism during the current crisis, said Mr. Akselrud.
82. The Ukrainian
Jewish Committee was established by Oleksandr Feldman, a wealthy
businessman from Kharkiv and a member of the Ukrainian Rada (parliament), in
2008. Mr. Feldman, who previously was associated with the Jewish Fund of
Ukraine, modeled the new organization on the American Jewish Committee, he
said. The writer met with Eduard Dolinsky, the director-general of the
organization.
 
Oleksandr Feldman, (left) a wealthy
Kharkiv businessman, is a member of the Rada and a major philan-thropist to
both Jewish and general causes in Kharkiv. He sometimes wears a kipa (Jewish
head covering) in the Rada, and is pictured here on a trip to Israel. Eduard
Dolinsky (right), the general director of the Ukrainian Jewish Congress, is
from Lutsk in western Ukraine and remains in contact with that area.
Photos: Mr. Feldman,
Ukrainian Jewish Committee; Mr. Dolinsky, the writer.
M. Dolinsky told the
writer that the Ukrainian Jewish Committee has four major priorities at the
current time (April 2014):
1. Support of
Israel;
2. Development of a
Museum of Ukrainian Jewish History in Kyiv;
3. Resolution of
certain Holocaust issues with Romania;
4. Development of
Ukrainian Jewish self-sufficiency, including establishment of a "unified
voice" to speak on behalf of Ukrainian Jews and a limit to tenure of lay
leaders.
Both Mr. Dolinsky and
Mr. Feldman have expressed impatience with Israel for its refusal to
support Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia; at the same time, they say
that they understand Israel's need to maintain good relations with Russia for
multiple reasons, including protection of Jews in Russia, continuation of the
right of Jews in Russia to emigrate to Israel, Israel-Russia trade relations,
and some discipline in the export of Russian weapons to Arab states. Mr. Feldman
visits Israel often and speaks with Israeli officials frequently.
The discussion with
Mr. Dolinsky did not go into detail about a Kyiv-based Ukrainian Jewish
History Museum, but such a project has been discussed in Kyiv for some
years and has assumed new importance since the opening of a Ukrainian Jewish
history museum within the Menorah Center in Dnipropetrovsk. Many Kyiv Jews
believe that the primary such museum should be in Kyiv, the nation's capital.
In addition to location and cost factors, a potential complicating factor in
the development of a Kyiv Ukrainian Jewish History Museum is the contention of
different Jewish interest groups over its control.
Regarding Romania, Romanian
forces massacred Jews in Odesa, Mykolaiv, and in Transnistru during the Holocaust.
Romania has never properly acknowledged its role in these atrocities.
A growing concern
among Ukrainian Jews is continuing foreign - Israeli and diaspora Jewry -
control over Ukrainian Jewish affairs. "After more than 20 years [of
Ukrainian independence]," said Mr. Dolinsky, Ukrainian Jews "are
ready to do much on our own." The future cannot continue along the same
pattern as now exists, he averred. Certainly, indigenous management of Jewish
community life would be much more cost-efficient than bringing in Israelis who
must be compensated for housing, insurance, transportation between Israel and
Ukraine, and other expenses. Many capable managers have emerged among
Ukrainian Jews, Mr. Dolinsky stated, and the principle and practice of accountability
now are well understood among younger Ukrainian Jews who speak English and have
participated in exchanges with foreign counterparts. Furthermore, he said,
professionals and many people in business have adopted Western standards in
their work. Mr. Dolinsky suggested that a dialogue be established among
Ukrainian Jews, American Jews, and Israelis about the transference of Jewish
communal programming to Ukrainian Jews. "This is the time to do it,"
he concluded.
Commenting on the current
situation in Ukraine, Mr. Dolinsky stated that Ukrainian Jews face two
primary problems. First, he said, is the Russian intervention in
Ukraine, which affects Ukrainian Jews no less than it affects everyone else in
Ukraine. The facts of this intervention are well-known and it is unnecessary
to re-state them. The second issue, he declared, is the economic crisis.
Ukrainian currency has dropped in value by 50 percent in the last three weeks.
(His own compensation has declined 60 percent in value, he added.) Wide-ranging
governmental reforms are required to address the dysfunctional Ukraine economy,
he said, and implementation of such reforms will exact further hardship on
Ukrainians for several years until the economy is turned around. This interim
period, he continued, will be very difficult for already vulnerable population
groups, i.e., children and the elderly, and also may cause further hardship to
the strapped education and public health systems. He hopes that American and
other Jews will be generous in their response, extending additional aid to
Ukrainian Jews even as Ukrainian Jews assume control over their own welfare
needs. Relations with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee must be
reviewed.
Regarding antisemitism
in Ukraine, Mr. Dolinsky stated that much of the "popular" or
street antisemitism in the country is a provocation, instigated by the Russians
or by people associated with former President Viktor Yanukhovych. They all
want to dis-parage post-Yanukhovych Ukraine so they construct antisemitic
incidents. However, Mr. Dolinsky said, some individuals within the small
Svoboda (Freedom) party have made antisemitic remarks and have not apologized
for these comments. Perhaps Svoboda may cause problems in the future, he said.
Right Sektor, the other small rightwing political party, is openly opposed to
antisemitism and fights it when it occurs. It is possible, he continued, that Right
Sektor is just being pragmatic for the time being and will become antisemitic
in the future; only time will tell, he said. No major political party in
Ukraine is antisemitic, he stated.
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