MA Shliach Raises More than $50,000 for Ukraine
“During this crisis, the Chabad has been on high-alert mode,” Rabbi Mendy Kivman told the Daily News. “We made a fundraiser, we raised money and we sent that money to Chabads that are in Ukraine, as well as the Chabads that are in the bordering countries like Poland, Moldova and Romania” • Full Story
Milford Daily News
With a humanitarian crisis at hand from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world has focused its efforts on those who are suffering most: the Ukrainian people.
From a local Jewish community center — the Chabad House Jewish Community Center in Milford — Rabbi Mendy Kivman has been engaged in sending financial help to residents and refugees by raising more than $50,000 by coordinating with another Chabad in Sumy, Ukraine.
Kivman said funds from different Chabads have amassed $1 million to help Ukrainians secure food, shelter and transportation.
“During this crisis, the Chabad has been on high-alert mode,” Kivman told the Daily News. “We made a fundraiser, we raised money and we sent that money to Chabads that are in Ukraine, as well as the Chabads that are in the bordering countries like Poland, Moldova and Romania.”
Chabads can be found in more than 100 countries. They’re run by emissary families of Orthodox Jewish belief, such as the one in Milford that was established in November 2000 by Kivman and his wife, Rochy.
In more than 20 years, they have organized holiday programs and rituals not only for Milford’s Jewish community, but also have an open-door policy for people of any faith who would like to participate.
Attendance at events ranges from 20 to 250, with visitors from Holliston, Hopkinton, Franklin, Medway, Millis and Wrentham, according to Kivman.
Upon the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine, he quickly reached out to Rabbi Yechiel Shlomo Levitansky, a friend from his teenage years in New York at a Yeshiva — a Jewish educational institution — who for 17 years has run a Chabad in Sumy, Ukraine, with his family.
Kivman said that Levitansky, a native of Santa Monica, California, did not immediately leave Ukraine with his wife, Rochi, and their children when troops crossed the Russian border only 25 miles away.
During a March 2 call with other Chabad rabbis and members (on which the Daily News listened in), Levitansky said he was facing a difficult decision between his family’s safety and continuing to serve the Ukrainian community.
“Today was actually the first time in a long time that my kids saw me crying,” said Levitansky. “The bombardments, the devastation that is happening within the cities from the air is just becoming unbearable, and one of the hardest things for us is to leave our communities.”
Levitansky described how the funds raised by the Chabads were used to alleviate the financial pressures of the chaos brought about by the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Despite the shortages, he said he was able to purchase food and other necessities for Ukrainians who stayed behind and hid in bunkers.
For those who were trying to leave the country, Levitansky said the financial burden has been much greater.
In a separate conversation with Kivman, Levitansky described how many drivers were gouging their prices for fares to the border, charging up to $2,000 for those wanting to leave the country.
“The outpouring of support from around the world has given us access to funds, so we have a little bit of pull,” said Levitansky. “However, it’s very hard because how are we going to get supplies eventually? Even humanitarian aid that will come through Europe is still 1,000 kilometers (about 625 miles) from here.
“That’s one of the things which is pushing me to leave.”
Kivman said Levitansky left Sumy the day after the meeting, crossing the border after a 24-hour trek across the country to reach Moldova.
The roads that he and his family used to leave Sumy were destroyed in bombings a day later, said Kivman.
Levitansky is now in Romania, where he is running a Chabad with his wife to provide food and shelter for refugees from Ukraine.
“Instead of moving on, he stayed there to help, and often, even take phone calls to help people in Sumy,” said Kivman. “One guy (in Sumy) who was on dialysis, needed a blood transfusion but couldn’t get one, so (Levitansky) called a doctor he knows and said, ‘Listen, this guy’s gonna die if you don’t do his blood transfusion.’
“For a few dollars, the doctor did.”
Kivman said that in coordination with a rabbi in Dnipro, in central Ukraine, he is considering helping Ukrainians by “adopting” families to send money to those who are still in the country and send packages to those who have fled it.
At the Chabad in Milford, Kivman continues to organize events regularly in addition to fundraising.
On Wednesday, the center will celebrate Purim, a holiday held in remembrance of the end of Jewish prosecution by Haman, a Persian official who ruled 2,500 years ago.
“A number of people have said to me that with all the things going on in the world it doesn’t make sense to also have celebratory events,” said Kivman. “But every rabbi I’ve talked to in Ukraine (and) outside Ukraine, they also have the same thing — it’s the exact opposite.
“By us doing what we’re supposed to do with joy and happiness, that brings them joy and happiness, and at the same time we help other people.”
91
Join ChabadInfo's News Roundup and alerts for the HOTTEST Chabad news and updates!
Related Posts:
Most Popular
New Videos
Editor's Picks
