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Arutz Sheva

Only hours after he returned to the city in which he serves as a shaliach, in the shade of the inferno and extensive war, Rabbi Avremi Wolf, the Rebbi’s Shliach to Odessa in the Ukraine spoke in an emotional interview.

HaRav Wolf discussed his view of his mission during this period of war and spoke about ongoing activities with Jews over the past few weeks, the community’s flight to leave and his own return, today, after a few days in Germany.

“Last Wednesday, we took the children from our orphanage to a place of safety,” begins HaRav Wolf. “Our son and his wife, Mushka, took on the responsibility, together with the caregivers.

“After we saw that their journey was successful, we informed all of the men in our community who are supposed to be soldiers and therefore cannot leave, that we plan to organize an expedition and convey all of the women and children to Berlin, where they will stay until after the war, and, in this way, to save them.

“On Friday morning, we took 140 women with children. We promised that we would stay with them, and that is what we did. After staying there for a day and half during which we began organizing all of the documents – I returned to the Ukraine.”

HaRav Wolf explains that organizing all of the documents in Germany for the young children in an acceptable manner was complex and challenging.

“Last night,” Harav Wolf goes on describing his return to the city in which he serves as a shaliach, “I left Germany on a return journey, and after almost 24 hours – I arrived.

“The tears with which I was welcomed during Mincha prayers, moved even me. I, who have seen many poignant moments during this time.”

As the interview continued, HaRav Wolf expounded on the general situation of the community in the Ukraine during the war.

“It is not easy to see what is happening in the community,” said HaRav Wolf. “Institutes that were established and functioned for so many years are falling apart in front our eyes. Everything is closed. Understandably, this is not an easy situation. But I view this as a process that has to be lived through.”

In his words, “In general, we are so busy doing things, that there is no time to falter. We have to convey leadership and serenity. There is no time to think about the difficulty. But we are not breaking down and we don’t think about giving up.”

HaRav Wolf goes on: “We just had Mincha with 40 people and we will have a Kiddush on Shabbat for the men in my house. The curfew goes into effect at seven o’clock in the evening. We will doven earlier and any of the men who don’t make it to our house will sleep in the orphanage, so the beds there also won’t be empty.”

As far as what is happening in the city, HaRav Wolf describes: “Sirens are heard here all the time, but this is our job and this is our mission. We are here in this place on the Rebbe’s mission. We were not sent here only to dance on Purim and dance at weddings. We were sent here to do all that is necessary, and that is what we are doing.

“I have no doubt that every shaliach all over the world who is active every day, would do the exact same thing that I am doing and that all of the shaliachs here are doing, if they were in a similar situation.”

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