The Jewish People During a Time of Crisis

Ma’ariv, Israel, April 7

The war in Ukraine has been going on for over 40 days now. The entire world is watching and wishing for this horrible tragedy to come to an end. If there’s anything that can give us a sense of optimism it’s the fact that this gruesome war has once again reminded us of the strength of the global Jewish community, with an emphasis on the American Jewish community and how it conducts itself during times of crisis. The Jewish community showed its beautiful and unique face time and again, in countless instances, during the current onslaught. The Jewish people live and work according to an age-old principle that all of Israel are responsible for one another. We’ve seen rescue missions deployed in Ukraine with the goal of rescuing thousands of Ukrainian Jews, our brothers and sisters, who remained in the country. Many examples of this can also be seen in the activities of philanthropic foundations and organizations such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which operates in the center of events in Ukraine and provides life-saving humanitarian assistance to the elderly and to Jewish families; the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, which sent humanitarian support teams to Poland; and World Jewish Relief, which tries to sustain the Jewish communities caught in the midst of the crisis through fundraising. In addition, many Israeli organizations have joined these efforts, including the Latet organization, which together with the Friendship Foundation and the JDC have so far sent dozens of tons of food and humanitarian equipment to Ukraine and opened a health clinic on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Many Jewish volunteers arrived from Israel and the Diaspora, working to support and lift the spirits of Jewish refugees and give them the feeling that they are not alone in the world. I wish we didn’t have to see the harsh images of death and destruction, yet I can’t help but appreciate the lengths to which people are willing to go, sometimes quite literally thousands of miles away, to help and give of themselves to those who need it most. These days we understand that the Jewish past connects us in an invisible rope. It binds us all by history and nation and makes us a united people. As part of Diaspora Week, the State of Israel honored the various Jewish communities around the world. It was an extraordinary opportunity to think of all those Jews who are far from us physically but always with us at heart and have a historical and existential part in our daily reality as a state and a people. This is exactly the uniqueness of the Jewish people: despite the gaps, we know how to connect for the goals we share and support each other. Throughout the generations, the Jewish people have done this, and we prove it today as well. I sincerely hope that we will keep the Jewish ambers burning and make sure they never go out. –Shira Ruderman (translated by Asaf Zilberfarb)