Kharkiv rebbetzin provides update

RABBI Moshe and Rebbetzin Miriam Moskovitz of Kharkiv have continued to provide constant support for their community nearly six months on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“It’s a little bit hard for people to believe that every single day there is still bombing going on in the city and unfortunately the world doesn’t have the power to stop it,” Sydney-raised Rebbetzin Moskovitz told The AJN.

“We’re talking seven or eight rockets a day [in Kharkiv] since the beginning of the war.”

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Moskovitz, who live in Israel, have flown “back and forth” to Kharkiv, despite the bombing, to coordinate the humanitarian effort for the Jewish community.

The effort helps pay for new accommodation, repair damaged homes and provide rent relief to those who moved to safer areas of Ukraine, but still have houses in Kharkiv.

The synagogue provides 250 hot meals daily and volunteers deliver 2000 food packages a month.

“People are still coming to the synagogue,” Moskovitz said.

“On one hand there’s some areas where the streets are pretty quiet, not too many people are outside, but to the shule, people are streaming in the whole time.

“We have drivers coming in the whole time, these amazing drivers who are brave enough to take out food to people’s homes.

“There’s a lot of places where the electricity is down, so you’re talking about walking up eight, nine, 10 flights of stairs to get to people.”

She said the steady stream of people evacuating Ukraine has slowed since the war started, but buses are getting fuller leaving Kharkiv and Nikolaev, where the bombing was “incessant”.

“There was sort of a lull where people were not leaving and now again people are starting to leave,” she said.

“It’s as bad as it was before but because [the war is] taking so long people just realise they would want to get themselves out to some kind of quiet and some safety.”

Moskovitz said the support of Jews worldwide had been encouraging.

“I feel like the whole world got a little bit tired of this war, it’s going on and on, it’s already not in the news,” she said.

“But I do find that it’s beautiful that actually the Jewish world is not letting it just go on the backburner, and people are still thinking and still asking how we are and what’s happening.

“We definitely appreciate any moral support, emotional support, and any financial support of course helps us continue what we’re doing.”

Get involved at jewishkharkov.org/donate or chai.org.au/kharkiv