The Jerusalem Connection is partnering with the Jewish Agency and the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem in an urgent appeal to help the Jews of Ukraine make aliyah.
What is predicted to be a brutal winter is fast approaching in Ukraine. Many Jews from eastern Ukraine have been displaced from their homes. Damaged infrastructure, due to the conflict, has interrupted water and electric supplies. Over the coming cold months, heating fuel supplies are in doubt. To make matters worse, this year’s harvest was hampered; schools did not open on time; and many people’s salaries are delayed.
As of September 2014, 4,200 Ukrainian immigrants made aliyah from Ukraine. The Jewish Agency predicts a 400% increase in 2015 because of worsening economic conditions and the continuing civil war.
The division between the eastern and western parts of Ukraine goes back to ancient times. Even in the Soviet period there was considerable friction between peoples of the two regions. Ukraine did not recover very well after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian-speaking separatists in the eastern part have maintained that they will not rejoin the rest of the country. All of this leaves the Jewish people in a very tenuous situation. Armed militias from both sides have taken the law into their own hands; manifestations of Anti-Semitism are on the rise. Brutal urban warfare between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian forces in the eastern part of Ukraine has driven many Jewish citizens out from their homes. They are forced to take shelter in the safer cities in central and western Ukraine.
Many Ukrainian Jews want to explore the possibility of moving to Israel. To meet the growing interest in aliya, the Jewish Agency has sent specially trained teams into refugee areas to assist with aliyah efforts. Making such a dramatic life transition, especially on the heels of losing one’s home, requires an enormous network of support. The Jewish Agency teams offer informational seminars about making aliyah, and one-on-one counseling. Once someone decides to make aliyah, the Jewish Agency is there to assist them with the paperwork, including the proper documentation confirming their Jewishness. The Jewish Agency teams also provide Hebrew classes and Jewish cultural workshops to immigrants.
One of the Jewish Agency’s most important educational hubs in Ukraine is Dnepropetrovsk. Dnepropetrovsk, a medium-sized industrial city, has for the last several years been witness to an amazing revival of Jewish community life. The largest multi-purpose Jewish Community Center in the world, known as the Menorah Center, opened its doors in Dnepropetrovsk in 2012. As Jews from the east pour into Dnepropetrovsk, the Menorah Center is housing dozens of displaced Jewish families.
As we all know, God works in mysterious ways. Look closely and see how He has woven all pieces of our lives together, as long as we are living in obedience to His calling. At the start of the anti-government protests in Ukraine, our Vice President Shelley Neese went to Dnepropetrovsk to speak on behalf of Pat Hutchens at the opening of an art exhibit featuring Pat’s Auschwitz Album Revisited. The forty-piece art series is still on display at the Holocaust museum at the Menorah Center, and remains part of their permanent collection. What none of us predicted was that the same center hosting an art exhibit in partnership with The Jerusalem Connection has filled in the gap for Ukrainian Jews seeking temporary refuge. We can’t help but see God’s hand at work as these puzzle pieces come together.
The Jerusalem Connection has also been in long-time correspondence with Howard Flower, aliyah director for the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Howard has been actively engaged with aliyah from Russia, Belarus, the Baltics, and Ukraine. Howard is an invaluable connection for us as he keeps our Christian supporters abreast of Ukrainian Jews’ specific needs in making their transition to Israel. Currently, donations are needed to help transport Ukrainian Jews from the conflict zones to safer areas. As for the 4,000 Ukrainians that already made aliyah this year, many arrived with no worldly possessions. The Jewish Agency would like to offer the neediest families grants of 2,700 shekels (700 dollars) for basic furnishings and food.
Operation Aliya is more than a humanitarian project. It is a divine calling for the followers of Jesus to assist in “gathering the exiles of Israel … from the four corners of the Earth” (Isaiah 49:22). Over the years, The Jerusalem Connection has been a part of efforts to bring back more than 80,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union to Israel. We are now giving our attention to the desperate needs of Jews in Ukraine, and France. But we need your help!
Please pray for the way to be open for the Jews of Ukraine. And please pray for their safety. And if you are able, please make a generous donation to help bring them home soon.
P.S. For donations of $200.00 or more, we would like to send you the giclée, Sophie’s Choice. It is one of Pat’s most loved paintings from the Auschwitz Album Revisited.
Sincerely,
James M. Hutchens, Ph.D. President Chaplain (Brigadier General) U.S. Army (Ret.)