Together with our partners at The Schechter Institutes, we at Masorti Olami continue to be in close contact and monitor the situation of our Masorti/Conservative communities across Ukraine and outside of the country. We are sharing with you, our friends and supporters around the world, an update about the current situation on the ground, as of today.

We want to thank all of our supporters from around the world. Thanks to your donations we have been able to evacuate over 60 refugees from Ukraine to safe places, and been able to provide them with everything they may need such as food, transport and shelter. Your help has meant that members of our communities are now safely in Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Israel and Czechia and are being taken care of by our communities and/or connections there. Without your ongoing support and offers of assistance, none of this would at all be possible.

Many of our community members who were in Chernivtsi crossed the Romanian border on Sunday, thanks to the tremendous help and support from the JDC, and travelled to Oradea in western Romania where they were graciously met by the Jewish community. Despite long queues at the Romanian border, all of our members travelling as part of the Chernivtsi group, made it through safely. “This was a huge win, for all of us”, said Tehila Reuben, Deputy Director of Masorti and MERCAZ Olami, who has been running the operation of getting our refugees across the borders and safely to our European communities. The group was finally able to rest, breathe, and get a taste of the beautiful city of Oradea, ending their visit with a dinner hosted by the local Jewish community.

The group then continued to Budapest, where they were welcomed by our Dor Hadas community and Marom Center, led by Adam Schonberger, who fed them, took care of them and welcomed them to his community. They prepared home cooked meals for the group of refugees and have been assisting them with the visa and Aliyah process for those who will travel to Israel. They also purchased 45 rapid COVID tests since the group needed negative tests in order to check-in to their hotel in Berlin (which thankfully all came back negative!). They also arranged for long-term parking for Rabbi Reuven Stamov’s two cars which he drove from Ukraine, to stay there until he comes back from bringing his family to Israel. Tehila Reuben shared that “there are yet again no words to describe the efforts of Adam and his community who have welcomed our people. Working with Adam and his team so closely over the past three days has been truly heartwarming and encouraging”.

Basic goods and supplies are needed by our communities across the country and in their new homes. This includes food, accommodation and sanitary products as well as protective gear and equipment such as helmets. Our communities also require vitamins, medicines and medical supplies, which are in short supply in the country.

Transport and evacuation to safe communities and houses, both in western Ukraine and in neighboring European countries, as well as Israel, is still needed for those who are seeking refuge. Our communities need to be evacuated to safety, via ground or air travel, and need accommodation once they reach their destinations. Our European communities who are now taking in refugees will need additional support to hosts people, tend to their urgent needs, and help get them settled in their new reality.

Long-term support and rebuilding of our Ukrainian communities will be needed. While we deal with the most pressing needs on the ground, together with our partners, we are starting to build a plan for the ‘day after’, when our community members will need to rebuild their lives wherever they find themselves. We will continue to update these needs, as the situation develops.

Masorti/Conservative communities from around Israel have come together to create a beautiful joint prayer and message for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, and all those impacted by the situation in Ukraine, which can be viewed here. The outpouring of support from Masorti/Conservative communities has been immense. We are proud of Masorti Israel for creating this video to stand with our Ukrainian communities.

On February 24, we were joined by over 1000 people online for our 'Prayer For Peace In Ukraine', organized together with our partners at The Schechter Institutes, Masorti Israel, Rabbinical Assembly, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and MERCAZ Olami. If you missed the live prayer or would like to relive it, it can be viewed here.

You can also find the special Prayer for Peace which was written for Ukraine by Masorti Israel and the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel in: English, French, Hebrew and Spanish.

Our partners at The Schechter Institutes have created a source sheet which we hope will be useful in your communities as you discuss current world events and ways in which you might support Ukraine including its Jewish communities. Please be in touch with us if you would like these materials translated for your community. The source sheet can be found here.

Click here to donate via Masorti Olami. To donate to Masorti Olami from the UK, click here.

Or via our partners at The Schechter Institutes, Inc. here.