Anatoly Rivkin has lived in Zaporozhye, a city on the Dnieper River in southeast Ukraine, for most of his 60-plus years, and has been living near the heavily contested front lines of the war for more than a year and a half amid daily missile attacks, alarms, uncertainty, and the special anxiety that comes from living in a war zone just 35 miles from Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, where catastrophe is just one errant bomb away.
“The one thing that gives me and my family hope,” Rivkin told Chabad.org, “is the strength of our Jewish community.”
Rivkin has volunteered at Chabad of Zaporozhye since the beginning of the war, helping provide food and shelter to those in need, and sees the upcoming holiday of Sukkot as an essential respite and remedy for the daily fears and hardships. “The sukkah symbolizes unity and joy,” says Rivkin. “Despite the difficult situation we are in, it gives us hope. Last year, I was sitting in the synagogue’s sukkah with a lot of people when we heard rockets falling nearby. With the help of G‑d, nothing happened to us.”
“We hope and pray that this year we won’t again hear the sounds of missiles and explosions in the sukkah,” adds Rivkin, “and that we will be privileged to see the coming of Moshiach.”
Regrettably, the sounds of war continue day and night.
A siren rang out while Rabbi Nachum Ehrentrau, co-director of Chabad of Zaporozhye with his wife, Nechama Dina, was talking to Chabad.org about the plans for the community’s Sukkot celebrations. “The alarm just went off; can you hear it?” he asked, noting that the rockets that come with the sirens are not the ones that are most concerning. “It is the ones that come without warning that are terrifying.”
“People ask: ‘Why are we here? Why didn’t everyone leave?’ said the rabbi. “But men between the ages of 18 and 60 can’t leave and some families don’t want to be separated for a year or more,” he said “So we are here, and people are very appreciative that we are giving them material and spiritual aid,” even as other Jewish agencies have long ago left the city.
Importing Lulavs in a War Zone
In addition to the mitzvah of sitting and eating in the sukkah, among the holiday’s other mitzvahs is the mitzvah the “Four Kinds,” in which Jews make a blessing on the different species of etrog (citron), lulav (palm), myrtle and willow branches. Getting these items into Ukraine, and distributing them around the country, was not an easy task. Ehrentreu took the lead to accomplish that with the help of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Relief Network Ukraine (JRNU)—the unified effort for funding and providing humanitarian work in Ukraine and for bringing essential, life-saving aid to Jewish communities throughout the country
The efforts began months ago, with the collection of the four species in Israel. From there, the items were put on a plane bound for Moldova, where they went through customs and charged import fees. From there, they were transferred into trucks and brought across the Ukrainian border, where they once again were subject to inspection by customs—as well as more fees for importing. Then there was a 14-hour ride through many different cities across Ukraine to deliver the sets to local Chabad centers.
“It took days to reach the different areas so that we could make sure that Jews all over Ukraine have the opportunity to observe the holiday’s mitzvahs,” said Ehrentrau, who called the whole thing a “miracle” explaining that at any point, the goods could have been lost, confiscated or stolen.
“We wanted to bring in more,” he added, “but we did our best.”
Following the advice of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, to respond to all challenges with positive actions, not only is Chabad of Zaporozhye neither leaving town nor cutting back on services, but they are actually building a new center and expanding their services in the midst of war. “A new two-story building that will house a kosher soup kitchen and study hall is currently under construction,” said Ehrentrau. “Right now, we are working on the interior, but we need help buying the equipment. We want people to come to the building not just to eat, but to learn Torah and spend time together.”
Chol Hamoed Bar Mitzvah in Kharkov
Perhaps nowhere in Ukraine will Sukkot be more celebratory this year than in Kharkov, the country’s second-largest city. It is there, in the eastern part of the country, close to the border with Russia, that Yisroel Moskovitz will become a bar mitzvah during Chol Hamoed, the intermediate days of Sukkot.
Yisroel is the son of Rabbi Moshe and Miriam Moskovitz, who have directed Chabad of Kharkov for more than 30 years, and his parents were determined to celebrate his milestone with their community.
The Moskovitzes are no strangers to making simchas in stressful situations. Less than a month before the onset of the war in early 2022, they hosted 500 guests at the wedding of one of their daughters.
This year, with attacks ongoing in the city only 25 miles from the Russian border, “we weren’t sure about making a bar-mitzvah event and building a larger sukkah than usual in Kharkov,” said Miriam Moskovitz. “But we decided as with all the other holidays—Passover, Purim, Chanukah—that it is extremely important for people, especially in this time of war, to be together and continue our traditions.”
To accommodate their guests and community members, the Moskovitzes have built a 150-square-meter sukkah in front of the city’s famed Choral Synagogue. Usually, the synagogue’s sukkah is built on the side of the building. The new sukkah took more than a week to assemble, and, given the Choral Synagogue’s location on the main Pushkins’ka Street, is quite visible to anyone walking along the road.
“It has made a real impact and people are aware that Sukkot is coming,” she says. It has also made an impact on the children who take part in a small school program in a safe room in the synagogue’s basement. “They have been watching it go up and are looking forward to being inside the sukkah.”
The bar mitzvah will be just one part of the celebration, as there will be lulavim and etrogim available for anyone to use, and throughout the holiday representatives from Chabad will be fanning out in the city so that people can have the mitzvah of shaking the Four Species.
The challenge for Jews in Kharkov will be any night activities—such as the upcoming holiday for Simchat Torah—as the city remains under a curfew, which currently begins at 11 pm.
“We will start things as early as possible and make them as joyous as we can,” said Moskovitz.
Start a Discussion