Dear JCOGS family,
My grandparents on my mother’s side were from Ukraine. So many of us have past and present connections with Ukraine and its people, including the significant Jewish population there now. Here we are again, with Russian tyranny and aggression that our people experienced not so long ago. 1,000,000 refugees in one week. It was once us. It is still us. This is personal.
We offer special prayers to the Ukrainian people. To those praying that their lives are not taken, hiding in bunkers or fleeing from Ukraine in the midst of war. To those who have taken up arms against the Russian despots, may they be successful. To Russian citizens who are standing up in protest despite the possibility of severe persecution. To world leaders, may they have the united wisdom to defend democracy from authoritarianism.
And we offer our support. There are many ways you can support Ukrainians, Jewish and non-Jewish. You can donate to the following organizations who are providing humanitarian relief to the refugees and people who remain in Ukraine:
HIAS,
International Rescue Committee,
International Committee of the Red Cross, and the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. There is an acute need to support Ukraine right now. And there is equally a need to offer ongoing support to the millions of refugees worldwide, including the many who have made Vermont their new home.
Tonight at 6p.m. we gather in person and online as JCOGS joins with Jewish communities around the U.S. to mark Refugee Shabbat and support for Ukraine. Dinah Yessne from the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network will speak about the local opportunities for assisting refugees and asylum seekers. Here are some ways you can get involved now:
After the Russian military bombed Babi Yar Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Jew, appealed directly to us: “I am now addressing all the Jews of the world. Don’t you see what is happening? That is why it is important that millions of Jews around the world do not remain silent right now.”
Let us not remain silent. Let us focus on what we can do now.
Tihiyu bri’im, stay safe, be well. Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David
