32.  Adopt-A-Bubbe/Adopt-A-Zayde is an independent assistance program created by Dr. Judith Patkin, the Executive Director of Action for Post-Soviet Jewry in Waltham, MA. The Dnipropetrovsk organization supports elderly Jews in Dnipropetrovsk itself and in 16 additional cities or large towns and numerous smaller towns in eastern, central, and southern Ukraine.[56] At any given time, said Yan and Tanya Sidelkovsky,[57] who direct AAB operations in the Dnipropetrovsk region, approximately 1,000 Jewish seniors are in their service census.  Elderly people who die are replaced by younger pensioners; the younger pensioners, said Mrs. Sidelkovsky, may have greater needs because they do not receive the bonuses given to veterans of World War II.  The program also aids some younger Jews who are chronically ill or handicapped.

The Sidelkovskys are assisted by coordinators in the 16 cities and towns outside Dnipropetrovsk and by volunteer physicians in the larger centers.[58]  Adopt-a-Bubbe/Adopt-a-Zayde provides food, clothing, and medicine to its clients, attempting to cater to individual needs, such as specific dietary requirements for diabetics. It works with the local physicians and with physicians and pharmaceutical outlets in the United States to fill prescriptions. The program also provides some medicines and medical implements to local hospitals.

Adopt-a-Bubbe tries to fill gaps left by the declining services offered by JDC heseds.  Mrs. Sidelkovsky explained that heseds have reduced the value of the discount smart cards distributed to Jewish elderly just as prices of food and medicine have increased.  Therefore, she said, there are more demands for AAB services and AAB has become more flexible in order to fill these gaps.

In 2006, AAB re-introduced the full-service warm home program, a very popular former hesed-sponsored activity that the Joint Distribution Committee no longer supports in its original form, that is, gatherings with full meal service. In the AAB version of the warm home, up to ten older Jews with common interests gather once or twice monthly in a private home for a hot meal and socializing. The local coordinator organizes the group, determines which participants are able to host the event, and distributes money to group members for the purchase of food. In many instances, different participants each will prepare one dish and then bring it to the warm home. Most warm home gatherings are organized around a particular holiday theme or in honor of a participant’s birthday. Because so many elderly Jews have no families, said Mr. Sidelkovsky, they are very happy to be able to celebrate their birthdays with a gathering of friends. The coordinator often brings a small tape recorder on which tapes of Jewish music are played. Participants sing along with the taped music and sometimes even dance to it.  Adopt-a-Bubbe currently offers warm homes in ten cities, enrolling a total of between 120 and 150 people in the program.

Yan and Tanya Sidelkovsky manage the Adopt-a-Bubbe/Adopt-a-Zaide program in eastern, southern, and central Ukraine.

Photo: the writer.

Inflation is a very serious problem, said Mrs. Sidelkovsky.  The cost of basic food items seems to increase on a daily basis, she continued, and utilities increase every three months.  The cost of electricity tripled on April 1.  Medicine, almost all of which is imported, has increased 300 to 400 percent in the last year, she said, as the government raises import taxes in order to increase its own revenues.  Even the cost of low-quality local medicines has increased because the factories producing these medicines face increased energy costs.

Asked if they had observed any changes in the level of local antisemitism in the various cities and towns that they visit, the Sidelkovskys responded that antisemitism is more-or-less stable, but they are concerned about the future.     Mr. Sidelkovsky, who spends substantial time on his computer, has noticed increased antisemitism on the Internet and is concerned that this Russian-language anti-Jewish bigotry will generate increased local antisemitism.  The economic crisis, they said, certainly will exacerbate antisemitism.  President Yuschenko, they noted, is much too weak to take action against xenophobic activity, a sentiment echoed my many.

Rabbinic Presence

33.  Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki is the Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk and generally considered the most successful and most highly respected community rabbi in all of the post-Soviet states.  Chabad operations in the area have been hit hard by the current global economic crisis, acknowledged Rabbi Kaminezki in a discussion.  Lev Leviev, the primary funder of Chabad education programs, was contributing $7 million annually in Ukraine alone until September of 2008 when financial reverses forced a cutback in this sum to $1 million.  Other donors also have reduced assistance.  Meanwhile, inflation is pushing costs higher and higher.  Chabad, stated Rabbi Kaminezki, is not contracting, but it is not expanding.  Individual rabbis across Ukraine (and elsewhere in the post-Soviet states) are struggling to maintain programs; many are using their own funds in support of community needs, sometimes to the detriment of their own families.  In fact, said Rabbi Kaminezki, he organized a fundraising effort on behalf of Chabad rabbis in the post-Soviet states so that they could observe Pesach with their families in an appropriate manner. 

Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki, Chief Rabbi of Dnipropetrovsk, is considered the most accomplished community rabbi in all of the post-Soviet states.

Photo: the writer.

Rabbi Kaminezki has built a Chabad community of 70 to 80 families in Dnipropetrovsk, the largest in Ukraine.  About 30 of these families, said Rabbi Kaminezki, are foreigners who have come to the city to teach in its Chabad institutions, do other community work, or open business enterprises.  The others are local people who have adopted the Chabad lifestyle.[59]

The effective center of Chabad operations in Ukraine is in Dnipropetrovsk.  The Kyiv office has been closed, following the departure of Rabbi Azriel Haikin, who had been Chief of the Chabad Rabbinate since 2003; Rabbi Haikin left Ukraine for family reasons and returns to the country occasionally, said Rabbi Kaminezki, but the infrequency of Rabbi Haikin’s visits do not justify maintenance of his office in the capital.

Chabad Rabbi Yonatan Markovich continues his work in Jewish education in Kyiv, observed Rabbi Kaminezki.  The day school that he and his wife operate is highly regarded – and it is clear that Rabbi Markovich is not interested in a political role in the city.[60]

Rabbi Meir Stambler, Executive Director of the Chabad Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine, is based in Dnipropetrovsk.[61]   Rabbi Kaminezki is skeptical about the possibilities for raising funds to support the development of the Jewish girls and women’s education center envisioned by Rabbi Stambler.  He observed that there are now three Chabad women’s residential teachers’ colleges in Ukraine – Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, Zhytomyr – that compete with each other for students.  Zhytomyr, he noted, “captured” two Dnipropetrovsk students, and the potential exists for further tensions between these institutions.  Beit Chana, he continued, is the only such college accredited by the State of Israel for the training of teachers to teach in the Diaspora.

Commenting about relationships with international Jewish organizations, Rabbi Kaminezki said that “it is a pity” that the Jewish Agency for Israel is in decline.  Israel needs strong “salesmen” in the post-Soviet states, he said.  The economic crisis will generate growth in aliyah – and it is important that Sochnut is prepared to respond in an appropriate manner.

The sister-city or kehilla relationship between Dnipropetrovsk and Boston is proceeding very well, said Rabbi Kaminezki.  The professional personnel in both cities – Jim Morgan in Boston and Slavik Brez in Dnipropetrovsk – are the engines behind the program, he said.

International assistance remains necessary for Jewish communal life in Ukraine, said Rabbi Kaminezki.  It is too early to expect local Jews to operate the communal infrastructure that is necessary for the promotion and maintenance of Jewish life.

34.  Vyecheslav “Slavik” Brez is the Executive Director (Исполнительный директор) of the Philanthropic Fund of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish Community (Благотворительный фонд Днепропетровского еврейского общины), which supports Chabad interests in the city.   Mr. Brez said that the Board of the Philanthropic Fund approved a $5.5 million budget for the community on September 30, 2008,[62] just before the crisis hit in full force.  Since then, he continued, the Board has instituted a savings plan that reduces expenditures by 20 percent.

Mr. Brez explained that the Fund will retain its basic welfare and education programs.  It has halted all new construction,[63] renovations, and the purchase of new furniture and equipment, including computers and related items.  It is reducing the use of “consumables,” such as stationery and even detergents.  No new personnel will be hired.  It has modernized its telephone system, saving considerable money.  It is organizing fewer mass holiday celebrations.

Hennadiy Boholubov, co-owner of PrivatBank, remains the lay President of the Philanthropic Fund.  Prior to the onset of the crisis, approximately 80 individuals were contributing at least $500 monthly to the Fund.  That number has been reduced substantially since October, said Mr. Brez, to between 20 and 30 donors.  He is confident that most will resume their contributions as soon as they are able todo so.  He added that the community also had been affected by the devaluation of the hryvnya and the loss of Lev Leviev’s Ohr Avner funds (approximately $200,000) in support of its schools.

Vyecheslav “Slavik” Brez, who also uses the Hebrew name of Zelig, is the very capable executive director of the Chabad Jewish community in Dnipropetrovsk. 

Photo: the writer.

Local inflation, Mr. Brez believes, is somewhat lower than it was last year; it may be 15 to 20 percent, he said.  Unemployment is increasing very rapidly.  No one is hiring, and it is almost impossible to find a job anywhere.  People who took out loans, continued Mr. Brez, are under great pressure, especially those who secured loans in dollars when the dollar was cheap.  Real estate prices have dropped by more than 50 percent, he said, seriously affecting the many Jews who are in the construction business.

Antisemitism, he said, is “stable.”  Of course, he continued, the possibility exists that they are just inured to it by now.  However, the community has suffered no physical attacks on its property during the past year.  Nonetheless, Mr. Brez is concerned about radio commentary blaming Jews for the Holodmor,[64] an allegation that is strengthened by the recent Internet publication of archival material showing a large number of Jews working for the NKVD at that time.[65]  Mr. Brez also observed that a significant number of people are now losing their jobs in firms that are owned by Jews.

Mr. Brez had recently returned to Dnipropetrovsk from a conference in the Czech Republic about restitution of Jewish property in eastern Europe that had been confiscated by communist authorities.  He observed that the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community (Chabad) had documented prior Jewish communal ownership of 45 properties in the city that now are being used by others.  One local historian is working on this project as a volunteer, said Mr. Brez, and a large amount of legal work would be necessary to recover these premises.  Mr. Brez believes that a Jewish tourism industry could be developed in the city if certain of these structures are redeemed and restored.

35.  Natalia Rier manages a women’s microenterprise loan program in the Jewish community that was established with funds provided by Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, the Jewish federation in Boston.   Jewish women desiring to establish small businesses submit business plans to a representative committee for approval.  Once approved by the committee, the applications then are presented to a commercial bank loan committee that also must endorse them.[66] 

According to Ms. Rier and Mr. Brez, the project has been very successful.  Eight to ten women receive loans each year; about 30 have been made so far, and 14 have been fully repaid as of April 2009.  The maximum amount of money loaned is $5,000 per applicant, but the average is between $1,200 and $1,500.  Some women, said Ms. Rier, go through the application process and receive advice on their business plans, and then proceed to finance their ventures themselves without accepting the loans.

The writer met several women who have become successful entrepreneurs through the loan program.   Educated in architecture and design, one woman sold furniture in a local store.  With a loan from the microenterprise fund, she began to design wall units for kitchens and dining rooms that are now produced by a factory in Kyiv.  She was able to repay her loan in six months.

A second woman designed children’s furniture and, with a loan from the microenterprise program, was able to approach an Italian firm that has a factory in Ukraine.  The woman’s design range has now expanded to include additional types of furniture as well.  This candidate had taken a business course sponsored by the Joint Distribution Committee in which she learned about a JDC microenterprise loan fund; however, the JDC loan program was much more expensive for the borrower and eventually closed.

A third woman, Yana Polushkina, received a loan for the import of women’s shoes from China and the purchase of tools with which to modify them for women with orthopedic problems.  She now produces 70 to 100 pairs of adapted shoes each month, advertises and displays them, and sells them directly to consumers.   Ms. Polushkina, who is amother of a disabled child, learned about the loan fund at the Beit Chanaresource center for children with disabilities.  The center is targeted for loan fund outreach because many women with disabled children are restricted in their employment options.

Yana Poluskina, left, a single mother of a disabled child who attends the Beit Chana resource center for children with special needs, is now financially independent due to a Boston Jewish community-financed loan that enabled her to establish a small business producing orthopedic shoes.

Photo: the writer.

A fourth woman used a loan to equip a hairdressing salon in her own apartment so that she can care for a handicapped son at home.  She is permitted to operate such a business in a private residence because her husband is a military veteran and because the district in which her family lives has no other hair salons.

36.  Igor Romanov is Director of the regional office of the Union of Jewish ReligiousCommunities (Объединение юдейских религиозных общин), the Chabad religious organization in Ukraine. The Dnipropetrovsk region includes 16 communities in Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad oblasts. The role of the regional office is to reach out to Jews in population centers that are too small to have resident rabbis.

A special project of banker Hennadiy Bogolubov is the twice-yearly distribution of large food parcels to elderly and invalid Jews; in this case, said Mr. Romanov, parcels are distributed in Dnipropetrovsk itself as well as in smaller centers.  The Purim/Pesach distribution, which had occurred just before the writer’s visit, reached 5,600 individuals, said Mr. Romanov.  In most small population centers, between 20 and 500 individuals, including individuals of partial Jewish ancestry, received parcels.  The other food parcel distribution occurs just before Rosh Hashanah.