A core value of our tradition is Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh BaZeh – “All Jews are responsible for one another.” Whenever a fellow Jew is in need, we must be there to provide support. At this moment, our thoughts and our prayers are with our sisters and brothers in the Jewish community of the Ukraine. We can support them materially as well by responding to their immediate needs. The links below are ways we can help right now. We hear their cry. Will we respond?

—Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback

In the early morning hours of April 1, a plane of 147 Ukrainian refugees landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Their flight from Moldova through United Hatzalah of Israel’s Operation Orange Wings was funded entirely by the efforts of Stephen Wise Temple and Schools, and Congregation B’nai Jeshurun of Short Hills, N.J. Our campaign will continue, as we fund additional cargo planes full of medics, medical supplies, and equipment for field hospitals in Moldova and at the border.

UPDATE: On the evening of June 30, another plane funded with donations from Wise landed in Israel. This one was filled with 84 refugees, including seven in critical condition who went on to receive treatment at top Israeli medical facilities.

On Sunday, March 27, Stephen Wise Temple and Schools’ efforts to raise money for United Hatzalah were featured on the CBS Los Angeles evening news. In just 12 days, the Wise community had helped raise over $250,000 for humanitarian aid and to relocate Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion. Watch the full video here.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Rabbi Yoshi is facilitating a series of webinars with experts in international relations, the Russia-Ukraine relationship, and humanitarian aid. Participants will have the opportunity to submit and ask questions, and will receive a link to a recording of the full webinar after its completion. New webinars will be scheduled as the crisis continues, so check this space often for updates.

Previous Webinars

Endgame: The History and Future of Ukraine with Rabbi Josh Knobel and Prof. Jared McBride, Ph.D.

On April 5, Rabbi Josh Knobel hosted Professor Jared McBride, Ph.D., a historian and an assistant adjunct professor in UCLA’s history department.

A specialist in the 20th century history of Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe, Prof. McBride discussed the history of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, the stakes for America and the Jewish world, as well as what the future may hold for Russia, Ukraine, and the world at large. Read more and watch the full video here.

Conversations About Ukraine: United Hatzalah of Israel, a Briefing From Moldova

On Monday, March 28, our Rabbi Yoshi was joined by Rabbi Sydney Mintz of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, and co-sponsor Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz of Congregation B’Nai Jeshurun in New Jersey. Participants in this special webinar received a briefing from the team bringing medical supplies from Israel to Moldova to support those displaced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Panelists included United Hatzalah of Israel founder and president, Eli Beer; United Hatzalah of Israel vice president Michael Littenberg Brown; executive board member Dina Aspen; Director of Internal Operations Dov Maisel; and Deputy Director of International Emergency Operations Linor Attias. Read more and watch the full video here.

Conversations About Ukraine: Rabbis Yoshi Zweiback, Matthew Gewirtz, and Sydney Mintz are joined by Jonathan Ornstein of JCC Krakow

On Monday, March 21, our Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback was joined by co-sponsor Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in New Jersey, and Rabbi Sydney Mintz of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco, to host Jonathan Ornstein, the Executive Director of the JCC of Krakow. Our panel discussed the disturbing parallels between the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the early days of World War II. It is a particularly salient analogy, given that Ornstein’s years-long mission in Krakow has been to rebuild the Polish Jewish community that was decimated by the Holocaust. Read more and watch the full video here.

Conversations About Ukraine: Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and Professor Kathryn Stoner, Ph.D.

On Wednesday, March 9, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback hosted Stanford professor Kathryn Stoner, Ph.D., for an in-depth conversation on Russia’s evolution since the fall of the Soviet Union, the roots of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the reasons behind Russian president Vladimir Putin’s territorial ambitions … Read more and watch the full video here.

Conversations About Ukraine: Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback and the Honorable Ambassador Gary Grappo

On Thursday, March 3, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback hosted the Honorable Ambassador Gary Grappo for a conversation about international relations and foreign policy. The recording is available below. Read more and watch the full video here.

IsraAID Emergency Response Team

IsraAID is an international non-governmental humanitarian aid organization based in Israel. It is deploying an emergency team to Moldova, which saw more than 15,800 Ukrainian refugees crossing the countries’ shared border within the first 24 hours after the Russian invasion. IsraAID’s team will provide urgent relief, psychological first aid, and conduct ongoing assessments to prepare for additional responses as the situation evolves.

IsraAID has extensive experience working with refugees all around the globe. extensively with refugees and displaced populations, working in emergency and long-term development settings in more than 50 countries around the globe since it was founded in 2001.

Any funds not utilized as part of this response will be used as part of IsraAID’s Emergency Response Fund.

JCC Krakow

The Jewish Community Center of Krakow is actively housing Ukrainians fleeing the war. JCC Krakow is also providing food, clothing, medicine, sanitary products, psychological counseling, and legal aid to those escaping to Poland.

Assisting Refugees

HIAS, which is the oldest refugee resettlement organization in the United States, is accepting emergency donations that can be made as either one-time or recurring gifts. HIAS is responding to the crisis with emergency humanitarian assistance to the thousands displaced by the Russian invasion.

World Union for Progressive Judaism

The Word Union for Progressive Judaism is collecting donations from all over the world to support the Jewish community of Ukraine. Money will be spent to ensure the safety and well-being of those caught up in the conflict, and will help the Ukrainian Jewish community recover when it subsides.

Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

JFLA is helping to provide humanitarian aid and financial assistance to 40,000 poor Jewish elderly and families, delivering food and medicine, winter relief, and emergency assistance. The funds donated will ensure that the homebound will have their needs met through four field offices in Ukraine (Kyif, Dnipro, Kharkov, and Odessa), and will bolster security at Jewish institutions, such as Jewish Community Centers in Kharkov, Odessa, Dnipro, Kyiv, Zporozhe, and Lviv.

In 1911, my grandpa Jake was born in the small Hungarian village of Torun in the Carpathian Mountains. While he was still a child, the village became a part of Czechoslovakia, and after World War II, it fell within the borders of Ukraine.

My grandpa was just a little boy when World War I broke out. His father was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army. My grandpa and his mom fled to her parents’ home in Synevyr. Grandpa Jake later told my aunt that he remembered seeing Russian soldiers lead men out of Synevyr with ropes around their necks, never to be heard from again.

What we are witnessing now, we have seen before …

Menachem Mendel Borodkin grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His wife, Rivka, was born in Ukraine. For the past five years, they have worked together in Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, building Jewish community at Beis Hannah—a Chabad boarding school and seminary for girls—and Camp Yeka, an informal education program for boys.

The Borodkins have a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Last week, in the face of the Russian invasion, they fled Ukraine. Many of the students at Beis Hannah had already returned to their homes, but there were six girls who couldn’t. The Borodkins offered to take the girls with them to safety in Israel.

Their plan was to travel to Romania where, with the help of the Jewish Agency, they could fly to Tel Aviv …

Our Wise community includes not just our temple families, but our students, as well as the teens in our youth programs. On this page, you will find helpful resources on how to talk to your children about war and conflict, and about what is happening in Ukraine.

How to Talk With Students About the Russia-Ukraine War

How to Talk To Your Kids About the Russia-Ukraine Crisis

Resources for Educators, Families to Discuss the Invasion of Ukraine with Students

Kids Britannica – All About Ukraine

Kids Britannica – All About Russia

Promoting Compassion and Acceptance in Crisis

A Prayer for Peace in Ukraine and Beyond
by Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi

We come before you, Adonai, praying for peace.

A new war has begun, and hundreds of innocent people are dying…

We pray for the strength and courage of the few

faced with the ruthless power of the many.

We stand together with our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine,

the birthplace of so many of our ancestors,

a place where the Jewish people has known both light and darkness.

We pray for a quick end to the raging conflict and the senseless bloodshed.

May our people remember that wherever a Jew is in danger or hurt,

we all feel that danger and pain as well.

As they seek cover from the life-threatening missiles

and fire falling from the sky, as they help the elderly

and hug their children tightly, and defend their homeland,

we pray that they can maintain hope that a Sukkat Shalom–

a canopy of blessing and peace–

will soon emerge above them.

May all the innocent people in the Ukraine and throughout the region

know that we are with them. Even from afar, we hear their cries.

May they know that we will continue to advocate for peace among nations

and that we will strengthen our commitment to aid and protect

every human being.

May the Source of All Life protect all of humanity from violence.

May the Source of Peace bring wisdom to their leaders

and bring a sense of tranquility, shalvah, to the people of the region

and peace to all who are endangered.

Amen.