On the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Kyiv, Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich addressed the Jews of Ukraine and all citizens with a call to pray for an end to the war.
This was reported by the press service of the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv.
"We must now pray to God that the war will end, that people will be able to return to their homes, that there will be peace for all. Ukraine has never had any complaints against Russia, and we are not interested in what is being done in Russia. We need Ukraine to be happy. And that's what we're building. We are now building a future in Ukraine that will be for all of us, for our children, and for future generations. A normal life, with a normal democracy," he said in a video message on Friday, February 24.
According to Bleich, the Jewish community of Ukraine numbered more than 360 thousand people before the war, but now almost half of them have left the country. And those who remain, suffer from the lack of the usual peacetime needs: light, heat, and sometimes water.
"There are a lot of people who left Ukraine, more than 15 thousand – to Israel. We know that there are many of them in Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, and America. We understand that these people бажають want to return to Ukraine. We don't know when it will be," he said.
The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv also reminded that Jews around the world are preparing for one of the main Jewish holidays, Purim. As Yaakov Dov Bleich noted, this holiday is a lesson for everyone, when good always wins over hostile intentions. This year, Purim is celebrated on March 7.
"In 1953, Stalin also died on Purim. And so we pray that God will perform a miracle, that there will be peace, that the war will remain in the past... and so that we can live our lives in peace, and that Ukraine wins," said the chief rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv.