Chabad Odessa Graduate Falls on Front Lines

The Jewish community in Odessa reported that Tzvi Hirsch Zvirgzdeh, a graduate of the Or Avner–Chabad school in Odessa who served in the 34th Battalion of the Ukrainian army, fell in combat while serving on the front lines.

Another Jewish soldier has fallen in battle in Ukraine. The Chabad Jewish community of Odessa announced, with great sorrow, the passing of Tzvi Hirsch (Grigory) Zvirgzdeh, a soldier in the 34th Battalion of the Ukrainian army, who fell in the line of duty while defending his homeland.

Tzvi Hirsch, a graduate of the Or Avner–Chabad Jewish school in Odessa, grew up and was educated within the local Jewish community. His personal and family life were deeply interwoven with the community’s activities over the years.

“My heart aches for Tzvi Hirsch, Hashem yikom damo,” eulogized Rabbi Avraham Wolff, Chief Rabbi of Odessa and Southern Ukraine. “He was a child who grew up among us—in the Jewish community. A child who lived a life of tradition and community, and who went out to defend, with his very body, his land and his fellow countrymen. He gave his life with true mesirus nefesh—as a Ukrainian soldier and as a proud Jew.”

Rabbi Wolff added: “I pray that the heroic deeds of Tzvi Hirsch will be an eternal light for his children, for his family, and for our entire community. May his neshama be bound in the bond of life. The entire community is in mourning, praying for the elevation of his neshama, and embracing his family in this difficult time.”