From War to War: Getting Items from Israel’s North to Ukraine

Planted in the bombarded northern region of Israel and brought to the embattled Ukraine, the FJCU under the leadership of Rabbi Meir Stambler, facilitated the importing of hadassim and aravos for 34 of Ukraine’s major cities in time for Sukkos.

In a complex operation that began a month ago and concluded this week, thousands of elegant sets of the Arba Minim from the Eretz Yisroel were delivered to the Jewish communities in Ukraine.

What made this distribution special was the origin of the hadassim and aravos, which came from the bombarded northern region of Israel, and their transport to Ukraine, which has been under constant shelling for over two and a half years.

Additional challenges included shipping the container by plane, which landed in Vienna, followed by a long overland journey to Dnipro, considered the “Capital of Ukrainian Jewry.” From there, Shluchim in all 34 of Ukraine’s major cities distributed the sets to local Jews.

As in previous yomim tovim, sets were also provided to Jewish soldiers serving on the frontlines.

The project was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine (FJCU), under the leadership of Rabbi Meir Stambler, who ensures both the physical and spiritual needs of Ukraine’s Jewish population.