One Soldier in Each Frontline Unit Trained to Blow Shofar

Jewish soldiers along the 1,000 km front line in Ukraine received Rosh Hashana kits with all their yom tov needs, and each base received a shofar that one soldier was taught to blow.

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, the FJCU, found a practical and beautiful way to bring the light and mitzvos of Rosh Hashana to the thousands of Jewish soldiers stationed on the front lines. The packed kits with yom tov essentials and delivered it to the frontlines, and trained one soldier per location to blow shofar for the entire unit.

Over the past two weeks, volunteers from the Federation visited major bases along the more than1,000-kilometer-long front, delivering special Rosh Hashana kits to the soldiers. These kits included abbreviated siddurim translated into Ukrainian, a yarmulka, pocket-sized tehillim in Ukrainian, honey, Shabbos candles, brochures explaining the yom tov and their significance, a magnet with both Hebrew and secular calendars, a magnet with candle-lighting times, canned goods, hygiene and grooming kits, and a shopping bag for the family.

But the Federation didn’t stop there; they distributed 35 shofars at these locations, and the Federation’s volunteers taught a Jewish soldier at each base how to blow the shofar for all the Jewish soldiers stationed there. This Rosh Hashanah, for the first time, the sound of the shofar will be heard on the front lines.

Rabbi Yaakov Sinyakov, who is responsible for the Federation’s efforts with the Jewish soldiers drafted into the army and who led the initiative, said: “The soldiers’ excitement about the project was extraordinary. They realized that we haven’t forgotten them, and that no matter where they are, they can fulfill their religious obligations and remember their Jewish identity.”

At the same time, as in the last two decades during the month of Tishrei, and especially since the war began, the Federation sent out kits, similar to those given to the soldiers, to 51,000 Jewish households across the country. These kits were distributed in cooperation with dedicated Chabad shluchim stationed in 30 cities in Ukraine, who also helped distribute them in smaller towns, reaching a total of 169 Jewish communities in this vast country.

Rabbi Meir Stambler, Chairman of the Federation, said, “In addition to distributing the kits, this Rosh Hashanah, as every year since the fall of communism, thousands of Jews will fill the shuls in Ukraine to participate in Rosh Hashanah tefilos, and thousands more will take part in the meals, with Chabad and the Federation ensuring their needs are met. We daven that this year will see an end to the curses and the beginning of brachos—a new year filled with peace, health, prosperity, and above all, true redemption.”