Rabbis and shluchim from across Ukraine met with President Volodymyr Zelensky at his secured office in Kyiv this week for Pesach, presenting him with matzah shmurah and a landmark gift – a complete translation of the Chumash into Ukrainian, published for the first time in history.

The meeting was organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU). Since the outbreak of the war, Zelensky has made a point of meeting regularly with Chabad shluchim serving as community rabbis across the country, both to receive updates on the state of Jewish communities and to express his appreciation to those who chose to remain in Ukraine despite holding Israeli and American citizenship.

The meeting was originally scheduled for Yud Aleph Nissan, the Rebbe’s birthday – the Rebbe having been born in Nikolaev, Ukraine – but was pushed to Chol HaMoed due to an unplanned diplomatic trip Zelensky made to Jordan and three Gulf states.

Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz of Kharkov spoke about the Rebbe’s birthday and his lifelong mission of sending shluchim to dedicate themselves, without limit, to every Jew in their city. He expressed hope that Zelensky would designate the day as one of “education and good deeds” – as American presidents have done annually since Jimmy Carter.

“We hope our next meeting will be after the victory of Ukraine and Israel – a victory of light over darkness,” he said.

Rabbi Yonatan Markowitz of Kyiv spoke about the meaning of Pesach and said that the Jewish and Ukrainian peoples share a common prayer for freedom from the axis of evil threatening them and the world.

FJCU chairman and shliach Rabbi Meir Stambler presented Zelensky with the matzos, noting they were baked at the Tiferes HaMatzos bakery in Dnipro and distributed to Jewish communities worldwide. He told the president that the Federation, together with Chabad shluchim, distributed Pesach packages and seder kits to over 50,000 Jewish households across Ukraine and organized dozens of public seders attended by thousands.

In presenting the Chumash set, the rabbis told Zelensky that since the Torah is the blueprint through which Hashem created the world, translating it into Ukrainian carries a heavenly significance that will give strength to the country in its fight against Russian occupation.

The project took four years and involved dozens of rabbis and Ukrainian linguists, at a cost estimated in the tens of millions of hryvnia. Rabbi Stambler also thanked Mr. Shifrin and Mr. Vilensky, directors of a printing house in Kharkiv and members of Rabbi Moskowitz’s community, who donated toward the project.

“We are very proud of your steadfast stand against evil,” Rabbi Stambler told the president. “You are an example not only to Ukraine but to the entire world, showing that for the sake of justice and righteousness one must stand firm.”

The meeting was moderated by Rabbi Refael Rotman, a close friend of the president and FJCU chairman. Also addressing Zelensky were Rabbi Moshe Asman and Rabbi Yaakov Sinyakov, who heads the Federation’s outreach to Jewish soldiers serving in the Ukrainian army.

Rabbi Asman shared that at the start of the war, he refused to evacuate his Jewish village in Anatevka on the outskirts of Kyiv even as Russian tank convoys approached, because he was determined to build a yeshiva campus there for Ukrainian Jewish bochurim.

“I believe that in that merit, the tanks were stopped,” he said, and invited Zelensky to attend a cornerstone-laying ceremony for the yeshiva complex in approximately one month.

Also present were the rabbis of Nikolaev, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Berdichev, Poltava, Kremenchuk, Kirovohrad, and additional shluchim from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, and Dnipro.