All of us are walking through our days with a heavy heart as the disaster in Ukraine plays out. We identify with the Ukrainians who have fled to safety, often having left family members back home, and are now facing an indefinite future as refugees. We shriek at the reports of Russian artillery fire murdering Ukrainian civilians. And even as our spirits are lifted by the courage and spirit of President Zelensky and his proud people, we are deflated by the reality that at least in the immediate term, the invading Russian forces will very likely achieve their goals. Justice, in the short term, will likely not prevail.
We know that the western world is acting in unified opposition, and this is both encouraging and hopefully ultimately efficacious. As individuals though, we are frustrated about how little we can do. As we did last Shabbat, we will again be taking time this Shabbat morning in Shul, to voice our solidarity and to offer our prayer. None of us knows what God does with these prayers of ours, though we always have hope. At the same time though, by including Ukraine in our prayer, whether on Shabbat or in our daily Amidah (where numerous paragraphs lend themselves to our adding specific petitions on this subject), we further affirm and reinforce our personal and communal religious values.
Concretely, let’s all commit to making a weekly financial contribution to one or more of the organizations on the ground, those assisting the population in general, and those assisting the Jewish community in particular. We probably each have our preferred organization(s) by now, but if it’s helpful here again are a few that I have seen.
OU Ukraine Emergency Fund
HIAS: Support Ukrainian Refugees Today
JDC’s Ukraine Response | JDC
World Central Kitchen https://donate.wck.org/give/393234#!/donation/checkout
We never lose hope in salvation, and always look to God who loves righteousness and justice, with beseeching hearts.
Rav Yosef
