As Russia indiscriminately bombed Kharkiv, the Jewish community only survived by a miracle.
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In late February, the Russian terrorist state was shelling the center of Ukraine's second city, home to a vibrant Hillel House and Or Avner day school. The fact that these pillars of the Jewish community were targeted was of no concern for the aggressor.
"The day before the war started, was 30 years since our school was opened in 1992. We had 400 children with balloons and flowers celebrating the thousands of alumni who went through the doors of our school," said Miram Moskowitz, the wife of Kharkiv's longtime rabbi. "The next morning at five the bombing started and at six the director announced 'no school today'." Had it not been for that announcement, the building's caretaker and students would have been killed when Russian missiles struck the Or Avner school.
In a world saturated with Russian propaganda and disinformation, there are few indisputable truths. But one thing is clear. Israel and Ukraine are fighting the same war, a war against terrorists who seek to eradicate a people.
In our hour of ordeal, Ukraine needs committed allies able and willing to share our burden because they know the true value of freedom and peace.
And as Jews around the world enter the High Holy Day season and reflect on the prior year, their personal journeys, their shortcomings, and their growth, we call on Israel to also reflect and choose to do more to help Ukraine defend our ways of life and life itself.
Ukraine warmly welcomes tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims every year to Uman. Ukraine is deeply saddened by the need to advise against travel to Uman for the Rosh Hashana holiday, a painful reminder of the unacceptable price of unprovoked aggression unleashed by the terror state of Russia. To be clear, it is Russia's naked aggression that has compelled the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police, in coordination with their Israeli counterparts, to advise against travel. Putin's reckless war means there is a high probability of missile attacks, a reality that Israelis know all too well.
Israel and Ukraine stand on the same side of this war, sharing the same values. Terrorism is the same in all forms. Russia is increasing its cooperation with internationally recognized state sponsors of terrorism – such as Iran, which is sworn to Israel's destruction. And Russia is sworn to Ukraine's destruction, nothing less. Israel has the means to defend itself. Ukraine needs its allies to provide the same support. Without it, the circumstances would be unimaginable.
Since the war began in February, Russia has accepted Iranian drones for use against the Ukrainian people. The Kremlin has also continued to warmly host the senior leaders of Hamas, even as recently as this month, yet Israel has continued permitting flights to Moscow. It is time for Israel to pause for self-reflection and break ties to the wicked and barbaric Russian state.
In the last 200 days of fighting, Russia has systematically attacked Jewish communities, just as Ukraine defends them. On the very first day of the invasion, Uman was shelled. The burial site of Rabbi Nachman was not damaged, but people died in that barrage. The Jewish community in Kharkiv suffered a direct Russian missile strike, with the local Hillel House and Or Avner day school harmed. Russia callously launched missiles at the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site vicinity. Russia's Foreign Minister has issued horribly antisemitic statements, questioning whether Hitler "had Jewish blood." While Russia has threatened the Jewish Agency, Ukraine is working to defend its homeland and the safety of all its citizens regardless of origin, faith, and language.
"During those war years I learned a very important lesson: One can always push oneself a little bit beyond what only yesterday was thought to be the absolute limit of one's endurance", wrote Golda Meir in her autobiography. Pushing ourselves beyond – that is exactly what we are doing in Ukraine.
And as the Bessarabka district of Kyiv where Golda Meir was born, hears alarms several times a day, Israel can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines of this war.
The world has looked to Jewish voices like Natan Sharansky and Leonid Nevzlin for moral clarity on Russia's invasion. Mr. Sharansky has cautioned that "Israel cannot choose [to appear neutral] between the free world fighting against this", and Mr. Nevzlin renounced his Russian citizenship, which became "a mark of disgrace."
But let us be honest. Being cautious and trying to avoid escalation does not work with the Russians. There is the only way to stay safe is to make them too weak to perform vengeance. So, Ukraine's struggle is a chance for Israel to get rid of a power that has invested so much in the regional chaos.
Ukrainians are becoming refugees due to this unjust war, and we are grateful that Israel has opened its borders to more than 30,000 refugees. But Israel can and should do more. Your government has set up a field hospital and sent helmets, vests, and other defensive equipment. But Ukraine needs more from its ally in the fight against terrorism. We call on Israel to send weapons to defend our citizens, thwart aggression, and join the global sanctions against the terrorism of Russia. Israel must redouble its efforts to help us defend so Ukraine's Jews do not have to ask in their Rosh Hashana prayers who will live and who will die.
In Ukraine's time of need, we turn to our allies for aid and look toward our partners with whom we share our values. Ukraine and Israel have the same principles, stand for the same beliefs, and share the same allies. Israel cannot afford to turn its back on an ally when it knows first-hand the fight for survival.
Israel, with first-hand knowledge of the fight for survival and the battle against terrorism, cannot afford to turn its back on its ally. Israel needs to continue to provide and increase aid to Ukraine lest the forces of terrorism get stronger at its doorstep. As Jews around the world consider the fate of their upcoming year and ask God for his guidance, the citizens of Ukraine need every effort from its allies to continue pushing back the Russian aggressor.
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