Special Purim Operation on Behalf of Jewish Prisoners in Ukraine

By Hamodia Staff

Two years after the onset of the war in Ukraine, the Jewish community of Kyiv, led by the city’s Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch, is once again preparing to celebrate the upcoming festival of Purim in accordance with tradition, including the reading of the Megillah, sending of mishloach manos, and seudos. The Purim events will be conducted in compliance with the security restrictions.

In addition to his role as Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Markovitch, who also serves as the Rabbi of the Ukrainian prisons, will focus the community’s Purim activities on a special operation for Jewish prisoners across Ukraine. Rabbi Markovitch and volunteers from the community will distribute packages to Jewish prisoners throughout the country. These gift packages will include Megillos, with Ukrainian translation. Megillah readings will also be held at several central prisons on Purim.

“In previous years, Purim events in Kyiv attracted thousands of Jews from the city and surrounding areas,” says Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch. “This year, like last year, we are celebrating in a more restrained manner to ensure the safety of the participants and comply with the instructions of security forces.”

Despite the restrictions, volunteers from the JCC Beis Menachem in Kyiv will still try to reach out to every Jew in the city, although events will be smaller and dispersed across multiple locations. Additionally, Megillah readings and mishloach manos distributions will be organized for soldiers serving in the Kyiv region, as well as events to be held for soldiers wounded in the war and their families.

Purim events in Kyiv will include around-the-clock Megillah readings throughout the day, distribution of thousands of mishloach manos packages to the city’s Jews, some of it with the assistance of the JRNU organization, as well as food packages for seudos for Jews unable to participate in the seudos in the shuls or at the community centers.