Ukrainian Businessman Pledges a Million in New York

Ukrainian businessman Alexander Granovsky keeps a low profile and makes his contributions to Jewish life in the country discretely. But during an inspirational visit last month, at the gravesite of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, over the Sabbath prior to the High Holidays, he made a donation of 1 million dollars to the Chabad activities in hometown of Odessa, Ukraine.

Granovsky who was born in Uman, lives in Odessa, said in a rare interview with Israeli media that, he “loves Israel, loves G-d, loves family [and] loves the Rebbe of Lubavitch.”

Accompanied by Rabbi Avraham Wolff, Chabad representative to Odessa, Granovsky joined a group of visitors from Moscow, on a visit to New York. Hoping to inspire others to support Jewish life in the former Soviet Union, he openly discussed his pledge.

“I am a normal guy, a normal Jew. I worked 22 years very hard [for my money]. Step by step,” he said in the 2012 interview. “As a businessman we need to help Chabad [to] help the Jewish community, and I am happy to be [in this way] a shliach [emissary of] Chabad.”