Shliach in Ukraine Begs Israeli Government for Help

Chabad shluchim in Ukraine do not feel safe amid growing anti-Semitism, despite increased efforts by local police. Two pig heads were placed in a shul a number of days ago in Sevastopol, a city in Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.

“There are anti-Semitic groups who claim Ukraine belongs to the Christians, and therefore there is no place for Jews in the country,” stated Knesset Member Yoel Rozbozov (Yesh Atid), who chairs the Knesset Absorption Committee.

The chief rabbi of the Sevastopol, Rabbi Binyomin Wolf, was taking part in the annual Kinus Shluchim in New York when that attack occurred.

Speaking with the Israeli newspaper Maariv, Rabbi Wolf said: “They phoned me to inform me that two pig heads were placed in our shul during the night. We are talking about a group of anti-Semites who do not feel Jews have a place in the Ukraine. They are doing everything they can to prevent the opening of our shul, which is in the final stages of construction. They are doing their utmost, including holding their own ‘prayers’ outside the shul, which they believe disturbs us. But we will not give in.”

Sevastopol is a port city on the coast of the Black Sea. Rabbi Wolf says there are about 10,000 Jews in the city. “I do not feel safe here” he says. “I have been attacked more than once. Two months ago I got a concussion from being hit on my head by members of that same group. They curse us on the street constantly.”

“We are living with danger day to day. One may walk the streets of Israel without fear of attack or being verbally assaulted, but why is this not the case in the Ukraine?”

During his conversation with MK Rozbozov, Rabbi Wolf asked him to send a message to the Government of Israel. “I do not understand why the government does not protect us. Why aren’t efforts being made to permit Jews to live around the world in peace and tranquility? I am begging, please; assist us to combat the rising anti-Semitism in the Ukraine so Jews can live a good peaceful life.”

The Sevastopol Jewish community hopes to soon open its three-story shul building, which will be the center for the local Jewish community.

MK Rozbozov contacted the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine, Hennadii Nadolenko, asking him to apply pressure on the local police. The ambassador condemned the situation and responded that the problem is not with local government. MK Rozbozov concluded that the matter is a most serious one, which must be totally uprooted.