Chabad Helps Provide Kosher Food and Religious Items For Breslov Chossid Detained in Ukraine
by CrownHeights.info
A 49-year-old Breslov Chossid who was detained by Ukrainian authorities while attempting to leave the country following Rosh Hashanah has been located at a military detention facility near Odesa, with Chabad Shluchim assisting him with his religious needs.
Yonatan Karlinsky, an Israeli and Ukrainian dual citizen who lives in Beitar Illit, had traveled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. During a document check at the Romania-Ukraine border, authorities determined that he was subject to mandatory military service as a Ukrainian citizen and detained him.
According to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Karlinsky was subsequently held at a detention facility for deserters in the Odesa area before being assigned to serve as a doctor at a rear military base near Kharkiv, several dozen kilometers from the active combat zone.
Throughout his detention, Chabad representatives in Ukraine have worked to ensure that Karlinsky’s religious needs are addressed.
Rabbi Shneur Vigler, the Chabad Shliach to Odesa, together with Rabbi Avraham Wolff, chief rabbi of Odesa and southern Ukraine, assisted in arranging kosher food and ensuring that Karlinsky’s rights as a religious Jew were respected.
The Jewish community also arranged kosher meals for weekdays, Shabbos, the pre-Yom Kippur meal and the breaking of the fast. Karlinsky was provided with a siddur, and, ahead of Sukkos, Daled Minim.
The Federation said Karlinsky had indicated in a video that he was in good condition and being treated fairly. Because of his medical background, Ukrainian authorities assigned him to serve as a doctor rather than requiring him to carry a weapon, after he expressed religious objections to doing so.
Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of Ukraine’s Jewish communities, said that the organization remains in contact with those handling the case and expressed appreciation for Ukrainian authorities’ accommodation of Karlinsky’s religious needs.
