Happy Faces in Ukraine Before and During the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)

As we have reported previously, we succeeded in handing out thousands of food parcels during the Jewish Holidays despite the difficult circumstances due to the war!

We enjoy the cold but pleasant sunny Autumn days, a welcome windfall during the packing process and especially during the long drives to deliver and distribute the food parcels.

We distributed the food parcels in various cities, towns and villages, amongst others the large cities of Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Vinnytsia. Furthermore also in towns like Shostka, Vasylkivka, Zhmerynka, Khmelnytskyi, Haisyn, Bar, Kozyatin, Kalinovka, Nemyriv, Romny, Konotop and Glukhovo, as well as in villages like Bratslav, Borodianka, Vorzel, Pereiaslav, Slavuta, Krolevets, Okhtyrka, Lebedyn and Ivankiv.

Being cheerful for seven days!
“Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” (Deuteronomy 16:13-15).

Being cheerful during the Feast of Tabernacles in times of war and maybe not enough food in the house is not an easy task. Still we saw thousands of happy faces when Jewish elderly, Holocaust survivors and internal refugees received one or more food parcels!

Distrust in Ivanki
Nataliya and Kolya visited numerous small villages and towns in the past weeks. In the village of Ivankiv, not far from Chernobyl, still lives a small Jewish community where everybody knows each other. Since the start of the war there is a great distrust among the population, because many have family and friends in Russia. Who can you trust? In the old synagogue of Slavuta everybody came together to collect his or her food parcel. We were able to tell a thing or two about our work.

“In former shtetls (Jewish villages) in the province of Vinnytsia, where we saw numerous happy and grateful faces”

Emergency delivery for Sumy
Our emergency delivery for Sumy (by Kolya and Sergey) was highly appreciated. The city of Sumy is shelled daily by missiles and drones, especially on its infrastructure. Sumy is near the Russian border from where early August thousands of Ukrainian soldiers invaded the Russian province of Kursk. Rumours are now circulating that young North Korean soldiers will be deployed to push back the Ukrainian soldiers into Ukraine. If so, it will be a bloodbath there.

A happy message for Vinnitsa
Igor, Alina and Alisa distributed food parcels in former shtetls (Jewish villages) in the province of Vinnytsia, where we saw numerous happy and grateful faces. We let them know that we haven’t forgotten them and gave them the message:

“Be cheerful during the Feast of Tabernacles!” Remember the mighty deeds of the Almighty and His protection during the 40 years in the desert, when you were living in huts and tents.

A woman collecting her food parcel | Photo: C4I Ukraine

Food aid in Zaporizhzhia despite of missile attacks
A couple of hours before we arrived at Zaporizhzhia, residential areas near the synagogue were shelled with heavy missiles. On the rabbi’s security footage the impact of the missile is audible. Watch this footage in the video below.

Rebbetzin Dina and her two sons, who were in the town at that moment, thought that we wouldn’t show up because of the threat. They feared a second attack on the same spot, aimed at aid workers, to prevent people from collecting their food parcels. Fortunately this fear proved unfounded: we arrived safely and 612 people collected their food parcel.

Hundreds of people queuing up to collect a food parcel in Zaporizhzhia | Photo: C4I Ukraine

Food parcels in a suitcase
Just outside the Jewish Agency’s office we handed out 488 food parcels. We were greeted  by people with happy and grateful faces.

Rabbi Shaul also expressed his thanks for the much-needed support to his community, so that everyone has enough food for the Feast of Tabernacles.

A woman came with a suitcase big enough for two food parcels, one for herself and one for her neighbour!

The suitcase with two food parcels | Photo: C4I Ukraine

A listening ear
In the city of Bar, also a former shtetl, we delivered food parcels at people’s homes. Like to 93-year-old Elia! Here too everyone is grateful that we keep coming in these uncertain times with food parcels, a visit and a listening ear!

Text continues underneath the pictures.

This week: a new delivery
On Wednesday October 23, we received a new 13,000 kg shipment from the wholesale. With this we can pack another 13,000 food parcels. Sukkot lasts till the end of the week, with Simchat Torah as a festive closing!

“Every day between 1,000 and 1,500 young Russian and Ukrainian soldiers die at the front”

War front
Every day between 1,000 and 1,500 young Russian and Ukrainian soldiers die at the front, while dozens of civilians lose their lives by missile attacks on residential areas. With winter approaching it is feared that the situation will deteriorate much further, unless…?

As the days grow shorter and colder the missile attacks on the countries’ infrastructure increase. The question is no longer how Ukraine will survive the Winter, but as long as possible we will continue to help Jewish elderly, Holocaust survivors and internal refugees in need with one or more food parcels. The grateful faces we see motivate us every time to continue with our aid efforts!

Update: sad news from Sumy
For years we have been working with Chesed Sumy in various ways, like with the sponsor plan, food parcels and practical help with aliyah. Today the Chesed team was hit by a great loss. After a heavy air raid, one of the social workers, her 14-year-old daughter and her husband’s sister were killed in their house. The husband of the social worker was outside at the moment of the attack and their oldest son was in Kiev. That saved their lives. The house is destroyed, lives were lost… there is nothing left… only a deep unbearable sorrow.

The rubble from the destroyed house after the missile attack | Foto: Galina Protsenko

Some of the team members of the Ukrainian team of Aliyah workers | Photo: C4I Ukraine

Please support the supply of food parcels among Holocaust survivors, poor families, Jewish refugees, children and the sick in Ukraine.

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Friendship
The food parcels are regularly distributed among Holocaust survivors, poor families, Jewish refugees, children and the sick. A food parcel is more than a bag of food. It’s a sign of your friendship and your support, a testimony to our Jewish brothers and sisters that they are not alone.

Will you help?
The cost of one food parcel is 15 euros or 15 US $. For this amount we buy wholesale products. The parcels are packed by volunteers and distributed throughout Ukraine. Will you help with one or more food parcels? Your support is desperately needed!

1 food parcel costs 15 euros / 15 US $ and consists of:
1 kg of sugar
1 kg of rice
1 kg of grits
2 kg of pasta
1 liter of oil
2 kg of flour
500 gr of oatmeal
1 box of tea
1 can of fish
1 bar of chocolate
70 gr of coffee
1 can of pineapple
1 can of peas
1 can of corn