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BRAMA, June 17, 2000, 7:00am EST


Kievan Jews Need Help To Rebuild Aish ha-Torah Synagogue
After Devastating Fire on June 3, 2000
- Kevin Alan Brook

Kiev, Ukraine - Jews have lived in Kiev ever since the 10th century. The first Kievan Jews came from the Byzantine Empire and the Khazar Kingdom, but were later joined by Western Jews from Germany and elsewhere. The original Kievan Jews left behind a remarkable letter of recommendation, called the Kievan Letter, which was composed in Hebrew around the 930s. The letter contains names of Jews who had Turkic, Slavic, and Hebrew names, as well as six letters of Turkic runes. A member of the community, Yaakov ben Hanukkah, had been held captive for a year due to the fact that his brother owed money to creditors. The purpose of the Kievan Letter was to raise additional money among Jewish communities of the medieval world to ensure that the creditors would be paid back 100 zequqim, thus resolving the matter and keeping Yaakov and his family free from further harm. The letter got as far as Egypt. The origination of the letter in the Khazar Kingdom is acknowledged by all scholars, even though the ethnic origin of the signatories is in dispute.

After the Communist regime fell, Jewish life underwent somewhat of a resurgence in Ukraine, Moldova, and Russia, despite declines in population. Suddenly, the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian Jews were no longer religiously repressed by the government, and Hillels, synagogues, schools, and other Jewish institutions began to operate and expand freely. If you are concerned about the future of Kievan Jewry, please continue reading and distribute this letter to others who can help.

The following account is styled according to the structure of the Kievan Letter from Khazaria.

 

To "holy communities scattered to all [the world's] corners":

"We, community of Kiev, inform you of the troublesome affair" of the Aish ha-Torah Synagogue. The religious communal center Aish ha-Torah, affiliated with the international Jewish educational organization by the same name, was opened in December 1999. The purpose of Aish ha-Torah is to propagate Jewish knowledge and traditions among the Jews of Kiev and Ukraine, especially among the youth. The center included a synagogue, yeshiva, evening college, and more than 10 educational programs. For short time Aish ha-Torah became the leader of the jewish enlightenment in Kiev. The community includes more than 500 permanent members.

A fire during the night of June 3, 2000 completely destroyed the Aish ha-Torah synagogue in Kiev. The fire burnt the great hall, which seated 200 people, and two Torah scrolls, furniture, and the synagogue's library of 1000 religious books. Either faulty electrical wiring or arson are believed to have been responsible for the fire.

Aish ha-Torah is an unusual community. We managed to create in Kiev a community which consists of 70 percent young people. The people from the most varied spheres of society came together here: the students, doctors, writers, teachers of high schools, working people, and schoolboys. On the Jewish holidays about 100 men came to pray here. More than 700 persons participated in Pesakh Seders in the spring of 2000. Aish ha-Torah is the greatest Yeshiva of Ukraine, where about 30 Jewish young men study permanently. The synagogue hall served not only for prayer and study: here took place weddings, communal actions, holiday festivities, and concerts. The large hall contained up to 250 persons. The Aish ha-Torah synagogue was solemnly opened by December 5, 1999. The rabbis Yaakov Dov Blaikh, Moshe Reuven Asman, Yefim Svirsky, chiefs practically of all Jewish organizations of Kiev (Joint, Israel Embassy, Sokhnut, Israel Cultural Center) participated in the opening ceremony. Having served equally half a year, the communal center has burned down on Shabbat, June 3. Thus, the Jews of Kiev have lost their center of communal life.

Rebuilding the destroyed building and recommencement of communal activities will require substantial monetary resources. We ask everyone, to whom the destiny of our community is not indifferent, to render us feasible help on rebuilding of the synagogue and Yeshiva.

So we send this letter "among the holy communities" so that they might lend assistance and inform others of our need. "So now, O our masters, raise up your eyes to heaven and do as is your goodly custom, for you know how great is the virtue of charity. For charity saves [men] from death. Nor are we as warners but rather as those who remind; and to you will there be charity before the Lord your God. You shall eat [the] fruits [thereof] in this world, and the capital fund [of merit] shall be yours perpetually in the world to come. Only be strong and of good courage, and do not put our words behind your backs; and may the Omnipresent bless you and build Jerusalem in your days and redeem you and also us with you."

SIGNATORIES:
Rabbi Chanan Kaufman, Director of Jerusalem Fellowships USA
Rabbi Mordekhai Raihinstein of Kiev
Mark Brook, Director of Aish ha-Torah of Kiev
Kevin Alan Brook, Author of "The Jews of Khazaria"
Chiefs of the Programs of Aish ha-Torah of Kiev
Yeshiva teachers of Aish ha-Torah of Kiev
Members of the Aish ha-Torah community

(Text between double-quotes is cited from the original Kievan Letter, translated in "Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century", by Norman Golb and Omeljan Pritsak, 1982, pages 11-15).

 

To contribute to the restoration of this Kievan synagogue, or to inquire for more information, contact:
Aish ha-Torah
Verkhny Val St. 18,
Kiev
UKRAINE

Phone/Fax: (38044) 417-22-13 also (38044) 417-20-13
Email: aish@bmv.kiev.ua

You can transfer your donations to the following personal account (Rav Mordekhai Raihinstein):
Beneficiary: acc. N 262024419
Bank of beneficiary: Aval Bank (JS Postal Pensionery bank)
Kiev, Ukraine, S.W.I.F.T.: AVAL UA UK
Correspondent bank: Corr.acc. N 36129009
CitiBank N.A.; New York, NY, S.W.I.F.T.: CITI US 33


 


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