(Jewish Group) Kyiv Rabbi Opens Synagogue to Shelter Jews Who Can't Flee Ukraine

The Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, Ukraine was sheltering dozens of people in his synagogue on Thursday, where he and his wife had been preparing for the Russian attack that came overnight.

Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch and his wife Elka Inna had stockpiled 5-6 tons of food as well as water, fuel and 50 mattresses in the basement of their synagogue. "There's no bomb shelter here," Markovitch told The Times of Israel, "but at least we can be together."

There are approximately 2,500 Jews in Kyiv, although the Markovitches could not say how many had stayed in the city. But they claimed that roughly 200 members of the community were bedridden and many more were poor and elderly, as the couple typically distributed food to 800 Jews in need.

"Those who left are the wealthy and young," Elka Inna said. "The people who stayed here were people who were not able—for medical or financial reasons—to leave."

The Markovitches both have Israeli citizenship and were urged repeatedly by the Israeli Embassy in Kyiv to leave the country. On Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called for Israeli citizens in Ukraine to flee immediately. Haaretz reported that the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem was "flooded" with requests from Ukrainian Jews since early Thursday morning. An estimated 200,000 Ukrainians are eligible to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return.


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