The State of Israel has the responsibility to cooperate with Jews around the world. Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Omer Yankelevich stated this in an address at the Kyiv Jewish Forum 2020.
Yankelevich noted her commitment to the policy of strengthening ties between Israel and Jewish communities in other countries, including Ukraine.
“At the age of nine, I traveled with my parents throughout the Soviet Union. My parents felt it as their responsibility to rekindle sparks of Jewish identity that have been nearly wiped out by communism. I returned on my own to the Ukraine and Russia at the age of 16 to teach Hebrew and to develop Jewish identity within the Jewish communities. From these experiences, I feel a deep personal connection to the Ukrainian Jewish community and to all the communities of former Soviet Union. My time there gave me a sense of connection to the entire Jewish people, whether in Israel or Kyiv. We are bound by our common history, our common heritage and, most importantly, our common destiny,” the minister said.
She also gave an example of Israeli initiatives aimed at helping the Jewish community in Ukraine. “One of these projects is SmartJ. SmartJ provides content to Hebrew schools. Hundreds of Jewish children from former Soviet Union spend five hours every afternoon learning about Jewish heritage, culture and Hebrew, as well as maths, science and English. Six of these centers operate in Ukraine – in Kyiv, Odessa, Zhytomir, Chernivtsi and Dnipro. The interest in this project has grown during the coronavirus pandemic. And God willing, we will open up 10 more centers this coming year,” the politician said.
According to Yankelevich, another important initiative of the ministry is FSU Limmud Labs. Its goal is to help leaders of the next generation to create their projects.
“I am committed to doing everything I can for Ukrainian Jewry, by expanding and elevating all of our partnerships. Only by honoring the beauty of each of our Jewish communities around the world, are we able to come together as one strong nation to fulfill our shared destiny, to make the world better and brighter,” Yankelevich said.
Let us recall that opening KJF 2020, the President of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine Boris Lozhkin stated in his speech that Ukraine had been an important center of Jewish culture for centuries.