Rav Yonatan Markovitch, a Chabad Rav in Kiev, was the first Rav to receive a Medal of Honor from the Ukrainian Parliament on Monday.

The medal is awarded to public leaders who made a significant contribution to Ukraine. Rav Markovitch was honored for his 20 years of service to Kiev and his contribution to the welfare of Ukrainian citizens.

Rav Markovitch, 53, was born in the city of Uzhgorod (Ungvar), Ukraine, where his maternal grandfather had served as the Rav and shochet years before. In 1972, he immigrated with his family to Israel.

In 2000 he moved back to Ukraine with his family and began serving as a Chabad Rav in Kiev, overseeing the establishment of schools and communal institutions.

Rav Markovitch maintains good relations with many Ukrainian government officials, receiving an honorary award from the Ukrainian Bar Association in 2018.

Rav Markovitch’s son, Ariel, said that his father is “the only rabbi in the history of Ukraine to be awarded to President’s Medal, and only the fourth religious figure in history to be so honored,” Yisrael Hayom reported.

“My father’s grandfather was a rabbi in Ukraine at a time when he had to hide his activity, and now my father is receiving a citation signed by the president. It’s amazing,”

Ariel said that his father’s normal busy schedule assisting the community became far busier after the coronavirus pandemic began, with Rav Markovitch heading numerous initiatives to assist people through the crisis.

“We published the phone numbers of [Jewish] community [resources] and helped every citizen who reached out, without asking if they were Jewish.”

Rav Markovitch has also been active in efforts to solve the crisis of Jews arriving in Ukraine to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

“My father helped get the Hassidim held in Ukraine released,” Ariel said. “He was in contact with [Israeli] Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, and also spoke to whoever he needed to in order to have them allowed in. He tries to do good wherever he can.”

Rav Markovitch’s wife, Elka is the director of Or Avner, a network of educational institutions founded by philanthropist Lev Leviev.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)