If the Agudah Won’t Stand Up for Luba, Who Will?

Rescuing Ukrainian Jewry from the front lines

War.

Bombs falling, soldiers shooting, pandemonium and panic.

Although I live in Brooklyn, when war broke out in Ukraine I would wake up several times each night, overcome with anxiety.

In the nighttime quiet of my own neighborhood, broken only by the occasional siren and car rumbling down the street, I would think of the nights my cousins in Ukraine were experiencing. The bombs and wreckage, the devastation, destruction and death. Although I hadn’t seen them in many years, I worried nonstop about their safety and wished there was something I could do to help them escape from the front lines.

But what could I do for them from faraway America?

It seemed that there was no one to reach out to, no one who could help me make contact with my cousins.

And then, the Vaad Hatzalah for Ukrainian Jewry was formed.

All it took was one phone call to set things into motion. The Vaad raised an incredible amount of money in record time and dispersed it in a responsible, organized manner. They undertook to care for the refugees and help them stand on their own two feet. Everything a Jewish community could need was arranged for the refugees — food, clothing, jobs, schooling, housing, mikva’os. Baruch Hashem, my cousins reached safety in Romania and are working to rebuild their lives.

My peace of mind has been restored. Once again, I can sleep through the nights. 

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The Agudah was there for Ukrainian Jewry in its time of need. And the Agudah has always been there for Klal Yisrael, in every way possible. Because if the Agudah doesn’t stand up for us, who will?

NEXT WEEK! September 13th &14th Agudah + Klal Yisroel, Together WE WILL.