The southeastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol was the location of heavy fighting last year between Ukrainian and pro-Russian forces; it is now but a few kilometers behind the front lines. After a few months of quiet, its residents can once again hear artillery fire. Dovid Margolin reports on the state of the small Jewish community there:
If nighttime in Mariupol gives the impression of a ghost town, in the light of day, life goes on as usual. Down the block from the Hotel Spartak, popular with reporters, NGO staffers, and Ukrainian military figures visiting from Kiev, is Mariupol’s modest synagogue and Jewish community center. Affiliated with the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC) and directed by Rabbi Mendel Cohen, . . . the center is the lifeblood of the city’s estimated 2,500 Jews. While the city Cohen arrived in was a quiet and unassuming one, circumstances have changed drastically since the disturbances started in May 2014.
On this morning, the synagogue’s courtyard and dining room begin swelling with Jews of all ages coming to pick up the regular medical and food aid they receive through the center. Sponsored by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, large plastic bags filled with staples such as buckwheat kasha and oil are piled up neatly in the dining room; medicine is laid out on a table in the sanctuary. Working through the FJC, the organization provides similar help to Jews throughout Ukraine.
While many in the crowd are elderly, a significant number are young men and women, university students and graduates who not too long ago would have been embarrassed to receive handouts. The Jewish community has undoubtedly shrunk in the last year, but the vast majority has stayed put, hoping to ride out a storm with no visible end.
Read more on Weekly Standard: http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/frontline-ukraine_1024784.html