Jewish families across Ukraine are struggling through a summer marked by intensified missile and drone attacks, economic hardship and limited opportunities to escape the country for a vacation, community leaders said.
The recent escalation in Russian aerial attacks has left civilians across much of the country facing repeated air-raid alerts, forcing Jewish communities to find ways to give children some sense of a normal summer while continuing to provide humanitarian assistance to families in need.
“The children have to be able to disconnect from the sirens,” one community rabbi said.
Ukrainian Jewish families struggle to escape war for summer
For many Ukrainian families, leaving the country for a summer break is either financially impossible or complicated by wartime restrictions. Men of military age generally face restrictions on leaving Ukraine, meaning families may have to choose between remaining together at home or having women and children travel without them.
Some Ukrainian women and children who can afford to travel have sought temporary respite in the Carpathian Mountains or in areas considered relatively quieter. For many Jewish families, however, local communities have become the main source of recreation, assistance and stability.
Synagogues and Jewish community centers across the country have organized activities intended to give children time away from the pressures of wartime life.
Even routine visits to a synagogue or community center can provide families with an opportunity to leave their homes and spend time with others.
The summer months have also created additional financial pressure for households already struggling with higher living costs and years of war.
Jewish organizations provide food amid growing hardship
The Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, known as JRNU and affiliated with Chabad communities across the country, has been working with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews to distribute food and humanitarian assistance throughout the summer.
The organizations said they were delivering thousands of kosher food packages to elderly residents, people with illnesses and low-income families, including those living in relatively isolated communities.
“We don’t really have the ability to go on vacation, and these food deliveries are a lifeline,” said a mother in Kyiv who is a member of the city’s Jewish community. “We are living in a state of day-to-day survival.”
Rabbi Simcha Levenharz of JRNU said the end of winter had brought little relief for families coping with the war.
“The long winter ended and summer brought the heat, but the reality on the ground has only become more difficult with the latest missile barrages,” Levenharz said. “Prices have risen, and people are struggling for their most basic needs.”
He said Jewish communal institutions had continued operating throughout the summer despite the traditional vacation period.
“While other institutions have gone on vacation, our kitchens are working nonstop, every day,” he said.
“When the assistance and food reach families, there is tremendous relief simply from knowing that they are not alone, that someone is thinking about them and supporting them through this exhausting routine that all of us here are experiencing.”
Communities seek to preserve normalcy for children
For Jewish community leaders, the challenge extends beyond meeting immediate material needs. After years of war and displacement, they are also attempting to preserve community life and provide children with periods of normalcy despite the continuing threat from the air.
For many families, that has made the local Jewish community one of the few places where a summer break, even for several hours, remains possible.