Simchat Torah Celebrations in Ukraine

Despite ongoing war and displacement, Project Kesher Ukraine is organizing in-person Simchat Torah celebrations in nine cities: Vinnytsia, Lutsk, Rivne, Cherkasy, ​​Shostka, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Odesa, Chernivtsi, and Kyiv. Six of these holiday celebrations will be using Project Kesher Torahs, donated as part of Project Kesher's Torah Return Project. After seven months of war, separation, and devastation, these in-person holiday gatherings will be especially meaningful.

In Kyiv, the celebration will take place at a new synagogue. At the start of the war, almost all community members were evacuated and the scheduled opening of the synagogue was delayed. By the end of summer, many people had returned, and in September Rabbi Ruven Stamov returned from Europe to celebrate the opening. Project Kesher is in the process of sending a Torah to the synagogue.

In Odesa, prior to the war, there were two PK Torahs. One is now in Germany with Odesa rabbi Yulia Gris, and the second remains in Odesa and will be celebrated and read on Simchat Torah this year.