OPINION:
Feb. 24 marks one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, not one month after my latest visit to the country, which the Fellowship has served for 30 years. In that time, thousands of Ukrainian people have lost their lives, their families, their homes and their hope.
Over the past year, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (the Fellowship) has worked diligently to aid an estimated 200,000 Ukrainian Jews, many of whom left their communities in search of safety after decades of building their lives in the country. I feel privileged that the Fellowship has been able to aid in evacuations, provide essential supplies, and establish a support and aid hotline. But that is not enough.
Despite the $28 million the Fellowship provided to support the Ukrainian people in 2022, I saw the heartbreak and devastation firsthand in Moldova, where many Ukrainian Jews have fled. While distributing food boxes, water bottles and blankets to Holocaust survivors, the impact of the war’s devastation and the torturous winter weighed heavily on my heart. My team and I tried our best to show these Jews that they are not alone. But despite our best efforts, it was evident that hope the war would end had dwindled significantly.
I refuse, however, to give up hope on the people of Ukraine. The Fellowship has been in Ukraine for the last three decades. In that time, I’ve seen the strength and unity of the Ukrainian people. Now, during this unforgiving war, I’ve seen resolve that I had never noticed before — from Holocaust survivors refusing to give up, to children heroically helping their parents find food and shelter. The Ukrainian people are strong.
Over the past year, I’ve seen countless rescue operations I never would have imagined. In March, the Fellowship helped rescue 100 children from active fighting areas and relocated them to safety. In May, the Fellowship coordinated medical rescue flights to help older Jews safely make aliyah (immigrate to Israel). I could share story after story about the countless people I’ve witnessed find hope in the midst of their hopeless situations — and each of those stories shows the power of believing in something much bigger than ourselves and our countries.
I recently welcomed a Fellowship aliyah flight on the tarmac of Ben Gurion Airport here in Israel. As Jewish families got off the plane with their children, families displaced by a war that has now raged for a year, one man thanked us “for giving our child the hope of a better life.”
While I don’t know how or when the war in Ukraine will end, I do believe that the more we support and the more we pray for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, the more of that hope we can provide. The psalmist promises us that God “remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry” (Psalm 146:6-7).
As I reflect on the yearlong war in Ukraine and the 40th anniversary of the Fellowship, this Scripture reminds me of the true mission my father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, believed in when he founded this organization.
With the help of many Christians in North America, our goal of providing people in the greatest need with aid and comfort while also building bridges between Christians and Jews is possible. It hasn’t always been easy, and I know it’s not always safe every time I return to the region. But if we can provide a glimmer of hope to people who feel like they are alone in the dark, then we are accomplishing one of the greatest callings God has given us. Maybe that’s why we were put on this earth right now, in the midst of this crisis, for such a time as this.
• Yael Eckstein is CEO of International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
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