Recently, an exciting visit of the United States Ambassador to Ukraine was held at the Chabad House in Kyiv. The visit, which is considered unusual in diplomatic activity, included a visit to the various establishments of the Chabad House and a personal meeting with the Chief Rabbi to Kyiv, the Chabad emissary Rabbi Yonatan Markowitz and his wife Ina.
The ambassador, along with her team, arrived after an invitation from the Chabad House to come and observe closely the struggle of the Jews of Kyiv during the war.
During the visit, the ambassador arrived at the specialty house operated by Chabad Kyiv and met hundreds of diners there.
Rabbi Markowitz told the ambassador about what was going on inside the Chabad House and the various missions and operations carried out by the Chabad House team throughout Kyiv.
After the visit, the ambassador tweeted congratulatory words on her Twitter account and expressed her excitement at the actions and concern of Rabbi Markowitz and Chabad Kyiv for their neighbors in the city.
The visit during wartime is considered very unusual and as far as is known, during the war the ambassador paid an official visit only to the President of Ukraine.
“In a time of war, when all the authorities are aiming for victory, we stay here to take care of the citizens for basic consumer goods” says Rabbi Markowitz. “Our actions, under alarms and missiles and under an emergency regime, are challenging and require creative solutions from us to reach every Jew. We congratulate Mrs. Brink, the US ambassador, and thank her for devoting her time to the civil issues we are facing, and hope that she will pass on the difficulties to the world in the hope that assistance and support will be provided.”
The Kyiv Chabad House has been operating for 22 years and provides an answer to thousands of Jews in educational institutions, with a concern for detailing and spreading Judaism.
Since the war, the Beit Chabad team led by Rabbi Yonatan Markowitz has adapted the activity to a war situation and alongside the tefillin and mezuzah operations, Beit Chabad is concerned with the welfare of the individual and obtaining basic consumer goods such as food and medicine for the city’s residents.
At the end of the visit, the ambassador left an emotional letter in which she described her admiration for the work of Chabad and her concern for the Jewish community, and also expressed her hope that the war would end soon and the citizens of Ukraine would be free.