Zelensky asks chief rabbis to facilitate dialog with Donbas and Crimea residents
Ukraine’s President-elect Volodymyr Zelensky met with the Council of Rabbis of Ukraine on 6 May.
“I have met with members of various religions and cultures, and today I am asking you to support our idea to promote dialog with the residents of the temporarily occupied territories in eastern Ukraine and in Crimea. We consider it necessary not to lose contact with these people, because they are all Ukrainians, our fellow citizens,” Zelensky’s press service cites him as saying.
The rabbis in attendance pledged to support all of the newly elected president’s peaceful initiatives.
The meeting was attended by Shmuel Kamenetsky, Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the Dnipropetrovsk province (Central Ukraine); Moshe Moskowitz, Chief Rabbi of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv province (Eastern Ukraine); Avraham Wolf, Chief Rabbi of Odessa and Southern Ukraine; Shlomo Wilhelm, Chief Rabbi of Zhytomyr and Western Ukraine; Pinchas Wishedsky, Chief Rabbi of the Donbas, and Moshe Reuven Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv.
The fight against antisemitism was also discussed. It was noted that in Ukraine the problem is currently not as severe as in other countries. Ukraine is visited by more than 800,000 pilgrims every year, and some 150 Jewish “Tzadikkim” (righteous persons) have been buried in the country.
“At present there are at least half a million Jews living in Ukraine for whom Ukraine is their native land, which we love. And we dream of life in Ukraine being dignified and happy for all people. There is no contradiction in being a Jew and a true patriot of Ukraine,” remarked Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky.
At the end of the meeting, the rabbis gifted Zelensky with a special copy of the Torah.
On 30 April, the president-elect met with Metropolitan Epiphanius and Honorary Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and also with Metropolitan Onufriy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.