During the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence, the Dnipro Jewish Community was visited by a great friend of Ukraine, United States Senator from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Ms. Meghan Gregonis. The distinguished guests learned about the activities of one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities—its past and present, its main areas of work, and its unique network of institutions that play a vital role in the spiritual, educational, social, medical, and cultural life of Dnipro, the region, and all of Ukraine.
Director of the Dnipro Jewish Community, Zelik Brez, provided a detailed account of the history of Jewish life in Dnipro and the community’s present-day activities, emphasizing the city’s special place on the Jewish map of the world. It was here that the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, spent his childhood and youth, and his father, the renowned tzadik and kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, served as the city’s Chief Rabbi for three decades.
During the visit, Senator Richard Blumenthal toured the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menorah,” and met with the heads of leading institutions and departments of the Dnipro Jewish Community—including Dr. Iryna Radchenko, Director of the Museum “Memory of the Jewish People and the Holocaust in Ukraine,” and Deputy Director Dr. Yegor Vradiy; Professor Oleksandr Rodynsky, MD, PhD, General Director of the Jewish Medical Center “JMC,” along with Marketing Expert Shimon Brez; as well as leaders of other key community projects, including representatives of the Menorah Community Cultural Center and Bogdan Yermakov, consultant for American University Kyiv in Dnipro.
Particular attention was paid to the current stage of development of the Dnipro Jewish Community, which, during the years of Ukraine’s independence, has become one of the largest and most dynamically growing Jewish communities in Europe. The Senator was briefed on its numerous educational, social, charitable, medical, youth, and cultural projects, on the revival of traditional Jewish life, and on the significance of the community’s work not only for the Jewish population, but for Dnipro, the region, and all of Ukraine.
“It is of tremendous importance to us that the Dnipro Jewish Community was visited by a great and longtime friend of our country, who has consistently and actively supported Ukraine—Senator Richard Blumenthal,” said Zelik Brez, Director of the Dnipro Jewish Community. “The Senator was introduced to the past and present of our community, told about what it is engaged in today, and we shared our hopes for the future. It was a great joy and honor for me to convey the warmest greetings on behalf of our leader and the head of the unified and cohesive Dnipro Jewish Community, Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki.”
