The Jewish community of Dnipro was visited by a representative Israeli delegation headed by the Minister in the Israeli Ministry of Finance, Ze’ev Elkin, and the head of the government bureau “Nativ,” Alon Shoham. The guests familiarized themselves with the work of a number of Dnipro’s Jewish institutions, the scale of activities aimed at Jewish revival, and the promising directions of this work.
Minister Ze’ev Elkin and the head of “Nativ,” Alon Shoham, met with the Chief Rabbi of Dnipro and the region, Shmuel Kaminezki. They discussed a wide range of issues related to Jewish revival and the development prospects of the Jewish community in Dnipro and Ukraine, as well as the importance of comprehensively expanding cooperation between the Jewish communities of Ukraine and the State of Israel. The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Rabbi Mayer Tzvi Stambler, and Rabbi Dan Makogon, who curated the visit. The Israeli side was represented by Shimon Shusterman, Yana Aizikovich, Yevhen Bielov, and Chabad activist Rabbi Levi Edreya.
An important part of the trip for Minister Ze’ev Elkin and the Israeli delegation was visiting leading Jewish institutions in Dnipro: the central “Golden Rose” Synagogue, the “Memory of the Jewish People and the Holocaust in Ukraine” Museum, projects for Jewish informal youth education and community programs, as well as learning about the services provided by the “Menorah” Center, the largest Jewish center in the world. Everything they saw made a great impression on the Israeli delegation, but Minister Elkin was particularly impressed by the large-scale work related to the development of the Jewish Medical Center (JMC). He toured the central branch of the clinic, visited the surgical department, and learned about the project to create an emergency medical care center and other unique initiatives for Ukraine that the JMC clinic is implementing.
During the visit to the Israeli Cultural Center, significant changes were announced that will activate its work and become an important stage in strengthening the ties between the Jewish community and the State of Israel.
“Everything he saw made a deep impression on Minister Ze’ev Elkin, who is himself a native of Ukraine,” said Rabbi Reuven Kaminezki, who coordinated the visit. “Such visits strengthen cooperation and give it a new impulse. We are confident that the firsthand impressions, frank and substantive conversations, and discussions of current issues will bear much good fruit and make our world better and brighter.”
