In his 13 years in Ukraine, Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich has found that knowledge of the Tora is less important than organizational, business and fund-raising skills
mmunity as Ukraine. And Bleich, a U.S.-born Orthodox Hassidic Jew, has been doing just that for the last 13 years.
“After great destruction, God always gives extra strength for restoration,” Rabbi Bleich said, describing his hopes for rebuilding the country’s Jewish community and religious life.
As chief rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine, Bleich’s duties include conducting services, advising believers, interpreting the Torah, and teaching the central texts of Judaism. However soon after arrival in Ukraine, he found that knowledge of the Torah was somewhat less important for his job than organizational, business and fund-raising skills.
Bleich has employed these skills in numerous social and educational projects. He has been involved in opening several Jewish educational establishments in Kyiv. He also helped set up a wide-ranging program of charitable assistance for the needy, including social workers, visiting nurses, “meals on wheels” and soup kitchens. He is currently building an old people’s home.
One of Bleich’s major projects was the multi-million dollar renovation of the Great Choral Synagogue of Kyiv, which officially reopened in Podil on March 4.
Bleich says the situation in Ukraine is in some ways more favorable than elsewhere in Europe, even though there is less money and more organizational problems.
“In Germany, for example, they do not have such a network of Jewish schools as we have here, even though the community there is richer,” he said.
Among those impressed by Bleich’s leadership is Josef Zissels, chairman of the Vaad confederation of Jewish organizations.
“Bleich’s arrival in Kyiv gave a strong impulse to the development of Jewish community and religious life,” he said.
Bleich is the founder and head of the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine, and president of the Union of Jewish Religious Organizations. As vice-president of the European Jewish Congress and a member of the executive committee of the World Jewish Congress, he is active in forming ties with foreign Jewish communities and finding sponsors.
In 1997, he received the Pras Yerusholayim award for educational work in the Jewish diaspora. In 1999, he received the For Special Services medal from President Leonid Kuchma.
Taking the plunge
Born in New York City in 1964, Yaakov Dov Bleich graduated from the Telshe Yeshiva high school in Chicago. He later studied at a rabbinical college in Israel, where he gained a diploma as a rabbi in 1989. Soon after graduating, he made his first visit to Ukraine as a tourist.
“I first came here for a couple of months, and I never imagined I’d stay,” he said.
Bleich recalled that his plans changed radically after he visited the Berkovtsy Cemetery in Kyiv.
“It was fall, after the Jewish holidays, and we found hundreds of Jews there,” he recalled. “When they saw us Orthodox Hassidic Jews, they couldn’t believe their eyes. They came up to us, touched us and asked us to read prayers in Yiddish.”
The conversation with the Kyiv Jews made an unforgettable impression on the young rabbi. He understood how far removed they were from Jewish traditions and what difficulties they faced preserving their religion under the official atheism and widespread anti-Semitism of the Soviet period.
Bleich immediately recognized that there was a huge potential to improve the situation, and he decided to move to Ukraine permanently. In 1990 he became chief rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine.
On the day of the hardline Communist coup in August 1991, Bleich was visiting the Ternopil Oblast town of Borychev to attend the opening of a memorial to Jews killed during World War II. When news of the coup reached him, Bleich undertook to organize the repatriation of a group of young Americans who were working in summer camps in Ukraine. They had to fly out through Moscow, where Soviet army tanks were still rolling through the streets. It was not until he reported the Americans’ safe departure at the U.S. Embassy that he learned that the emergency was over.
Married in 1987, Bleich has six children. The family lives in a large apartment in Podil, which was constructed from three adjoining apartments. Bleich also owns a home in Israel. Like other rabbis, all Bleich’s expenses are covered by sponsors and from a special fund.
As well as native English, Hebrew, Yiddish and German, Bleich speaks Russian fluently and is in the process of learning Ukrainian and French.
American Jew, Ukrainian patriot
Describing himself as an optimist, Bleich says he is inspired by the story of Nachshon Son of Aminadav from the Torah. When the Jews came to the Red Sea during their flight out of Egypt, God promised to part the waters and allow them to cross. Only Nachshon had the courage to jump in, and just as the water rose to his throat, God performed the promised miracle.
“I don’t think we should wait for conditions to be right the way we want them,” Bleich said. “It is necessary to take the initiative and jump right in. Then God will help.”
Claiming that it is unfair to reproach Ukraine for the slow pace of its reforms, Bleich points to the example of the United States, which declared independence in 1776 and adopted a constitution only in 1789.
“It took them 13 years to adopt the constitution, and Ukraine’s independence is not yet 13 years old,” he said.
Bleich believes that much has been achieved during Kuchma’s presidency. He says that he does not believe that Kuchma ordered the murder of journalist Georgy Gongadze.
“We’re not close friends, but I respect him, and I believe that like anyone else he has the right to his faults,” he said.
Although he is an admirer of American democracy, Bleich believes that the United States has often applied double standards in its relations with Ukraine.
“The United States accused Ukraine of selling Kolchuga radar systems to Iraq, but it is friendly toward Russia, which is helping Iran build a nuclear reactor,” he said. “They say that Kuchma is not a democrat, while they are friendly with Saudi Arabia, where they don’t even know what democracy means.”
Speaking before the war in Iraq, Bleich said that he believes that the United States approaches its relations with Ukraine the same way it does other countries – based on the purely pragmatic consideration of what it needs from them.
“As an American who has lived in Ukraine for 13 years, I don’t think that what is good in the eyes of America will necessarily be good for Ukraine,” he said.
Bleich acknowledges that the situation in the country clearly demonstrates it is suffering from growing pains.
“Society is growing up and maturing. Considering that there used to be a dictatorship here, Ukraine is coping quite well,” he said.
As for one visible legacy of the Soviet past, Bleich believes that it would be a mistake to remove Lenin statues from public places. “They should be left standing so that when people pass by they can tell their children: ‘Millions of people suffered because of this man.’”
Bleich quotes a Hebrew proverb: “No human reason can achieve what time can.”
“Time will pass, and it will do its work,” he said.
Bleich also believes it is necessary to propagate a national idea, since there is a deficiency of patriotism in Ukraine.
“Why live here if not for the feeling of self-identification, of pride in one’s nation,” he said. “Everyone should see their future in this country and be proud of it. Children should feel that they are needed here. A healthy nationalism should be part of everyone’s soul.”
This article was first published in Russian in Korrespondent magazine on February 25 as part of its series devoted to the Top 100 most influential individuals in Ukraine.
