Shabbat Shalom,

Since the crisis in Ukraine began, Federations across the country have supported Jews in Ukraine under heavy fighting, on the borders in refugee camps, and in Israel where new olim (immigrants) have been welcomed home. Together, we commit to this support from a deep belief in our responsibility to care for our fellow Jews and for all those who suffer.

In just two weeks, Federations on behalf of the community’s support, have raised almost $20 million to help Ukrainians in need.

More than 50 people in our Greater Indianapolis Jewish community have already stepped up and donated to help Ukrainians. Thank you so much for immediately opening your hearts and for your contributions.

In addition, I am excited to share that the Glick Family and the Herbert Simon Family Foundation have generously offered to match new donations up to $50,000, so we are calling on our community to come together to make it happen. Donate today and double your impact to those in need.

100% of your critical dollars will go toward relief efforts through our partners’ vital humanitarian efforts who are serving ALL Ukrainians, not only those who are Jewish. Those partnerships include The Jewish Agency for Israel, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), World ORT, United Hatzalah, and Hillel International.

Here are some of the ways your dollars will be used:

• Significantly increasing the state of Israel’s preparation and resources directed at smoothing the Aliya process for the thousands of Ukrainian refugees currently trying to reach the Jewish state.
• Jewish organizations currently on the ground in Ukraine to give Ukrainian Jews the chance to move to Israel.
• Providing food, water, medicine, emergency medical treatment, mental health support and counseling, and security to thousands of Ukrainian refugees at camps across Europe.
• Direct assistance for Jewish students in Ukraine or Ukrainian refugees who have fled the country.
• Meeting the needs of women and girls in Ukraine with transportation and accommodations if they stay or decide to flee cities under attack.
• Bringing direct and continuous financial aid to elderly and forgotten Holocaust survivors who are ill, isolated, and alone and in desperate need of food, medicine, heat, shelter and some loving kindness.
• Setting up Wi-Fi hot spots providing Internet access for international relief workers and first responders, as well as for refugees.

On a more personal note, though they never identified as such, my own father’s family comes from what is now Ukraine. My grandfather was born in a shtetl called Tshon, which is now the city of Teofipol in western Ukraine.  If you identify your family’s heritage as being “Russian Jews” or having come from the “Pale of Settlement,” it is quite likely that you also descend from what is now the country of Ukraine. And, of course, we also have valued members of our Indianapolis Jewish community from Ukraine and the Former Soviet Union, many of who were refugees resettled here by Federation and JFS programs of the 1990s.

My heart continues to break for everyone impacted. As the crisis in Ukraine continues, so do the needs. Our partners need your support to continue their mission. Please consider giving today.

Wishing you and our brethren around the world a Shabbat Shalom,

Marc Swatez
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis