With our beloved and esteemed friends and mentors – Rabbi and Rebbetzin Bald live from the city of Lviv. They have lived in that beautiful city for 30 years (they are originally from USA) and brought up their family in a tiny apartment adjacent to the one of the two remaining synagogues that survived the nazi destruction of the Second World War and the suppression of religion during Soviet times. Now the Rabbi and his wife are helping to feed and house refugees fleeing from Russian atrocities in the East. They are hearing the horrors too terrible to describe and the heartbreak of women losing husbands, parents losing children and children left orphaned. As the Rabbi spoke he, at times, cradled his head in his hands. Yet he spoke of the unity of purpose snd solidarity amongst the Ukrainian people. He had a message of hope although he sees a future beyond the war which will leave hatred and bitterness. His wife is arranging summer camp in the Carpathian Mountains to give children relief from the sadness and pressure of the war for two precious weeks

All who joined the zoom group tonight were moved and full of admiration for the brave couple who are doing all they can to give material and emotional support to so many lost and broken souls. May they be given the strength to continue their life saving work and acts of kindness and may they and their family keep safe.

I recommend a book, “Grey Bees” by Andrey Kurkov, set in the Donbas region in Ukraine. Poignant and Kafkaesque.