Kostya Tyupa, 24, is in the process of formally converting to Judaism. Credit: Theia Chatelle photo Chaplain David Milman (center) attends a diplomatic event in Kyiv. Credit: David Milman photo The following article was submitted by the New Haven Independent’s Kyiv correspondent, Theia Chat elle. KYIV — When David Hruba, 46, first learned of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, he didn’t waste any time before enlisting to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “My biggest motivation was to protect my land, my loved ones, and my Jewish community. I didn’t want to see innocent people being killed or targeted,” Hruba told the Independent. Even during long stints serving on the front line over the last three years, Hruba, who is Jewish, has not wavered from his faith. Hruba and his wife, Olga, 41, who joined the Independent for an interview from their home in Dnipro during a break from fighting in October, have continued to light Shabbat candles and follow Jewish law as strictly as they can, given the many difficulties of serving in a combat unit, including constant drone attacks and artillery bombardment. “Before each mission, we read Psalms. My wife would read, and I would drive the vehicle, responding with ‘Amen,” Hruba said. David and Olga converted to Judaism in 2019, after becoming regulars at a synagogue in Dnipro, the de facto center of Jewish life in Ukraine. It was there that Hruba and his wife were able to explore their Jewish heritage, which their families had been disconnected from during the era of Soviet rule in Ukraine. This story is ubiquitous in a country that, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, has a core Jewish population of 32,000, which balloons to almost 100,000 eligible for citizenship in Israel. “We were both around 40. We studied everything ourselves. We both had Jewish ancestry, so our conversion was based on lineage, not just belief,” Hruba told the Independent. Hruba’s return to Judaism is far from unique in Ukraine, and is part of a trend that Jewish faith leaders in the country have witnessed, especially since the start of Russia’s invasion. David Milman, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ first Jewish chaplain, told the Independent, “Even in difficult times, many people returned to prayer, to religion, to tradition. Spiritually, it might have been better without the war, but the war exposed what was already hidden deep inside people, and it brought it to the surface.” Milman has his own story of returning to Judaism: as he recounted to the Independent. “I was raised in a rather secular family. My father was a communist, my mother a teacher. My family and I didn’t really know much about Judaism. We were completely unfamiliar.” It was his father and brother who maintained his family’s connection to Judaism during a time in which antisemitism was pervasive and restrictions on Jewish communal life were widespread. “My father used to pray in an underground minyan. Ten Jews gathered secretly in someone’s apartment to pray. My brother used to go there as the tenth man so they could hold services,” Milman recalled. Milman’s experience is largely representative of Ukrainian Jews who survived the Holocaust only to find themselves living under Soviet rule, which made maintaining a connection to their faith incredibly difficult. The compounded trauma of the Holocaust and Soviet antisemitism left many families abandoning their connection to Judaism entirely, some converting to Christianity and others removing any trace of Jewish life from their families. When Ukraine gained independence in August 1991, however, that slowly began to change. “It has always been the case that, after the fall of the communist regime, people started to look for their roots. That includes Jews. I know people who discovered in their 40s or 50s that they were Jewish,” Milman said. Stories like Milman’s abound in Ukraine, where hiding one’s Jewish heritage was standard practice. Jonathan Markovitch, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv, shared a similar story during an interview with the Independent in October. An acquaintance of his came to him looking for advice after a close friend learned at his mother’s deathbed that she was Jewish and wished to have a Jewish funeral. He was 58 years old, and it was the first time he learned of it. “He didn’t know about this. Nothing,” Markovitch recalled. Closer to home near New Haven, Rabbi Michael Farbman joined Temple Emanuel on Derby Avenue in Orange, Conn. in 2010. Farbman grew up under Soviet rule in Belarus. In an interview with the Independent, he described how Jewish life was stifled under Soviet rule, whether through the use of quotas to limit the number of Jewish students at Soviet universities or discrimination against those with Jewish nationality markers on their passports. However, “there is a difference between the day-to-day, kind of domestic antisemitism one learns as a child, and the state-sponsored antisemitism widespread in the Soviet Union,” Farbman stressed. “When the Soviet Union collapsed, there is a new reality. One of the things that begins to change in somewhat different ways across all the former republics is they begin to dismantle this state-sponsored antisemitism,” Farbman continued. The war, however, has only sped up the process of Ukrainians reconnecting with their Jewish roots, according to those with whom I spoke, both converts to Judaism and leaders in the Jewish community. This story is complicated by rhetoric in both the West and Russia about widespread antisemitism in Ukraine. Part of Russia’s stated justification for its invasion in 2022 was the “De-Nazification of Ukraine.” However, after weeks on the ground in Kyiv speaking with members of the Jewish community, it became clear that antisemitism is at the bottom of the list of Jewish residents’ concerns. Milman said, “For 25 years, I’ve walked around proudly, not just since the recent invasion, but since long before wearing a kippah. I’ve never experienced antisemitism personally in Ukraine.” Markovitch echoed a similar sentiment, stating that as a rabbi in the community who would hear of antisemitic incidents, he couldn’t recall anything of significance in recent memory. Quite the opposite of a growing wave of antisemitism, there is a rising interest in Ukrainian society in exploring one’s Jewish roots and reestablishing a Jewish cultural presence in the country, which once had the world’s largest Jewish population. Unlike in much of Western Europe, where the far-right continues to make inroads into electoral politics and mainstream society, the far-right in Ukraine has struggled to make its mark in an election, despite growing emboldened since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. President Zelenskyy is Ukraine’s first Jewish president , and his identity has often been used as further evidence of a shifting tide in the Ukrainian public’s perception of its Jewish population. Zelenskyy has been the target of antisemitic attacks during his time in office, but has remained unwavering in his support of Ukraine’s Jewish community. Vyacheslav Likhachev, a Kyiv-based expert on right-wing groups at the Freedom House, argued in a brief that while the growth of far-right influence in Ukraine should be a cause for concern, it still does not compare to the growth of parties like the AfD and National Rally in Germany and France, respectively, which have espoused brazenly antisemitic and racist rhetoric. Still, politicians and civil society experts should remain cautious, as volunteer battalions in Ukraine have attracted neo-Nazis and far-right ideologues, including the controversial Azov Battalion, which was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard, the founder of which claimed Ukraine’s national purpose should be to rid the country of Jews. Yet, individual experiences vary, as according to Hruba, his battalion, and for that matter, the army has been incredibly welcoming of his Jewish identity. “Soldiers ask us about Jewish traditions. Some have started wearing kippahs, reading Psalms. Some even fast with us on Jewish holidays or ask about kosher food,” Hruba said. During his interview with the Independent, he gestured to a Star of David patch he wears on his left shoulder as evidence of his pride in his Jewish faith and its widespread acceptance in his battalion. Milman, who is responsible for pastoral support for the hundreds of Jewish soldiers serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, confirmed, “People are interested. I don’t know what causes it exactly, but yes, non-Jews are asking questions about Judaism. They’re curious.” Milman’s job as chaplain is not limited to supporting only Jewish soldiers but anyone in need of pastoral care. He does take particular pride in helping Jewish soldiers maintain a connection to their faith while also dealing with the reality of combat. “My job is to explain to commanders how to approach soldiers who practice Judaism, to help resolve issues related to accommodation, fasting, holidays, or Sabbath observance in places where there’s a synagogue or where we can somehow honor Shabbat if possible,” Millman described. It is not only in the Armed Forces of Ukraine where non-Jews have expressed interest in Judaism, but the rest of Ukrainian society, where, with the support of the international Jewish community, religious institutions, including Jewish schools and community centers, have grown in number, creating a strong cultural presence in Ukraine and the opportunity for interfaith engagement. Kostya Tyupa’s journey to Judaism has been long and slightly complicated. Tyupa, 24, was born to a Christian family, although as he described to the Independent, a family that was more culturally Christian than any kind of religious. At fourteen, Tyupa began attending a secular Jewish school in Kyiv run by ORT, an international charity that works to further Jewish educational and technological training around the world. The school, which is open to Jews and non-Jews, is largely secular and has a focus on computer science and technology. ORT blends traditional education with instruction in Hebrew and observance of Jewish holidays. “My friends were just going to the school because it was good. So that’s all, anyone can go to the school,” Tyupa said. When Tyupa’s family was first offered the opportunity for him to join as an elementary school student, they jumped at the opportunity, as the school had a reputation for academic rigor and post-graduate success. Then, when Tyupa was fourteen, as he recalled, a rabbi at Kyiv’s conservative congregation, Masoret Kyiv, visited the school for a presentation after which Tyupa decided to join the community Shabbat. “I was with my friends, and we were like, ‘Why not?’ So we went there, and then I started going to the synagogue on Shabbat. I didn’t know anything about it,” Tyupa recalled. There are times that Tyupa has grown closer to his faith, and others when he has strayed from it. However, at the end of the day, he considers the Masoret Kyiv community to be his home. Joining Masoret Kyiv for Shabbat this April, it became clear to me that Tyupa is a pillar of Kyiv’s Jewish community, in the way that other members of the congregation look up to him and lean on him for guidance. It took him ten years, but Tyupa has now reached the point where he considers himself Jewish and is working on formally converting under the supervision of Masoret Kyiv’s Rabbi Irina Gritsevskaya. At first, his family wasn’t entirely supportive, but “last year, I told them, it’s my decision. Sorry, but this is what I chose,” Tyupa said. Unlike in other post-Holocaust Eastern European states, where a small Jewish community remains, largely separated from the rest of society, Ukraine seems to be charting a different path, with a wave of converts to Judaism confirming this interfaith connection. As the war, which is far into its third year, wages on, the Jewish community in Ukraine will continue to face challenges. Despite it all, the Jewish community in Ukraine is stronger than ever. Markovitch said, “Everyone wants to be a part of it. People are coming to be in community.” Evelina Riabenko contributed reporting. This reporting was supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Women on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. See below for previous New Haven Independent articles by Theia Chatelle from Ukraine: • The View From Kyiv Under Russian Bombardment• Amid War, Kyiv’s Jewish Community Perseveres The post On War, Antisemitism, Being Jewish In Ukraine appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less