By COLlive reporter
While many in Israel also marked Purim under the shadow of war this year, for Ukraine’s Jews the sounds of explosions have accompanied the reading of the Megillah for four consecutive years.
At the central synagogue in Kyiv, alongside the chanting of Megillas Esther, the ominous buzz of drones and air attacks could be heard overhead.
Despite the tension, one especially moving moment occurred when Aryeh Leib, a Jewish soldier in a Ukrainian military uniform, entered the sanctuary after receiving an almost impossible leave from the front.
Aryeh Leib’s story became a symbol of this year’s holiday. Just a month earlier, while returning home from a routine evening at synagogue, he was stopped on the street and drafted into the army under an emergency order. Since then, he has been serving in a combat unit, far removed from the community life that had been central to his routine.
Aryeh Leib, who returned to his Jewish roots and underwent circumcision as an adult, had long been known for attending synagogue every morning and evening. Now the uniform and weapon had replaced the tallis, but his devotion remained unchanged.
“His commander, after understanding the importance of the mitzvah, granted him a rare leave solely to hear the Megillah,” said Rabbi Simcha Levenhartz, one of the Chabad Shluchim in Kyiv.
With no time to visit family, Aryeh Leib traveled directly from the front to the synagogue benches. “He refused to miss even a single word,” Rabbi Levenhartz said. “For him, this was the oxygen he needed in order to keep going.”
In other parts of the country, the war’s impact is felt through severe shortages of infrastructure. In the Jewish community of Kryvyi Rih, organizing Purim celebrations became a complex logistical challenge.
“For months now, electricity in people’s homes has been available for only three hours a day,” said the city’s rabbi and Chabad Shliach, Rabbi Liron Edri. “That means heating systems barely function during harsh winter weather. Recently a drone struck directly near the mikvah and our home.”
Despite the hardships, more than 200 people registered to attend the Purim seudah, seeking a few hours of light and joy.
In Chernivtsi the situation is similarly difficult. “These days, when it is dark and cold outside and there is no electricity for more than 20 hours a day, our role is to increase joy,” said the city’s rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Glitzenstein. The community organized a festive Purim meal for hundreds of Jews, offering a warm and welcoming space away from their cold homes.
Across Ukraine, Chabad’s humanitarian Purim effort resembled a large-scale military operation. In recent weeks, volunteers completed the distribution of 24,000 mishloach manot packages across 25 major regions and hundreds of remote villages. The packages included hamantaschen baked in Israel, groggers, and treats, alongside thousands of essential food parcels containing chicken, oil, legumes, and staple products.
“Some families have struggled to make ends meet for years,” organizers said. This year, due to the deepening crisis, an additional element was included in the deliveries: emergency supplies such as generators, fuel, and heating stoves. “You cannot speak about a holiday when a home is freezing,” they explained.
In the cities of Dnipro and Odessa, synagogues were filled to capacity. At the central synagogue in Dnipro, led by Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky, hundreds of Jews gathered, including men, women, and children in costume.
In Odessa, the heavily targeted port city, the celebrations were marked by powerful communal spirit as worshippers drew strength from one another under the leadership of Chief Rabbi and Rabbi of Southern Ukraine, Rabbi Avraham Wolff.
The celebrations ended early in the evening because of the nightly curfew. Yet in the hearts of many remained the hope for a modern “v’nahafoch hu,” a turning point in which all the soldiers, like Aryeh Leib, will return not for a few brief hours, but permanently to their homes, families, and synagogues.
