A MESSAGE FROM
Arielle Setton
TiKVA US EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
It is with a heavy heart and steadfast determination that I write to you today, reflecting on the extraordinarily challenging year we have faced at TiKVA. Our hearts and minds are constantly involved between two devastating conflicts, and the weight of these dual crises has been immense.
As global attention has shifted to the Middle East, we have faced unprecedented challenges in our fundraising efforts. Donors worldwide are stretched thin, making 2024 our most difficult year of fundraising to date. The financial strain comes at a time when the need for our services has never been greater. The war, specifically in Odessa, has worsened over the last seven months. We have experienced destruction to our buildings and community, dramatically increasing the demand for our support.
The psychological toll on the refugees we serve, particularly those in Romania, is profound. Many have lost family members who stayed behind, and the constant flow of bad news is taking a heavy toll on their spirits. Yet, amid this adversity, the resilience and unity of our family has shone brightly. We remain dedicated to helping every adult in our community secure employment, enabling them to achieve self-sufficiency. Additionally, we continue to run our schools and orphanages for our children, providing the nurturing home and quality education they deserve.
The past eight months have underscored a vital truth: we are stronger when we stand together as one family. That truth holds strong for our TiKVA family. Our brothers and sisters across the world, especially in the diaspora, have shown remarkable reengagement and unity. This solidarity is our beacon of hope, reminding us of our duty to protect the generations of Jews who live under constant threat.
At the heart of our mission is the commitment to safeguard the most vulnerable among us, our TiKVA children and community. These young lives are our future, and their safety, well-being, and development are paramount. Despite the hardships, we remain committed in our mission to provide them with the support, education, and care they need to thrive. Let us stand united in our resolve to protect and nurture our children, ensuring a brighter future for all.
Thank you for your continued support and dedication to TiKVA. Together, we will navigate these turbulent times and emerge stronger, reaffirming our commitment to our shared values and vision.
With deepest gratitude,
Arielle Setton Executive Director TiKVA US
ONGOING TURMOIL:
UPDATE FROM ODESSA
Recent airstrikes and continued peril close to our schools in Odessa wreaked havoc on our sanctuary in December 2023 and again, in May 2024.
At least 80% of our windows were shattered and severely damaged, and the internal structure was also damaged.
The aftermath left our educational haven in ruins.
The buildings were occupied by school children and elderly, many of them Holocaust survivors who depend on us for daily shelter and warm meals. We immediately relocated those affected to another building in the town center.
The buildings, one of the two currently serving as a lifeline for the 216 children in Odessa, urgently required your help in restoring and fortifying the affected area to ensure the uninterrupted education of these innocent children.
Amidst the relentless war, we strive to provide them with a semblance of normalcy. We continue to find a way through these very tragic and trying times.
SUPPORT IN
Although we have evacuated most of our TiKVA community, those who remain behind rely on our support and infrastructure. Our school children receive their only warm meals from us and take home daily dinner for their families. These families would not have access to food without us. There are many reasons people remain in the war zone. It. might be an elderly grandparent or a father/brother of a certain age required to draft into the army. Just like we want to keep our family together, they too want to keep theirs intact, wherever it may be.
hope:
In Romania, TiKVA is currently focused on helping capable adult refugees find employment. This initiative has led to a more than a 50% decrease in food costs, as employed adults can now provide food for their families. Despite this success, TiKVA still serves 1,500 hot meals daily: three for each orphan under our care and each staff member in the community, and one meal per day for the wider group. They can now come together around their own kitchen table, sharing meals prepared together, while children study at their own desks and sleep in their own bedrooms.
FOOD REMAINS ONE OF TiKVA’S PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES.
TiKVA stands as the largest Ukrainian refugee community that has endured and remained intact. Providing kosher hot meals daily to our orphans and refugee community is crucial. Procuring, purchasing, preparing and serving meals remains one of TiKVA’s largest logistical and financial responsibility. It is essential to sustain these efforts for the many individuals we support. We play a vital role in shaping their future by offering assistance until they can independently support themselves through employment, education, and, most importantly, within a family.
“One who saves a life is as if he saved a whole world. Let's save thousands of worlds together!”
–Rabbi Rafael Kruskal, CEO TiKVA Odessa
CAREERS IN Bucharest
We are dedicated to supporting as many refugees as we can to regain self-sufficiency, focusing on their emotional and physical well-being. Most of them had jobs or were engaged in business before the war, and we aim to assist them in restoring their independence, job fulfillment, and self-esteem. This effort is not only to alleviate the financial strain on the organization and its supporters, but also to empower each person as they establish themselves.
Acknowledging the multifaceted challenges refugees encounter, TiKVA has established a comprehensive employment program. This includes:
Language and communication classes, IT courses, financial planning and assistance
Professional development support/job placement workshops
Essential childcare assistance for working parents
Facilitating and fostering business connections within Ukraine, Israel, and Romania to establish a support network for refugees (including a collaboration with a matzah factory producing hand baked matzo where ALL of the employees will be provided from TiKVA).
The hope is to provide immediate employment opportunities, sustainable careers, and enduring relationships within the TiKVA global community.
FASTFACTS ABOUT
TiKVA is the largest refugee community from Ukraine to remain intact with 1,066 refugees and orphans in our care in Bucharest, Romania.
TiKVA originally had EIGHT psychologists to work with the children and adults in Romania, and this team has now been expanded to TWELVE!
Since 2022, our Search & Rescue team have brought 41 new orphans into TiKVA’s care in Odessa.
To date, TiKVA has evacuated over 5,000 people from war-torn Ukraine.
With the support offered by TiKVA in Israel, almost 900 alumni from TiKVA in Odessa have successfully made aliyah.
TiKVA US
TiKVA US
Bella. MEETA CHILD,
Bella was born on May 14th, 2018 and is now 5 years old. She came to TiKVA as a newborn baby with brain damage. Initially doctors said that she would be severely mentally and physically impaired, and largely incapable of conscious responses or activity.
Her physical and mental state are years behind her age. Because of TiKVA’s support, she continues to progress developmentally and is surrounded by love.
She shows positive dynamics and starts to differentiate between shapes, can say her colors, and can find an object in the room when asked. She knows animals and their sounds and has even started to pronounce parts of poems, songs, and dances. Her vocabulary has tremendously improved in the past year, and Bella has learned how to eat and drink without the help of counselors. She can count up to 10 with a little help.
A major milestone Bella has achieved is she has begun to walk on her own coordinating the movement of her limbs. Not just walk— she can also run and jump! Just a few months ago, Bella was crawling and needed to hold someone’s hand in order to walk.
Bella still needs a lot more help to continue her development, and for this, she needs a safe and positive environment around her.
STANDS WITH ISRAEL
It has been over eight months since the world watched, and we grieved as Jews and people everywhere were stunned at the attacks on October 7, 2023.
Collectively, we directed our focus, and continue to, towards the welfare of our brothers and sisters in Israel. Whatever we could reasonably contribute to support our alumni there, we did. As we, too, know all too well what it is like to dwell in an atmosphere of war and destruction in search of safety and refuge wherever it can be found.
It has been almost 20 years since we opened our TiKVA Israel Center, and we are committed now more than ever to continue our presence in the midst of all uncertainties, and against any odds.
We are currently providing essential assistance to our almost 900 TiKVA alumni living in Israel, and supporting the 59 displaced families from the South of Israel to ensure that they have all of the support they need.
We are incredibly proud of our 28 alumni who are currently serving in the IDF. We could not stand with them without your help.
Am Yisrael Chai
beenworkingasa militaryequipment mechanic.
MEETA ALUMNI,
Yulia.
Yulia Roiter, born in 2001 and now 23, has been at TiKVA since 2003. Yulia’s family faced significant challenges. Her mother, Olya, struggled with alcoholism and resorted to prostitution for survival. Yulia’s father often beat her mother and left when Yulia was very young.
Their living conditions were dire. With no water or electricity, they cooked over an open fire and often went without food. They lived in squalor and poverty, her innocence stripped away by the cruel hand of circumstance. TiKVA’s search and rescue team found Yulia in a state orphanage and brought her home.
In the shadow of such darkness, Yulia’s resilience is a beacon of hope. She found solace and support in TiKVA, where she grew up in a nurturing environment.
Her story sheds light on the harsh realities of addiction, poverty, and exploitation, showing the urgent need for intervention and compassion in the face of such unimaginable despair.
Despite the darkness of her past, Yulia’s resilience serves as a testament to the power of hope and the transformative impact of community support.
Yulia is finishing up her degree in Education, so that she can be a Hebrew teacher at the TiKVA school giving back to her community.
Idan arrived at TiKVA Kindergarten in 2004. Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, he moved to Romania and has since made aliyah and joined
Lina joined both TiKVA’s home and school in 2013. Today she is serving in the IDF.
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TiKVA’s home in 2003. Sixteen years later, she made aliyah and finished her time in the army. In October 2023, she was called to the IDF,whereshehas
ONEOF ‘sHEROES
In Loving Memory
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the death of another one of our alumni, Anton Bezkonechny. He was only 21 years old and was killed in action defending his home.
Anton was at TiKVA for many years and was currently fighting on the frontlines. The TiKVA staff was in the process of trying to get him to a different position but was unfortunately too late.
He is survived by his brother, Borya, and his sister-in-law, Marina. Both are alumni of TiKVA and live with their baby at our refugee site in Romania. Marina works for TiKVA and is the liaison for the U.S. staff for Romania.
Baruch Dayan Haemet.
FAQ FAQ
How do you know all the children are Jewish?
TiKVA has 23 full time staff members who have the expertise to seek out, document and rescue destitute Jewish children from the Former Soviet Union, specifically Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Russia. The team confirms each child’s Jewish identity by researching family records kept by local authorities and USSR archives.
Can the orphans be adopted?
No. Under Ukrainian law, an organization can only hold a license either as an educational institution or an adoption agency. TiKVA was initially established as an educational institution. Within a short time, founder Rabbi Baksht, became aware of the plight of homeless Jewish children in Odessa, and initiated a mission to save them under the auspices of TiKVA’s educational institution. As an educational institution, TiKVA can provide a home and an education to children who are both social orphans (children who have been abandoned by unfit, living parents) and orphans.
What happens to the alumni when they go to Israel?
TiKVA’s young immigrants arrive with the usual challenges confronting new Olim. Among the most daunting is the inability to find suitable employment in their new surroundings. In response, TiKVA established an employment, placement and vocational development program in 2007 in order to assist TiKVA participants in identifying and gaining viable employment. The project offers career counseling, employment related workshops, vocational course subsidies, and most importantly, meaningful job placement.
Can you explain the role of the TiKVA School System?
The classroom both at the refugee site in Romania and in the war zone back in Ukraine provides a sense of normalcy and safety for our children. TiKVA’s schools offer a standard program of study in addition to a Jewish educational component, which includes Hebrew, Jewish history, Israeli culture and tradition, Jewish holidays and Torah studies. TiKVA’s schools emphasize hands-on, enquiry-based learning, rather than the lecture and memorization methods used in most public schools.
How does TiKVA help the wider Jewish community in Odessa?
In a region where Jewish expression was once forbidden, TiKVA’s community-building activities have created a Jewish environment for the young families and older generations alike. TiKVA is focused on providing over 1200 food packages for the elderly, many of them Holocaust survivors, and individuals with disabilities. TiKVA operates two schools educating the 216 children, most of them spending the day in the attached bomb shelters TiKVA built as well as feeding them and their families.
Why haven’t you taken the children to Israel?
TiKVA has always been a Zionistic organization, having sent over 900 alumni to Israel over the years, with many serving in the army. At the beginning of the war we sent 130 of our alumni as well as nearly 2,000 refugees to Israel. However, taking the children and community to Israel is not an easy feat. The children in our care are wards of the state of Ukraine, many of them with no documentation apart from their birth certificates. In agreement with the Ukrainian and Romanian governments, we were only permitted to cross the border to Romania. Romanian social services and Ukrainian Ministry of Welfare are constantly checking in on the children. As of today, TiKVA is not allowed to take them out of Romania.
NotefromourDevelopmentDirector:
YannaBegelman:
Inthefaceofadversity,TiKVAremains resolute in its commitment to support vulnerableorphansandwarrefugees–providingcarewithessentialslikefood, shelter, and education. Yet, we cannot do this alone. YOUR SUPPORT IS VITAL NOW MORE THAN EVER. Together,wecanofferalifeline, and a beacon of TiKVA (“HOPE” in Hebrew) to thoseindesperateneed,ensuringabrighter future for all.
Provides 3 meals a day for 9 in Romania
Provides 40 children with wardrobes
Covers school lunches for a week for 18 orphans in Romania
Feeds 7 refugees per week in Romania
Feeds 35 children in Romania for a week
Sponsors 2 classrooms in Romania for one year
As you gather at your table this summer break, hundreds of children in Ukraine and Romania will only be able to do the same with your continued help. We refuse to stand idle while innocent lives are at risk every day. Precious children, like Bella, are healthy and growing with a bright future ahead.
Every day, we provide over 1,500 nutritious meals. Through your generous support, we are also able to feed struggling families and seniors in our community.
Thank you for making sure children like Bella always have a place at our table.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Virtual Benefit
Premiere Screening
This event is inspired by a documentary about TiKVA's story. Special thanks to Jody Benyunes and Broadcast Dynamics for putting together this powerful documentary. RSVP using the QR code here.
September 2024
Romania Mission
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 | 6 PM EST 2024
Join our mission to Romania in September 2024 for a transformative experience with TiKVA children and the community.
Email: info@TikvaOdessa.org for details (restrictions apply).
Monday, November 4, 2024
NYC Gala
SAVE THE DATE for our NYC annual gala. This is an opportunity for us to come together and help from this side of the world! Invitations to follow.
SEPT
There are different ways that you can get involved to support us!
There are countless individuals and groups that have committed themselves to raise money for our work and the TiKVA team are there to support you along the way. We have a host of opportunities, events and projects that you can take on as an individual or as a group, together with your friends, your office, school, youth movement or a synagogue.
