TiKVA Children's Home Update - 2023 Newsletter

THE HOPE

THIS IS ONE FRONT PAGE THAT STILL CARES ABOUT

UKRAINE’S ORPHANS

The headlines have moved on. TiKVA hasn’t.

Ithas been more than 18 months since we were forced to leave our homes in Odessa, Ukraine, which, at the time, felt like living through a nightmare. Collectively, we took whatever we could reasonably travel with, and ran from an atmosphere of war and destruction in search of safety and refuge wherever we could find it.

Men, women and children trekked for over 55 hours, and over the Sabbath, to Western Ukraine where we camped temporarily for two weeks until we were told it was safe to cross the border. Those fourteen days of uncertainty and a feeling of transience are ones in which we never want to experience ever again.

Despite finding ourselves in crisis, we resolved and created a temporary home in the sleepy town of Neptun, Romania, on the Romanian seacoast, where we were able to create a relative normalcy. Here, alongside the Black Sea, with G-d’s help, we found a safe haven for our 250 orphans and 660 community members.

Within a week of our arrival, Passover preparations were already in motion, school was back in session, and psychologists were recruited in to assist our families and children in processing the trauma we had just experienced only days prior. Our makeshift headquarters became a safe haven for the evacuation of an additional 4,000 refugees who sought our support in these unprecedented times. All the while, the place we had called home for all of our lives was under the threat of total and utter destruction.

I’d like to say that at this point, life had stabilized and we were approaching a new normalcy, but in truth, the expenses had become too great and the lifestyle still felt temporary. Neptun was fairly remote which meant jobs were scarce and finding suitable housing was impractical. And after much consideration, and for the best for our community, we resolved to move to Bucharest. Today, we are a community one thousand strong

in Bucharest. We are the single largest Ukrainian refugee community to remain intact and in existence and we are persevering thanks to the support of many. Additionally, we have been able to secure employment

for many and further opportunities look promising as we continue to work with local agencies to find employment for all able adults.

No matter how stable life seems to be in Bucharest, in our hearts and in our minds, we are still a people in flux–we miss our homes, but also know the home we remember no longer exists. Picking up from life as you knew it in a moment’s notice and transplanting to a whole new existence is a profoundly traumatic experience and we need support more than ever to make this transition–whether permanent or temporary–as stable and comfortable as possible. Over the course of this newsletter, you’ll gain deeper insight into TiKVA’s new environment and the many ways in which we now find ourselves looking for help and hope. It may feel overwhelming at first, but we know with your support, we can provide our children and our community with the best life possible, given the circumstances.

Thank you to every single one of you.

Rabbi Refael Kruskal, CEO of TiKVA Odessa

War Wages On

While TiKVA has found respite in Bucharest, the war at home in Ukraine rages on and not everyone in our extended community has been accounted for. We will never forget those that need our help and remain committed to providing shelter and emergency relief.

Back Home

Despite conditions in Odessa, TiKVA has built bomb shelters attached to the school buildings and reopened them as classrooms. We have over 200 students attending schools on the days in which the bombings aren’t happening close by, and the children spend much of their day in the bomb shelters attempting to learn, even though they are distracted by fear for their lives.

We also currently provide meals to all 200+ students enrolled in TiKVA schools and send them home with meals for their families daily. These families are not able to work and would not have a hot meal if TiKVA didn’t provide it.

TiKVA serves over 1200 hot meals daily for elderly, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged people, some of them Holocaust survivors. TiKVA also distributes 11,000 parcels of basic necessities and nonperishable goods monthly through our meals on wheels program.

The demand for evacuations is on the rise and TiKVA organizes the logistics for the safe evacuation of busloads of refugees weekly, as well as mental health care for the trauma being experienced daily.

Ukranian Orphans Captured

Many Ukrainian orphans were forcibly removed from orphanages and are now in Russian territory. Many of their whereabouts and living conditions are unknown with most of them cut off from all communication with living relatives.

Kakhovka Dam Collapse

On June 6th, the Kakhovka dam was breached by Russian occupiers and the waters were released from the huge Kakhovka reservoir rushing downstream and flooding all neighboring villages. The rushing waters have jeopardized the water quality, including the supply in Odessa, by incorporating debris and toxic chemicals into the supply.

Tikva mourns the loss of Vitaly Matzvetz

Vitaly Matzvetz first joined the TiKVA community in 2010 and remained with us until 2016. During his time with us, he grew in his appreciation of his heritage and thrived as a young Jewish man.

When he turned 18 years old, Vitaly got notice to join the army and did so as many men his age did, and despite his completion of two years of service, when war broke out, Vitaly returned to fight for his country.

Rockets Rain Down on Odessa City Center

As the war continues, Russia seeks out opportunities to endanger as many Ukrainian civilians as possible, hitting Odessa’s city center and our local supermarket.

And then for six long months, beginning in January 2023, no one had heard from Vitaly, but his mother and community maintained a hopeful daily search for him, until it was reported on June 27th that Vitaly Matzvetz was killed in action. TiKVA, along with the rest of the community, mourns over this profound loss. BD”E.

Girls room in the TiKVA orphanage, August 13, 2023

Fozzy supermarket, 2 blocks from the elementary school and girls home, August 13, 2023

Vitaly at TiKVA in 2014, age 9

Vitaly in 2023

TiKVA in Romania is currently focused on finding all able adult refugees employment. By doing so, TiKVA has been able to reduce food costs by more than 50% due to the working adults now being able to provide breakfast and dinners to their families on their own. Still, TiKVA provides 1500 hot meals a day–three hot meals to the orphans and staff in our community, and one meal a day to the community at large.

Families have finally begun to lead a relatively normal family life, like they had before war broke out. They can now sit around a kitchen table, eating self-prepared meals together as a family, and with children doing homework at desks and sleeping in beds located within their own bedrooms.

We have established a proper orphanage for our 230 orphans who are finally somewhat settled, with a bed to call their own, after a year of sharing a bed with two or three other

children in Neptun. Psychologically, the children are responding well to the returned structure, and they enjoy bedtime and playtime and walking over to the school building daily that is located within the same property.

TiKVA originally brought eight psychologists and their families to work with the children and adults in Romania daily. The team has now been expanded to twelve specialists who are busy treating the children and community daily as the reality of returning home continues to dwindle. Nevertheless, it’s a true testament to the amazing things TiKVA has accomplished when our children tell us that they feel closer to one another now more than ever before, and that the close knit community, despite relocation, has given them hope throughout the year.

Profile on Kharsaach Family

Persevering in Bucharest Young Victim of War

Life in Odessa before the war was going well and stable for the Kharsaach family–Uri Moshe, the father, was an IT director for a large corporation, while Elisheva, the mother, was a Jewish studies teacher in TiKVA. In their youth, both had also successfully benefited from the various offerings of TiKVA --Uri Moshe, as a student of our school system, and Elisheva, as a child cared for by the orphanage.

When the war started, it upended their lives, and the Kharsaach family, including children David, Dina, and Meir, had thirty minutes to evacuate and gather all that they could possibly carry with them in a panicked hurry. Upon arrival in Romania, Uri Moshe did everything he could to assist with the transition for his family and the TiKVA community at large, but it was overwhelming at first. Along with the move came an influx of anxiety and emotions. Nevertheless, Uri Moshe and Elisheva worked hard to try and provide consistency for their family.

Ilya is only nine months old, yet in his short life, he has already fallen victim to the cruelties of war. For one, he will never come to know his mother, who was struck and killed by debris during a bombardment of shells on their hometown. And his father, recruited into battle, could not continue to raise his own child and had to leave Ilya in the capable hands of TiKVA. As the war progressed and worsened, Ilya was then transported from Odessa to Romania where we have been caring for him since March, and will continue to do so until his father’s hopeful and eventual return. Ilya may not be with his immediate family, but for the time being, he will be with ours.

TiKVA was determined to help them do that. We extended Elisheva the opportunity to continue her work with TiKVA in the schools built in Romania while we ensured Uri Moshe had a wifi router so he wouldn’t lose his job in the move. The Kharsaachs are now in Bucharest where they have an apartment to call their own, a kitchen where they gather in and eat self-prepared meals, and are both employed to be able to support their family- a concept one takes for granted until it is taken away.

Elisheva at TiKVA in 2003, age 16

Elisheva boarding the bus with her family to leave Ukraine as the war began, February 2022

The family in Romania, Summer 2023

Elisheva and family, 2023

TiKVA in Numbers Bucharest

TiKVA is a family, and no matter what happens,

Since 1993, TiKVA has offered love, guidance, education, medical care and Jewish identity to at-risk Jewish children, and impoverished families in Odessa, Ukraine. And that has remained our commitment to whomever seeks out these essential needs since our beginning.

Our core mission of rescuing homeless, abused, and abandoned Jewish children has remained the same, especially now with more victims and casualties of the war. Granted, our location and circumstances have changed, and that means our mission has broadened with a newfound focus to stabilize the lives of our community in Bucharest while also addressing ongoing humanitarian needs in Odessa.

We must also provide both physical and mental wellbeing for all and ultimately, have the resources and capacity to care when the occasion arises. Together with your support, we can continue to rebuild the Jewish identity of our community especially now during wartime when stability requires resilience and improvisation.

Providing hot Kosher meals, shelter and electricity

Medical and psychological care for all the orphans and war refugees

— Rabbi Refael Kruskal, CEO of

Providing daily necessities like water, clothing and blankets

Employing teachers for providing consistent education

c/o Lori