The Tishrei holidays are upon us, and the Jewish communities around the world are making the final preparations for the holiday season.
In addition to the traditions that accompany the communities throughout the year, many of the communities dedicate the holiday to helping the Jewish war refugees who fled Ukraine and are in the various countries.
On the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, which will fall this coming Sunday, we set out to find out how they intend to celebrate the holidays in the Diaspora this year.
Rosh Hashanah of Abraham
Two years after the signing of the Abraham Accords, and only a few years after the Jewish community stopped operating under the radar and in hiding, the community is flourishing.
More than 1,000 Jews from all over the world are expected to celebrate Rosh Hashanah across the Emirates.
In Abu Dhabi and Dubai, joint holiday meals will be held with many participants.
Exciting: Shofar blowing in Dubai // Photo: Courtesy of Rabbi Levi Dochman
In preparation for the holiday, Rabbi Levi Duchman, the Chief Rabbi of the United Arab Emirates, greeted the many tourists and members of the local Jewish community who come to celebrate around the same holiday table, together with the blowing of the shofar and the holiday prayers.
Ukraine: celebrations on the background of the bombings
"Oman Rosh Hashanah", the Chasidim define it, and even in a war year, many decided to come to mark the grave of Rabbi Nachman in the city of Oman.
Alarms are heard from time to time in the area, but the mood is happy.
Shlomi Elisha, VP of Rescue Ukraine, says that about 7,000 people have already arrived in the city and there are many more who are on their way in buses and private vehicles.
The Jewish community in Ukraine prepares for Rosh Hashanah // Photo: Jewish Federation of Ukraine
"Rosh Hashanah prayers will be held in accordance with the curfew, which applies from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., so there should not be a problem with gathering, but Shabbat meals will be shortened. We are happy to see the thousands who came, but we must say that we are not calm because we are still in the war. It's amazing to see how much public discipline and listening to instructions there is, and I hope this will continue. We will all pray for Ukraine, that it will come out of the war and that it will defeat the Russian enemy," says Shlomi.
Preparing for the holiday in Ukraine, photo: Jewish Federation of Ukraine
Meanwhile, in the various cities, the Jewish Federation of Ukraine is preparing for the holiday.
Although most of the Jews in the country are not observant, almost all of them have an affinity and a warm place in their hearts for the holidays of Israel, and on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur many of them visit the synagogues, enjoying the sense of community, the shared holiday meals and the festive prayers.
This year, in view of the war with Russia and the continued firing of missiles at the cities, many will not be able to participate in the prayers.
This is especially true in cities in the east and center of the country, such as Mykolaiv and Krivirog, Odessa and Berdychov, and even Dnipro, which recently began to be bombed, and also in the capital, Kyiv, where alarms are triggered several times a week.
Placing Tefillin during the preparations for the holiday, photo: Jewish Federation of Ukraine
"Many prefer not to leave their homes, except in necessary cases. There is also a phenomenon of refugees within Ukraine: people who fled their homes and communities in Mariupol, Kharkiv and more and arrived in safer cities throughout the country, but find it difficult to acclimatize and sometimes also sit depressed in their homes. There is no doubt that in the coming holidays the synagogues The country will be relatively empty, probably with the fewest worshipers since the fall of communism in 1989, after which the synagogues were again filled with people, women and children," says Rabbi Raphael Rotman, vice chairman of the "Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine" and a Chabad emissary who lives in the capital, Kyiv.
In order to try to maintain the atmosphere of the holidays, the Federation is currently holding a large logistical operation of distributing kits including booklets with explanations of the essence of the holidays, a shortened cycle for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, wine, honey, honey cake as well as fancy Jewish calendars.
Hundreds of orphans from Odessa are staying in Romania
In the city of Neptune, Romania, there are about 800 people and children of the "Kehilat Tikva" orphanage who escaped last March from Odessa in Ukraine in a daring operation, and managed to escape the Russian shelling.
The person who will be entrusted with the preparations for the holiday and the support for the refugees during their stay in Romania, is the representative of the Conference of European Rabbis: the chief rabbi in Odessa, Shlomo Bakshet.
Neptune, Romania.
Hosting the orphans, photo: Conference of Rabbis of Europe
"We are happy to spend the holiday in Romania in a safe place, and of course we do not forget those who could not escape the war, and we are sending food packages to the elderly who remained in Odessa to help them as much as possible."
About the traditions of the holiday Bakshet says: "We will not give up our holiday traditions, and we will build the community's large sukkah on Sukkot that can accommodate many hundreds of people, and despite the difficult situation we are in far from home - we will celebrate the holiday as it should be."
The tables are already waiting.
Ahead of Rosh Hashanah in Romania, photo: Conference of Rabbis of Europe
The president of the Conference of Rabbis of Europe, Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, stated that "this is the best hour for the Jewish communities in Europe who have mobilized for the reception of refugees across the continent. We are working around the clock, so that no refugee remains hungry on the eve of the holiday."
The tradition of the Jews of Barcelona
12,000 Jews live in Barcelona today, some more active in the community and some less so.
One of the exciting holiday traditions of the community is called "Greeting Card Day".
This is a long-standing tradition in the community in Barcelona, where the children gather a few days before Rosh Hashanah, write greeting cards for the New Year, and send them to other Jewish children around the world, including in Eastern Europe.
greeting cards.
Barcelona,
The representative of the Conference of European Rabbis in Barcelona, Rabbi Daniel Ashkenazi, tells about another exciting mobilization of the community.
"Like every year, also during the upcoming holiday season, the community is getting involved to help Jewish families who are having trouble financing a holiday meal for themselves. Of course, everything is done completely anonymously in order to preserve the families' dignity."
Ashkenazi says that as part of the local holiday traditions, the community members will distribute food at various specialty houses in Barcelona.
Rabbi Ashkenazi says about the Rosh Hashanah dinner: "On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, we will gather together for a big and festive meal, and we invite the Jewish tourists who are in the city and want to feel part of this huge family, to come and join us for a traditional holiday dinner."
Zurich: A hand for refugees
The Jewish community in Zurich was founded in 1862, because before that Jews were not allowed to live in Zurich.
Since then, the Jewish community is alive and kicking in the Swiss city.
Today there are about 2,600 members of the community, among them secular, religious and traditional.
In the last six months, about 70 war refugees from Ukraine were added to the community.
A warm home for refugees.
Synagogue in Zurich,
"When the refugees arrived last March, it was amazing to see the mobilization of the community to help with everything that was available for them: housing, food, clothes, German lessons - basically everything they needed to get back on their feet," says Rabbi Noam Hertig, the chief rabbi of Zurich, also He is a representative of the Conference of European Rabbis.
"Even during Rosh Hashanah, we will not leave them alone, and we will provide them with warm meals during the holiday."
Ashkenazim and Sephardi
In the Jewish community in Strasbourg, France, where there are 20,000 Jews, for years they have been strict about unity in the Ashkenazi and Sephardic prayers.
There are several synagogues in the city, all of which pray in the Ashkenazi and Sephardi styles together.
It works so that the person who comes up to pray determines the form of the prayer, while the person who comes after him also determines the form of the prayer that is suitable for him.
In this way, everyone can pray as his faith and origin allow him.
A show for Rosh Hashanah for the Jewish community in Strasbourg, photo: Iidat
The rabbi of the community, Harold Weil, says: "There is excitement for the holidays, like every year. The unity between prayers in the Ashkenazi and Sephardi style largely symbolizes our community as one that strives to include everyone equally."
Rabbi Weil tells about a performance by Motti Steinmetz that took place last weekend in the community.
Many people came and enjoyed the performance whose entire function was "to connect the people who are less connected to the community through music, as music connects people".
According to him, the community recently celebrated the new year with the city officials in Strasbourg, including the mayor, in a festive toast.
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