Ukraine has many points of Jewish interest, such as the burial places of the Baal Shem Tov in Medzibozh and Rav Nachman in Uman along with the Ohel of Rav Levi Yitrzhak in Berdichev. In addition, there are numerous Jewish cemeteries, Jewish museums, Holocaust memorials, synagogues, yeshivas, Chabad centers and kosher restaurants in cities with Jewish communities, including: Belaya Tzerkov, Berdichev, Khmelnitsky, Medzibozh, Lvov, Drohobych, Stryi, Ivano-Frankovsk, Bolehov, Bubnische, Kolomiya, Zabolotov, Snyatin, Chernivtsi, Kam’yanets-Podolsky, Shargorod, Uman, Odessa and Kiev.
The capital city of Kiev was a center of Jewish culture in Eastern Europe. Jewish heritage tours in Kiev and its vicinity include visits to the birthplaces of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and the great Yiddish writer Shalom Aleichem as well as the Shalom Aleichem Museum and Monument; the homes of other Jewish personages such as the philanthropist Baron Vladimir Ginzburg and the writer Isaac Babel, the Brodsky Synagogue, Podol Synagogue, the Great Kiev Community Center, an exhibit of Jewish ritual objects at the Pecherska Lavra Monastery, the well preserved Karaite buildings in the Chufut Kale medieval fortress located in the Crimean Mountains, the ancient Jewish culture stone monuments at the Kerch Lore Museum (around 200 km from Kiev) and the Babi Yar Memorial at the site of the largest Nazi massacre.
In Odessa, which still has a 30,000-strong Jewish community, one can visit the homes of the Revisionist Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky, the first mayor of Tel- Aviv, Meir Dizengoff, Hebrew poet Chaim Bialik, and world known Jewish historian Semion Dubnov, all on the seaside Primorsky Boulevard. Other points of Jewish interest in modern Odessa include The Tikva orphanage homes, the Migdal International Centre of Jewish Community Programs, the “Migdal-Or” Jewish Musical Theatre and the “Migdal Shorashim” Jewish Museum.
One can also visit the Museum for the History and Culture of Bukovinian Jews in the city of Chernivtsi (Czernowitz) which commemorates the once thriving Jewish community in this northern Ukraine region before World War II.
Graves of Zadikim in Ukraine
Name Yartzheit
Rav Yaacov Yehuda Lev Ze’ev
Rav Zvi Hirsch Ashkenazi Rav Moshe Schick Rav Yisroel, the Holy Magid of Bohapol Rav Chaim Elazar Shapira, Admor of Munkacs Rav Meshulum Zusil of Anipoli Rav Shimshon (Ashkenazi) of Ostropoli Rav Yisroel Freedman Admor of Rhuzhyn Rabbanit Dvora Leah Rav Ben Zion Halbershtam, Admor of Bobov Rav Yehuda Lev Sharhes Rav Chaim Raitzes of Lvov Rav Yehoshua Raitzes of Lvov Rav Moshe Yehuda Lev of Sassov Rav Shimshon Aharon Halperin Rav Shmuel Eliezer Halevi Edelis Maharsha Rav Avraham Yehoshua Hashil Admor of Afta Rav Yisroel Baal Shem Tov Rav Issaschar Dov Rokeach of Belz Rav Shlomo Halevi of Karlin |
1 Adar Aleph, 5518
1 Iyar, 5478 1 Shvat, 5639 2 Iyar, 5607 2 Sivan, 5697 2 Shvat, 5560 3 Av, 5408 3 Heshvan, 5611 3 Tishrei, 5553 4 Av, 5701 4 Adar Bet, 5551 4 Sivan, 5488 4 Sivan, 5488 4 Shvat, 5567 5 Tevet, 5700 5 Kislev, 5392 5 Nisan, 5585 6 Sivan, 5520 22 Heshvan, 5687 22 Tamuz, 5552 |
Ukraine-General Information
Ukraine is a European country bordered by Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Rumania, Moldova, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. The country has a temperate continental climate. Ukraine is governed by a Parliament consisting of a Prime Minister and other government ministries. It has a population of 45.4 million. Its official language is Ukrainian, with Russian spoken by 33% of its population. Ukraine has a free market economy with a per capita GDP of US $3,900; its currency is the Hryvna (UAH), with 1 UAH = .063 USD on the international currency exchange. Its primary religion is Orthodox Christianity. Electric voltage in Ukraine is 220-240 Volts.