Ari Rosenblum, CEO of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Rockland County, and former President Lisa Green are on a humanitarian mission to Poland organized by the Jewish Federations of North America.
Rosenblum, Green, and others were traveling so they could return and speak with authority to their members about the refugee situation and relief efforts.
They spoke to Patch Thursday night.
With about 145 affiliates across the United States and Canada, the Jewish Federations of North America has raised about $40 million to help Ukrainian refugees, including more than $80,000 from hundreds of donors in Rockland County.
“Jewish communities across North America have stood up to be counted,” Rosenblum said.
They had just returned to Warsaw from Medyka on the border with Ukraine, where many groups, including Jewish groups from around the world, are working together to help refugees who have just crossed the border.
“Eighty years ago, if you were a Jew trying to flee a war, there was no one to take you in. They were turned away,” Rosenblum told Patch. “We were standing 10 meters from the Poland-Ukraine border and the first eight tents you see were from Israel and Jewish organizations from around the world. That’s a 180 degree turn. We can be proud of that.”
Green described meeting a refugee and his son, who suffers from cerebral palsy, who were granted asylum in Israel because his grandmother’s family bears the name Righteous Among the Nations, the award given to non-Jews who risked their lives to protect Jews during the to protect the Holocaust. The two families of the descendants had been in contact, so the Israelis asked their government to allow them to retaliate and house the two Ukrainians.
The grandson and great-grandson of a Ukrainian woman recognized as Righteous Among the Nations for hiding Jews during the Holocaust have been granted asylum in Israel and are being taken in by the descendants of the people she hid.
“It’s incredible that the connection existed beforehand and could become a lifeline,” Green said.
She described meeting a family from Mariupol who were forced to evacuate to Russia by Russian soldiers but fled to a Baltic state and then to Poland. “Her building and that of her grandparents were destroyed by shelling,” she said. “Your son had to leave his dog behind.” They will make aliyah to Israel.
At the border and in Warsaw, organizations all work together seamlessly, from the Hadassah hospital group to the Jewish Agency volunteers who offer therapeutic play to traumatized refugee children, Rosenblum said.
“There’s an incredible infrastructure,” he said. “Everyone comes in and asks for help — they get it.”
Israel even operates a huge field hospital in western Ukraine, he said.
“We at Rockland are so proud to support this effort,” he said. “It’s really inspiring.”
A man was taken to Saviors Without Borders medical clinic while crossing the border from Ukraine (Ari Rosenblum)
Green and Rosenblum posted several short videos of what they saw and learned on the Rockland Jewish Federation’s Facebook page.
Organizations receiving funding from the federations of North America include the Jewish Agency, JDC, World ORT, Chabad, Emergency Volunteers Project, Hadassah Medical Organization, HIAS, Hillel International, Israel Trauma Coalition, JCC Krakow, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Project Kesher, Shma Yisrael and United Hatzalah.
To become part of Rockland’s response to the international crisis, you can visit www.Jewishrockland.org/ukraine