Communities of Progressive Judaism have been operating in Ukraine since 1991. Poltava has a small but active community that has not stopped its religious activities since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We talked to Yevheniia Nozhenko, community leader of the religious congregation for progressive Judaism Beth Am in Poltava, about community life and the personal problems that religious leaders overcome during the war.
Good afternoon, Yevheniia! Thank you for agreeing discuss the activities of the congregation for progressive Judaism in Poltava. First, it would be interesting to learn something about you and your role in the Jewish community of Poltava.
Good afternoon! My name is Yevheniia Nozhenko. I was born and lived all my life in Poltava. Three years ago, I was elected head of Beth Am religious congregation for progressive Judaism. Then it was a very difficult time, because the Covid-19 pandemic had just begun, and a little later a full-scale war of russia against Ukraine began. But in general, I want to emphasize that the community is alive, active, fighting, and even growing because of the influx of refugees. In these difficult periods of life, I am pleased that people themselves are looking for our community – not I am looking for people, but they themselves want to join our activities. For me, as a leader, it’s a pleasure!
I agree, it is very pleasant. Let’s go back in time and discuss the history of the progressive congregation in Poltava in general.
The first congregation for progressive Judaism in Ukraine was founded in 1991 in Kyiv. Then a woman rabbi Ariel Stone came to Ukraine. At that time, many Jews in Ukraine were assimilated and knew nothing about their religion. Some of them remembered how their grandmothers lit candles on Shabbat, but they always closed the windows so that the neighbors wouldn’t see, or they wouldn’t let their grandchildren talk about eating matzah for Passover. Even today, people often come to us who do not know what Shabbat and khallahs are. Progressive Judaism is very friendly to such people, we explain Jewish traditions and holidays to them.
In Poltava, the community was also opened in 1991 on the initiative of Anatoliy Muchnyk, who headed it. He did a lot, including working closely with the Hesed Charitable Foundation. Later, an orthodox religious community Chabad Lubavitch was opened in Poltava. However, Orthodox Judaism does not accept people who are not halakhic Jews (meaning people, who don’t have a Jewish mother). However, I believe that it does not matter who was a Jew in your family, the most important thing is that you feel like a Jew yourself, that you want to be part of this religion. Personally, that is why progressive Judaism is the most attractive religion for me. There are halakhic Jews in our community, but they do not follow all the prescriptions of Judaism. They perceive Judaism differently, rather as a philosophy of life. According to Oleksandr Dukhovnyi, Chief Rabbi of the Progressive Jewish communities of Kyiv and Ukraine, a person has to choose for themselves whether they will go on Shabbat to the synagogue by car or by foot. The most important thing is that a person came to Shabbat service, and how they did it is not so important. I do not control whether people follow certain mitzvot (commandments), but I always emphasize that each person chooses for themselves what is possible and what is not. The progressive Jewish community makes such a choice possible, but we always emphasize the importance of studying Judaism: not just automatically memorizing prayers, but also understanding them. For example, in order to get modern teenagers interested in Shabbat, we need to use more modern approaches. On Tu bi Shvat, we used psychological drawing practices to understand how children feel, what disturbs them. This contributes to the children’s self-identification as Jews and a sense of pride in belonging to this people and religion. During our services, we pray for the Israeli army and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Our people also defend Ukraine – my husband voluntarily defends our country since the first days of the war. This topic is extremely relevant for us. When we conduct services, we choose only those blessings that will be important to people at that particular moment in time. I observe how people react when we pray for the soldiers, as there are women in our congregation who, similar to me, are waiting for the return of their husbands from the war. This is very important for them psychologically. We also have a prayer for Ukraine and Israel. This prayer was written by Rabbi Oleksandr Dukhovnyi. It’s very powerful because it’s about peace. Every word of the prayer affects our people, they understand what this prayer is about, and they wholeheartedly plead God to end the war in both Israel and Ukraine.
Please tell me, what was the life of your congregation before the full-scale invasion?
At the time of the opening of the congregation in 1991, it included 30 people. And this number has remained constant: people changed, some unfortunately passed away, new people joined the congregation, but the total number remained approximately the same. At least when Alina Treiger played an active role in the community, who had a musical education and developed the spiritual aspect of the community, that is when the community learned songs, there was a theatre and a musical group called Tsadik Jazz, which was very popular with young people. But then Alina went to study as a rabbi in Germany.
When I was elected to lead the community, there were only 10 of us. I think it’s a very small number. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, we managed to organize several events, held a Shabbaton. But as soon as the pandemic began, I faced the problem that many children wanted to join the congregation, they were interested in participating in various programs and activities, but we could not do this because of the lockdown and other reasons. So, we switched to an online format. It was also a challenge, because not all the members of our congregation knew how to use Zoom, some did not have the technical means to connect virtually. But gradually people learned and got used to this format. This also opened up new opportunities for us, because people from the USA, including our brethren from California, could join our meetings. Israeli citizens could also participate in Shabbat service together with our Poltava congregation. We gathered 30 people and held full-fledged Shabbats, where we sang songs, discussed the weekly Torah portion etc.
The beginning of a full-scale war was a great stress for all of us. We knew that there would be a war, but we did not believe it until the very end, everyone hoped that russia would not attack Ukraine. Some of the congregation members immediately left for a safe place. Some were in the process of preparing documents for emigration to Israel, but in the new circumstances it was impossible to do. It was a very difficult time.
Alina Treiger offered me to come and bring the children of the congregation to Germany. But I made a difficult decision that everyone should stay where they were. Because if everyone leaves, nothing will happen, there will be no congregation in Poltava. And God had mercy on us so far. There was no such terrible destruction in Poltava as, for example, in Kharkiv. We have one woman in the community who came from Kharkiv – her apartment was completely destroyed. But she did not give up and is now engaged in volunteer activities. These trials turned our congregation into a family – we became very close. I started learning psychological practices from Israeli psychologists, like breathing techniques. Every Friday, I held classes on breathing for congregation members. I also told them what to do if you were alone at home and panicked. It was a first attempt to help people psychologically. I myself was in a very difficult situation, because my whole family is in Israel, including my child, and my husband went to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
But I understood that I had to be an example for community members, because they elected me, they made me their leader. Gradually, we began to resume our activities. New people joined us, we started celebrating Jewish holidays, and later switched from the online format to the usual format of in person meetings. We are learning Hebrew. I hired animators for the children for the holidays, they were so happy from those meetings and holidays. And adults rejoiced along with the children, because everyone was very tired of constant anxiety, fear, and not knowing whether you would wake up tomorrow or not.
In Judaism, there is a blessing that sounds like this: Let us, God, sleep in the evening, and the next morning wake up to life again. This blessing sounds very true today, it comes from the heart of every believer when they say it.
At some point I realized that in my place, I’m doing everything right. Now there are about 30 of us in the congregation. We have children, we have internally displaced people. We have not missed a single holiday in three years. We have Kesher Time program, where we teach children the basics of kashrut through the preparation of Jewish dishes. We study Hebrew and English. A lot of people are depressed right now, they need psychological distraction, and it’s very good to do this through education. We won’t be able to win if we cry, if we all flee, if we are divided.
I carefully prepare for each Shabbat service, because I understand that I should always be in a good mood. I think about what I will say, how I will answer questions, especially very difficult and challenging questions. For example, a six-year-old girl asked me when we were sitting in the basement shelter: “Tell me, will they kill us? Will we be alive?” I realized then that I could not show her that I was afraid, so I answered her: “We will live! Do you remember that we agreed you would dance on Shabbat?!” And she answered me: “I trust you.” I managed to establish close contact with her. And not only with her, with all our children. They trust me.
The only Shabbat service that I was unable to conduct during all this time was when my husband was seriously injured. This happened two years ago. I went to visit my husband in Kyiv, even though he discouraged me from doing so. Then my congregation and Rabbi Oleksandr Dukhovnyi became my strongest support.
On my way to Kyiv, I phoned Rabbi Oleksandr Dukhovnyi. He immediately realized that something was wrong. I said: “Rabbi, I’m turning to you because I don’t know what to do. I’m going to the intensive care unit. I was told that two days would decide everything.” He sent me a prayer that he wrote specifically about my husband. He saw him only online, he didn’t meet him personally. He communicated with me more. But when I read this prayer, I was surprised because every word was about my husband. I read it for three days without stopping. I couldn’t talk to anyone, I couldn’t share my grief with anyone, because I didn’t know what to do next. When my husband survived, I read this prayer to him and said: “Dima, you did not believe, but we prayed for you. Every Shabbat we prayed for you in Kyiv and Jerusalem. And you survived!”
Now my husband is also part of our congregation, he does not miss a single Shabbat. In a religious community, religion should come first, but if you look at my story, it turns out that often the community becomes a psychological support, a salvation. The congregation helped me by not giving me time to despair, to cry, and not allowing me to feel sorry for myself. After all, as a community leader, I could not go out crying to people, could not spend Shabbat in a bad mood. I picked myself up and went to work, organized Jewish holidays, conducted educational classes. I knew people needed me, I saw how children were waiting for Shabbat. I thought then that it was the most difficult moment in my life, but now I realized that it was the best moment to unite people for whom it is important to be part of Progressive Judaism.
How do congregation meetings take place now: offline or online?
Now we start Shabbat at 8 pm after the Hebrew class. We conduct Shabbat online, because there are constant alarms, and our premise is not far from the city council building which is quite dangerous. In addition, the curfew begins immediately, and people simply would not be able to go home in time.
We are currently preparing an offsite Shabbaton in a relatively safe place in Ukraine. We are trying to prepare the space, we’ll have water and fire, so that people can not only celebrate Shabbat, but also relax, do psychological practices, and have fun. In Jerusalem, I saw for the first time how people celebrate Shabbat with yoga. I tried it myself, and I really liked it – it was very calming. In peacetime, I used to do yoga and pilates, but now I don’t have time for that. In Progressive Judaism, you can sing prayers with accompanying drums, so I’m also thinking of combining Shabbat with yoga, and I plan to do it for my congregation. It is the war now, so we should not dogmatically read prayers, but do everything to turn Shabbat into spiritual support for people.
We also celebrate all Jewish holidays. We choose the place of celebration so that it is safe, so that there is somewhere to hide during an air raid.
Our congregation is one of the largest active congregations of Progressive Judaism in Ukraine now. We do not just exist, but we celebrate all holidays and even start new projects!
Neither my family nor my congregation will ever be the same after the war. Perhaps we will start some other activities, but now I believe that what we are doing is fully relevant to the situation. People are looking for support and a place where they can be understood, where they can communicate and find like-minded people.
I understand, because you are the leader of your congregation, you know your people, you know their needs. And you change your activities depending on those needs, adapting to the new situation.
This is the meaning of Progressive Judaism: there is no dogmatism. I am very freedom-loving, I know what I need and I can choose for myself. That’s why people of this nature join our congregation. I adapt my classes depending on who I am organizing them for. I communicate with children in one way and with adults in another. Both children and adults are interested in learning more about Judaism, Jewish history and traditions. I am very happy when children shout “Shabbat Shalom!”, when they smile and want to learn more about Jewish holidays. And at every celebration, I try to organize some practical activities that would help children and adults to relax psychologically, to stop thinking about the war for a while.
You mentioned that people from other regions of Ukraine joined your congregation. Did members of your community go somewhere else after a full-scale invasion?
One family from Kharkiv joined us, but most of the congregation members are from Poltava. But, of course, many left. The former head of the community made aliyah to Israel. I stayed because my husband is a military, and I don’t want to leave him alone. Progressive Judaism accepts into its ranks those who are not halakhically Jewish or are in a mixed marriage. I am particularly pleased that the children of our one mixed family now call themselves Jews! We also respect the fact that not everyone wants to be religious – we have secular people, and we respect their choice. Besides praying, we also develop intellectually, conduct classes on Jewish history and culture. We give everyone the opportunity to learn something new about Jewish culture and religious traditions.
Leaders of other religious communities have told us that they have united with various organizations, including volunteer organizations, to help their members or local communities. Have you had such an experience?
We cooperate with Kesher and Sohnut. For example, with the Kesher project, we created a program for women: we made motanka dolls, meditated, imagined ourselves as girls. This turned out to be very relevant, because we need to find an approach to people so that they do not constantly think about the danger around them, but distance themselves from threats and calm down.
I also have a question about the language of worship you use. I know that Rabbi Oleksandr Dukhovnyi is now leading services in Ukrainian. Have all the congregations of Progressive Judaism switched to Ukrainian?
Yes, we provide services in Ukrainian and Hebrew. This is very important. As you know, Hebrew was revived in Israel several decades ago, when no one spoke it. We, Ukrainian Jews, living in Ukraine, must understand and speak our own language! Oleksandr Dukhovnyi once said: “The Ukrainian language is now your identification.” During the Holocaust, his mother and sister’s knowledge of Ukrainian saved them, as a Ukrainian woman told the Nazis that they were her relatives, and they were able to confirm this by answering in Ukrainian. Poltava is a russian-speaking city, and my husband and I used to speak russian too. But now my husband doesn’t speak russian at all! He told me that when he was injured and transported, he was unconscious. He had nothing on him, not even clothes, no insignia, no one knew his name, or which brigade he was from. When he was taken to the hospital, he woke up and heard that the nurses spoke russian. The first thought was that he was captured, experiments were carried out on him or his organs were transplanted. But when the doctor came in and said: “Dmytro, how do you feel?” (in Ukrainian), my husband realized that he was in Ukraine. This once again confirmed the importance of the Ukrainian language! The war has set a clear line: we must speak Ukrainian, it must reign everywhere, in all public institutions. The only thing I think is that there is no need to put pressure on people who are just switching to Ukrainian, who already have a hard time. It is also difficult for me because I did not speak Ukrainian for a long time, but when I started to lead holidays and services in Ukrainian, other people started to speak it too.
Let’s talk about the future of your community. When the war ends, what will your congregation look like in the post-war period?
I love my congregation, I love everything I do in it. Recently, I was on a program in Israel, and I was entrusted with reading a prayer for peace in Israel and Ukraine at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. I pray for peace in Ukraine all the time. Each of us is doing something to end these terrible wars in Ukraine and Israel. For me, these wars are different, but they hurt equally. I really want peacetime to come, so that our children stop being afraid and hide in basements. I want to live in peace and not be afraid of bombs falling on my head. I think that in this war, everyone has shown their character and how strong we are. It turns out that every person has a powerful inner core, whether it’s a little 8-year-old child or a fragile woman… I want us to have the opportunity to send our children to Jewish camps, to make our children grow up to be progressive, intelligent people, to know many languages, to choose for themselves what they want to be in life: religious or secular, whether they want to go to defend Ukraine or Israel. It should be only the choice of each individual. My mission as a leader is to uplift the spirit of the people, to monitor their psychological state, and to do everything with heart and warmth!
Thank you for the conversation, Yevheniia!
The interviewer: Anna Mariya Basauri Ziuzina
The conversation was recorded on June 28, 2024.
The interview was a part of the project “Religion on Fire: Documenting Russia’s War Crimes against Religious Communities in Ukraine”, implemented by the NGO “Workshop of Academic Religious Studies” with the support of “Documenting Ukraine”, a project of the Institute for Human Sciences, IWM Vienna.