When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 23, Canadian Jewish federations, like other philanthropies around the world, set up emergency fundraising as soon as the fighting started.
As of March 3, well over $1 million had been raised, and that number is still climbing every day.
But what set the Canadian Jewish community’s efforts apart from many other initiatives, was the existing philanthropic infrastructure between Canada and Ukraine.
According to Steven Shulman, CEO of the Jewish Federations of Canada—United Israel Appeal (JFC-UIA), the Jewish federations here, working with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), had been helping to support Jewish federations in Ukraine for years.
“It’s important to have that context. Of course, it’s a situation where you mobilize from a crisis, and you mobilize differently, but it wasn’t from a standing start. It’s from a running start, because infrastructure already exists through those two prime partner organizations: The Jewish Agency and the JDC,” Shulman said.
That infrastructure is in large part made possible by the annual fundraising campaigns of federations across the country, which allowed for the quick response when it was most needed.
“That is really what puts our partner organizations in the best possible position in the most trying of circumstances to save lives and do everything possible to address… every emergency need imaginable arising out of this crisis,” Shulman said. “They’re saving every single life, every single situation, every family, in the most organized way possible in the most chaotic situation imaginable.”
Donations from the Canadian Jewish community are helping with everything including food, temporary shelter, transportation, help at the border, assistance with aliyah for those who wish to go to Israel, medical needs, an emergency hotline, and more.
Shulman, who was speaking on the phone from Jerusalem, also noted a big difference for the Ukrainian Jews who are caught in this conflict compared to the many Jews throughout history who have faced similar circumstances.
“The biggest change for so many Jews who are in harm’s way… (is that) for those who wish to leave the country, there is an Israel, there is a Jewish homeland they can go to. Nobody will stop them from going there. And that’s being facilitated,” Shulman said. “That’s not something to be taken for granted given Jewish history.”
Shulman’s main takeaway from the response he’s seen, both the running start afforded by the existing partnerships and the donations to support the emergency efforts, is how strongly it reflects the sense of Jewish peoplehood amongst the Canadian population.
“It doesn’t have to be explained that all Jews are responsible for one another. People are acting in accordance with that,” Shulman said. “Even in the face of tragedy, by coming together as one Jewish people, we can actually strengthen the Jewish people… people can take action not just individually, but they’re part of something larger that will make a difference in the lives of people they have never met, they will never know, but they know they have changed lives.”
