Reflections on Moldova: “Do Not Forget These People” By Rabbi Chai Posner Recently, Rabbi Chai Posner led a trip to Moldova along with eight other Beth Tfiloh community members. The group spent two and a half days with IsraAID, an incredible Israeli organization which goes all over the world bringing disaster relief in times of crisis. Though many groups have been going to Poland, IsraAID chose to work in Moldova, Ukraine’s smallest and poorest neighboring country, because they found a great need for help, especially at the border. He shares some reflections from the trip here.
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he two-and-a-half-hour drive back to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, gave me plenty of time to talk to Ethan Schwartz, the communications and marketing director for IsraAID. We were returning from Palanca, a small village at the easternmost part of Moldova. We had just visited the border crossing from Ukraine into Moldova there and seen the tent that IsraAid set up with toys for kids and charging stations for their moms. I asked Ethan many questions, and he patiently took the time to answer all of them in his softspoken and thoughtful manner. This time I asked him what he thought was the most important message for us to bring back to Baltimore. He didn’t hesitate with his answer.
IsraAID doesn’t just drop into disaster areas and then leave. Instead, they work with the local population, to bring Israeli knowhow to people when they need it most. Over the course of two and a half days, the eight other members of our Beth Tfiloh delegation, and I, saw the work IsraAID does, and the people their work is helping. Moldova is the smallest and poorest country in Europe, but they have welcomed the fleeing Ukranian people with open arms. More than 400,000 Ukrainians have come into Moldova, and 80% of them stayed in people’s private homes. They have taken in the most Ukrainian refugees per capita, of any country. Children’s
“Tell them not to forget about these people. Even if the war were to end today, the lives of the people it has affected will take years to rebuild. And they will continue to need our support, even after the news cameras leave.” Ethan went on to explain to me that IsraAid was making plans to stay in Moldova for three to five years. In the years ahead, they would continue to train, support, and equip the Moldovan people and the Ukrainian refugees they had taken in with the tools needed to overcome the trauma they all experienced. From health and medical aid to clean water and hygiene, from educational centers to mental health and psychological support, The speaker runs a safe place for Ukrainian and Moldovan kids for 12 hours a day.
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BETH TFILOH BULLETIN
SUMMER 2022 A SIVAN-AV 5782
