The Jewish Agency for Israel announced they will be setting up six aliyah processing stations along the Ukrainian border with Poland, Moldova, Romania, and Hungary to facilitate the absorption of Jews fleeing the country. The immigration of the Jews is being handled by the Jewish Agency in conjunction with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews Nativ and the Foreign Ministry. Until now, the agency had been working out of Lviv but moved to the Polish side of the border. Emissaries from the Jewish Agency will still be crossing over into Ukraine on a daily basis accompanied by Israel’s diplomatic teams.

Israel’s government estimates that around 10,000 Ukrainians will immigrate to Israel in the coming weeks, government officials told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday. 

On Saturday, the first group of olim (immigrants) crossed into Poland on the first stage of their journey to Israel, arriving at a hotel in Warsaw before heading to Israel. Other Jews leaving Ukraine will be housed in hotels in bordering countries. 

Israel365’s Josh Wander is in Moldava to help with the refugees.

For another first-hand perspective of the imminent refugee crisis, Israel365 News turned to Rabbi Avi Baumol, rabbi of the community of Krakow Poland, three hours drive from Lviv,Ukraine.

“We have been getting prepared but Jews are just starting to come across the border from Ukraine,” Rabbi Baumol told Israel365 News. “A bus of Israelis came through late last night. These were Jews from Ukraine with Israeli citizenship so they were able to get out. It’s just beginning. We are still braced for the major influx we were told to expect.”

“The Jewish community center is set up to help any refugees, Jewish or non-Jewish,” Rabbi Baumol said. “There was one bus that came in Sunday morning. The people were on the bus since Friday morning so the trip was a harrowing experience.”

Some political pundits are conjecturing that Russian President Vladimir Putin may expand his hostilities to other baltic nations and perhaps even Poland.

‘There’s no telling what he will do,” Rabbi Baumol said. “For the most part, the people in Poland are deeply concerned for the Ukrainians.”

Rabbi Baumol emphasized that these events offered an opportunity for people to come together and help each other.

“As much as we are life affirming and peace pursuing people seeking harmony in the world, there are despots who seek power through destruction. Humanity needs to come together. The Jewish community certainly sees ourselves as part of the brotherhood of man serving God.” 

Rabbi Nachman Kahana asserted that this influx of Jews, even as the result of a tragic conflict, was a manifestation of the ingathering of the exiles. He illustrated this through an allegory.

“Let’s say you have a bowl full of metal flakes and wood chips mixed together,” Rabbi Kahana said. “There are three possible ways to separate the two types of material. The first is to blow on it and the wood flakes will disappear. The second way is to burn them and the wood chips will disappear. The final way is to pass a magnet over the bowl and the metal chips will rise out of the bowl.”

“These are the ways the Jews can respond to the exile. They could blow away and disappear through assimilation. They will be lost to the Jewish people forever and this is inevitable. Or they will be subjected to violence and be  burned away like in the Holocaust or any of the other countless atrocities the Jews suffered in the exile.”

“Thank God, today we have Israel to help save the Jews in Ukraine. In the past, Jews always suffered the most in any war between nations even if they had no part in the dispute.”

“Of course, the best way to separate the metal chips is with a magnet. That is coming to Israel out of a love of God. That is the only way the Jews can avoid being destroyed.”

United Hatzalah, Israel’s largest volunteer-based emergency medical services organization, announced that it was sending a team of 12 EMTs, paramedics, doctors, a dentist, and members of the Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit to Moldova where they will be met by Hatzala members from Florida. The delegation was formed at the request of the Chief Rabbi of Moldova Pinchas Salzman, and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry. In the coming days, an additional team comprised of 30 medical personnel will be joining the jump team. 

“The volunteers are equipped with medical and humanitarian supplies and will be tasked with providing assistance to those crossing the border from Ukraine into Moldova,” said the Vice President of Operations Dov Maisel.  “The delegation is joined by a representative from Sheba Beyond, and program from Sheba (Tel Hashomer) Hospital who will assist with the installation and operation of remote medical equipment that will enable doctors from Israel to train and assist medical practitioners in the field at the border.”

“Sheba Beyond”, the virtual hospital of Sheba Medical Center will be taking part in the humanitarian aid mission. The program will be sending advanced technological equipment that will be used to set up a remote medicines station. With the help of these measures, doctors from a variety of areas of expertise in Sheba Medical Center will be able to assist medically, and remotely perform procedures in real-time together with the teams in the field. The equipment sent to the relief area includes devices for remote physical examination, devices for remote cardiac monitoring, and the remote monitoring of vital signs. Among them are a portable ultrasound device and a device for performing a remote blood test.

Israel365 is currently undergoing efforts to bring Jews trapped in Ukraine back to Israel. Please help by clicking on the image below.