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https://icmglt.org/heroic-chief-rabbi-of-odessa-rescues-250-orphans-by-traveling-on-shabbos/

Heroic Chief Rabbi of Odessa Rescues 250 Orphans by Traveling on Shabbos

published: March 2, 2022

UKRAINE (VINnews) — This past Shabbos, the Chief Rabbi of Odessa heroically rescued 250 orphan children from potential tragedy. Rabbi Shlomo Baksht determined that it was permissible to travel on Shabbos in order to flee the country.

The terrifying drama began Thursday evening, when heavy Russian bombings rocked the area near the orphanage.

“We just received an update that there were three terrible explosions near the orphanage. The girls were very anxious, sitting and crying. We are trying to move them to the city center next to us. The situation is becoming more dangerous from one moment to the next,” said Rabbi Baksht.

After speaking with senior officials in the Prime Minister’s Office and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Jewish community decided to flee westward.

On Friday morning, eight buses set off, with all of the orphans onboard, as well as the orphanage staff, Rabbi Baksht, his daughter Shira and his partner Rabbi Rafael Kruskal.

A few hours after they fled Odessa, Russian missiles landed near the Jewish community where they had been located hours earlier.

“We had a great miracle that we got out of there on time,” said Rabbi Baksht, “a really great miracle.”

The journey lasted through Friday night into Shabbos morning, and the Rabbi decided that the proper decision was to continue traveling for pikuach nefesh.

“I told them that we are here to fulfill God’s will, and on this Shabbat, His will is for us to escape to save lives,” he said

On Friday the Rabbi told community members, “We will continue to travel on Shabbos because it is a matter of mental supervision. Everyone will turn off their mobile phones, but on every bus there will be one mobile left open in case of an emergency.”

At one point they stopped in the dark and Rabbi Raphael Kruskal recited Kiddush, adding a taste of the Shabbos atmosphere during an unthinkably difficult time.

Rabbi Baksht described the superhuman effort of the staff.

“The babysitters on the baby bus held the toddlers in their arms for many hours. It was not easy.”

Anonymous ID: d0014e March 7, 2022, 9:53 a.m. No.15805238 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>5274

>>15805205

22 МАЯ 2015, 10:48

https://jewishnews.com.ua/society/britanskaya-evrejskaya-organizacziya-sobrala-bolee-milliona-funtov-sterlingov-dlya-sirot-odessyi

BRITISH JEWISH ORGANIZATION RAISED MORE THAN A MILLION POUNDS STERLING FOR ORPHANS IN ODESSA

In the UK, during the annual charity dinner, representatives of the organization Tikva UK raised more than one million pounds sterling for the needs of orphans from Odessa. The event was held at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel in London.

The funds are planned to be spent on ensuring safer living conditions for children.

The executive director of the organization, Raphael Cruzcal, spoke about the situation in Odessa to the British comedian and actor Alistair McGowan, who agreed to hold a gala dinner for 230 guests.

The organization did not stop its activities in the Odessa region even after the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine. Representatives of Tikva UK continue to search for Jewish children who need help and provide it

Anonymous ID: d0014e March 7, 2022, 9:57 a.m. No.15805274 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>5411

>>15805238

>>15805205

>>15805302

>Fighter jet crashes on former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's family property; pilots OK

notable

Anonymous ID: d0014e March 7, 2022, 10:08 a.m. No.15805345 🗄️.is 🔗kun >>5392

>>15805205

https://newsrnd.com/news/2022-02-27-%22we-had-a-great-miracle-on-saturday%22–rescue-of-the-jewish-orphanage-in-odessa-continues-israel-today.rJgtdgzte9.html

"We had a great miracle on Saturday": Rescue of the Jewish orphanage in Odessa continues Israel today

2/27/2022,

The evacuation operation of the occupants of the Jewish orphanage in Ukraine slipped into the Sabbath • A few hours after they escaped, Russian missiles landed near the community buildings

Kiddush on the run: The rescue operation of the children of the orphanage from Odessa // Photographed on Saturday by a non-Jew

A rescue operation under fire by the Tikva orphanages in Odessa is still in progress.

On Thursday morning, with the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine, the Tikva community began rescuing 300 orphaned children and graduates.

As early as Thursday afternoon, about 150 people were sent in three buses to the nearest Ukraine-Moldova border crossing.

Several dozen children from the orphanage and its graduates were put on the buses, along with about eight Israeli families.

The group managed to cross the border safely and was received by Rabbi Pinchas Zalmetzen, rabbi of the city of Kishinev.

"We are trying to help the children and graduates of the orphanage," says Batsheva Warner, who accompanied the first group from Odessa to Moldova.

"We try to enter into a framework of an agenda that includes activities and study. There are orphans here who have already suffered a lot in their lives, they have friends and girlfriends in places that are now burning," she says.

The Russians invaded the city of Kharkiv;

The Jews in the city tell about the difficult Shabbat they went through // Rabbi Shlomo Segal

"Last night I was up late with some girls to calm them down and give them support. We are now in a hotel. The Jewish community really supports us and tries to pamper us as much as possible. There was a lot of food here on Saturday. At the same time we buy a lot of equipment and warm clothes because the hotel has a problem. "In the heating system. We try to do the best we can in this difficult situation. As we said, it is precisely under fire that we must not leave the orphans," she concludes.

>>15805274

https://clever-geek.imtqy.com/articles/5493310/index.html

Rafael Kruskal (born March 16, 1975 , London , UK ) - Ukrainian rabbi, representative of the Lithuanian trend in Ukraine, patron of the arts, deputy chief rabbi of Odessa, executive director of the Odessa Judean religious community (OIRO).

Biography

Born on March 16, 1975 in London, United Kingdom, in a large family of Orthodox Jews from Lithuania, people from Holland. He graduated from the Pardes primary Jewish school, continued his education at the Zikhron Moshe Yeshiva, where teaching religious subjects was accompanied by secular studies (graduated from the finance department), then at the famous Yeshiva Yaakov Yeshiva, also known as Yeshiva Gateshead. Rabbi smikhu (ordination as a rabbi) received in Jerusalem Rabbi College "Kol Torah", under the guidance of the famous rabbi, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian direction in Judaism, Shlomo-Zalman Oyerbach.

Since 1999, at the invitation of the community moves and works in Odessa. Initially, he taught Jewish traditions and Hebrew at school, and since 2000 he has assumed the duties of international director, engaging patrons of art and collaborating OIRO with other communities in the diaspora. In 2003 he moved to the post of CEO (Executive Director) of the community. He is married and has three children.

He is one of the leading rabbis-Lithuanians of Ukraine, one of the main patrons of the Odessa community. His generous donations contained hundreds of Jewish orphans from the Odessa region.