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Among Ukraine’s Jews, a year of war has transformed the ordinary into the sacred
TRUSKAVETS, Ukraine (JTA) — Nearly 600 Jews stand shoulder-to-shoulder, eyes trained on the young man leading the service to close out Shabbat. The crowd sings a soulful havdalah tune that lifts up its final words: “hamavdil ben kodesh l’chol” — ”the One who divides between sacred and ordinary.”
It looks like a Shabbat gathering anywhere else in the world, but I’m in the western Ukrainian city of Truskavets, where — from every part of their conflict-scarred country — these Jewish community volunteers have come together for a four-day retreat, energized by the chance to learn from each other and take a deep breath.
I’m back in Ukraine for the first time since the crisis began to learn from these men and women making miracles happen. I came to document and share stories from this gathering. Remarkably, it’s the largest-ever in the former Soviet Union arranged by my organization, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC, which has worked to aid needy Jews and build Jewish life in the region for decades.
With its wine and sweet-smelling spices, havdalah eases the transition from the holy purity of Shabbat to the workaday mundanity of the week. Surrounded by hundreds of Ukrainian Jews, I felt uplifted, as I always do when I travel to this region and see its defiant, vibrant Jewish life.
The usual rules don’t apply. Here, the ordinary becomes sacred.
On this, my 14th trip to the former Soviet Union in 10 years, I’ve come to know it as a place where that switch is truly flipped. Rebuking a painful history, from the Holocaust to Soviet oppression, everyday actions become lifesaving and essential. That’s never been more true than this past year, as Jewish communities here worked overtime to meet the enormous humanitarian needs of this crisis.
Simple flashlights become beacons enabling home care workers to reach the bedridden elderly Jews they serve. Bus trips between cities are transformed into escape hatches for those fleeing rocket attacks. A box of nonperishables is manna from heaven for those faced with empty grocery shelves, and each call from a volunteer is a life raft for the loneliest seniors and most vulnerable at-risk families.
Over the last year, more than 3,000 volunteers engaged in projects affecting 36,000 people. This work is part of our expansive response to this crisis — supported by the Jewish Federations of North America, the Claims Conference, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, individuals, families, corporations and foundations. It includes providing uninterrupted assistance to 43,000 Jews in Ukraine and the delivery of 800 tons of humanitarian aid. Among those we help are the elderly and families, internally displaced people, and the new poor who have lost their livelihoods in the devastation.
A song leader leads participants in havdalah at JDC’s volunteer Shabbaton in Truskavets, Ukraine, February 2023. (Arik Shraga)
Not blind to the challenges they face, Jews and Jewish communities here are resilient and resolute in the knowledge that there’s something more important at play. It’s a clarity of purpose that means, against all odds, they’ve grown even stronger.
“My fears were boiling me alive,” said Tatiana Chumachenko, a 34-year-old Odessa mother of two. She started volunteering this summer and now runs weekly cooking classes and art therapy sessions for elderly Jews. “So I made the decision to widen my world — to take on more responsibility, to take care of more people. And volunteering literally saved me.”
Thousands of Ukraine’s Jews just like Tatiana have chosen determination, not despair. They’ve driven through besieged cities delivering medicine and firewood, power generators and portable heaters. They know their Jewish values demand action and compassion, and so they’ve stepped up.
Daria Yefimenko, the head of our network of 25 volunteer centers across Ukraine, is that resolute determination personified. The air raid siren went off the other day as I was interviewing her — a shocking noise, made more frightening by its maddening vagueness: What’s happening? Where? Am I in danger, or is this just background noise?
I learned later that just a few hours before I arrived in Ukraine, a missile had struck Drohobych, only 10 kilometers from the Shabbaton.
Yefimenko seemed unshaken. She and her team — her “family of superhero volunteers” — live here, of course. They must cope with brutal shelling and unpredictable electricity cuts. They have daily fears for their loved ones, and rising anxiety about what the future holds. They help their neighbors even as they share their pain and struggles.
And they keep on going.
Alex Weisler joins the massive group havdalah at JDC’s volunteer Shabbaton in Truskavets, Ukraine, Feb. 18, 2023. (Arik Shraga)
There are so many stories in this part of the world — World War II stories, Soviet stories, stories of rebuilding and reimagining Jewish life after the Soviet Union fell. I’m curious about the one we’ll tell when this is all over.
Will we remember how Jews supported each other in the darkest days? We should.
Before the massive Shabbaton havdalah, I led a smaller version at the hotel down the road where we have housed hundreds of internally displaced people since the earliest days of the Ukraine crisis.
Six elderly Jews from the Zaporizhzhia region joined me for their first havdalah ever. Among the group was 76-year-old Alla Hodak, who fled from a place with significant devastation.
Alex Weisler leads a group of internally displaced Ukrainian Jewish community members in their first-ever havdalah ceremony, Feb. 18, 2023. (Arik Shraga)
Here, observing Jewish rituals in a third-floor alcove, she had begun to form a makeshift community—not quite home, but not alone either. “You made sure we were never abandoned to fate,” she told me.
In that moment of stark intimacy, our small group blessed the wine, smelled the cinnamon, and felt the warmth of the braided candle. It bound us together and reminded us that drawing a distinction between then and now can be holy, too.
As we take stock of a year of grief and grit, we must guarantee that the next one is a kinder one. We must recognize our own hands as sacred tools and each member of our global Jewish family as holier still.
There’s nothing ordinary about that. Each person and each day has become an opportunity to do good for those who need us most and build their future together. That’s the only way forward.
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Yemen’s Separatists Appear to Split, Reflecting Saudi-UAE Rift
Supporters of the UAE-backed separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) hold a poster of Aidarous al-Zubaidi, the STC’s leader, who, according to the Saudi-backed coalition, fled to an unknown destination, in Aden, Yemen, Dec. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Fawaz Salman
Yemen’s main separatist group appeared split on Friday as some members announced it was disbanding, reflecting a feud between Gulf powers Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that was blown into the open by a separatist advance last month.
Saudi-backed fighters have largely retaken areas in southern and eastern Yemen seized by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in December, and an STC delegation has traveled to the Saudi capital Riyadh for talks.
However, STC leader Aidarous al-Zubaidi fled Yemen on Wednesday instead of joining the talks, with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen saying the UAE had helped spirit him away on a flight that was tracked to a military airport in Abu Dhabi.
One of the members who traveled to Riyadh for the talks said in a statement broadcast on Saudi state media on Friday that the group had decided to disband.
But the STC says it has had no communication with the delegation that initiated the talks under Saudi sponsorship.
A spokesperson who did not travel to Riyadh and is close to Zubaidi said any decision on the group’s fate can only be taken by the entire council, including its leader.
Any such decision would only be taken once the delegation in Riyadh “is released,” he said.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman welcomed the decision as a “brave” one. A conference would be held in Saudi Arabia to discuss southern Yemeni issues with all groups invited, he said.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE had previously worked together in a coalition battling the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen’s civil war, a conflict which caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
But the two most powerful countries in the Gulf have had sharp differences over issues ranging from geopolitics to oil output. Their rivalry was exposed when the STC advanced to within reach of Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh declared a threat to its national security.
The STC on Friday called for mass protests in the southern cities of Aden and Mukalla, urging supporters to rally on Saturday in a show of “loyalty and steadfastness” amid the political crisis.
Authorities in Aden aligned with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government later ordered a ban on demonstrations in the southern city, citing security concerns, according to an official directive seen by Reuters.
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Gal Gadot to Produce, Potentially Star in Paramount Film Adaption of ‘Recovery Agent’ Book Series
Gal Gadot at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to the bestselling Recovery Agent book series by Janet Evanovich, and Israeli actress Gal Gadot will produce and potentially star in the feature film, Deadline reported.
The former “Wonder Woman” star and her husband and business partner Jaron Varsano will produce under their television and film production company Pilot Wave, with a screenplay written by Ellen Shanman (“Voltron”). Paramount will also develop and produce the film with Carol Mendelsohn and Julie Weitz from Carol Mendelsohn Productions, according to Deadline.
The Recovery Agent was published in 2022 and its sequel “The King’s Random” was published in November 2025, each by Atria Books. Both books have been New York Times bestsellers. The protagonist in Evanovich’s book series is Gabriela Rose, an international recovery agent who specializes in retrieving stolen or lost high-value items, often in dangerous missions. Her partner is her ex-husband Rafer Burke, and together they travel the world looking for valuable treasures.
Gadot’s most recent credits include Julian Schnabel’s “In the Hand of Dante,” which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, Kevin Macdonald’s action thriller “The Runner” for Amazon International, and the live-action remake of the Disney classic “Snow White.” Her past credits include the “Wonder Woman” films, the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “Heart of Stone,” and “Red Notice,” which is Netflix’s second most-popular film of all time.
Evanovich has written 46 New York Times bestsellers over the last 28 years and has sold over 200 million books worldwide, according to Deadline. She is also the author of the Stephanie Plum 31-book series and its most recent installment, Now or Never, debuted on top of the New York Times bestseller list.
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Iran Shuts Off Internet as Anti-Regime Protests Intensify Across Country
Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on Jan. 9, 2026. Photo: Social Media/via REUTERS
Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after authorities blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest, as video showed buildings aflame in anti-government protests raging in cities across the country.
Rights groups have already documented dozens of deaths of protesters in nearly two weeks and, with Iranian state TV showing clashes and fires, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that several police officers had been killed overnight.
In a televised address, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to back down, accusing demonstrators of acting on behalf of émigré opposition groups and the United States, and a public prosecutor threatened death sentences.
DOZENS KILLED IN TWO WEEKS OF PROTEST
The protests pose the biggest internal challenge in at least three years to Iran‘s clerical rulers, who look more vulnerable than during past bouts of unrest amid a dire economic situation and after last year’s war with Israel and the United States.
While the initial protests were focused on the economy, with the rial currency losing half its value against the dollar last year and inflation topping 40% in December, they have morphed to include slogans aimed directly at the authorities.
Iranian rights group HRANA said on Friday it had documented the deaths of at least 62 people including 14 security personnel and 48 protesters since demonstrations began on Dec. 28.
The internet blackout has sharply reduced the amount of information flowing out of the country. Phone calls into Iran were not getting through. At least 17 flights between Dubai and Iran were canceled, Dubai Airport’s website showed.
Images published by state television overnight showed what it said were burning buses, cars, and motorbikes as well as fires at underground railway stations and banks.
Videos verified by Reuters as having been taken in the capital Tehran showed hundreds of people marching. In one of the videos, a woman could be heard shouting “Death to Khamenei!”
Other chants included slogans in support of the monarchy.
Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that a protest march after Friday prayers in Zahedan, where the Baluch minority predominates, was met with gunfire that wounded several people.
Authorities have tried a dual approach – describing protests over the economy as legitimate while condemning what they call violent rioters and cracking down with security forces.
Last week President Masoud Pezeshkian urged authorities to take a “kind and responsible approach,” and the government offered modest financial incentives to help counter worsening impoverishment as inflation has soared.
But with unrest spreading and clashes appearing more violent, the Supreme Leader, the ultimate authority in Iran, above the elected president and parliament, used much tougher language on Friday.
“The Islamic Republic came to power through the blood of hundreds of thousands of honorable people. It will not back down in the face of vandals,” he said, accusing those involved in unrest of seeking to please US President Donald Trump.
Tehran’s public prosecutor said those committing sabotage, burning public property, or engaging in clashes with security forces would face the death penalty.
FRAGMENTED OPPOSITION
Iran‘s fragmented external opposition factions called for more protests, and demonstrators have chanted slogans including “Death to the dictator!” and praising the monarchy that was overthrown in 1979.
Reza Pahlavi, exiled son of the late shah, told Iranians in a social media post: “The eyes of the world are upon you. Take to the streets.”
However, the extent of support inside Iran for the monarchy or for the MKO, the most vocal of émigré opposition groups, is disputed. A spokesperson for the MKO said units with the group had taken part in the protests.
“The sense of hopelessness in Iranian society is something today that we haven’t seen before. I mean, that sense of anger has just deepened over the years and we are at record new levels in terms of how Iranian society is upset,” said Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
Trump, who bombed Iran last summer and warned Tehran last week that the US could come to the protesters’ aid, said on Friday he would not meet Pahlavi and was “not sure that it would be appropriate” to support him.
Despite the increased pressure, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday the chance of foreign military intervention in Iran was “very low.” He said the foreign minister of Oman, which has often interceded in negotiations between Iran and the West, would visit on Saturday.
UN rights chief Volker Turk said he was “deeply disturbed by reports of violence” and by communications shutdowns.
The Islamic Republic has weathered repeated bouts of major nationwide unrest across the decades, including student protests in 1999, mass demonstrations over a disputed election outcome in 2009, demonstrations over economic hardships in 2019, and the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022.
The 2022 protests, sparked by the killing of a young woman in the custody of Iran‘s Islamic morality police, drew a large variety of people onto the streets, with men and women, old and young, rich and poor.
They were ultimately suppressed, with hundreds of people reported killed and thousands imprisoned, but authorities also subsequently ceded some ground with women now routinely disobeying public dress codes.