kiev | Kiev’s central synagogue has become a hostel for protesters who have flocked here to protest the results of last month’s Ukrainian presidential election.
But that’s not the only way the Brodsky Synagogue has been affected during the political crisis.
“We began to receive threats over the phone almost immediately,” said Galina Topchiy, the synagogue’s administrator.
“One caller said they will kick us all out when Yanukovich comes to power,” she said, referring to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich, whose victory in last month’s presidential ballot over the opposition candidate, Viktor Yuschenko, subsequently was overturned by Ukraine’s Supreme Court.
On Dec. 1, several of the shul’s windows were shattered. No one was hurt in the incident, and the perpetrator was immediately caught by passers-by and handed over to police.
Across the country, Jews appear to be split in their sympathies. Most observers believe the Jewish vote either was split or backed Yanukovich, during last month’s balloting.
Inside the Brodsky Synagogue, however, it’s all Yuschenko.
Since protests began more than two weeks ago, the synagogue, located just blocks from the main opposition rally, has been providing free meals and lodging to dozens of young protesters who came to Kiev from other parts of Ukraine.
“We have 100 sleeping bags,” Topchiy said, pointing at piles of dark blue bags stacked during the day in a room normally used for Torah classes. “In the evening, every single one of these is being taken.”
One of the young protesters who came from western Ukraine to take part in pro-Yuschenko rallies said he appreciates the warm welcome he and his friends have received in the synagogue.
“The food here is good,” said Vasyl Kondra, a non-Jewish, first-year student at Lvov University who was warming up inside the synagogue after a shift at the rally in the outdoor chill.
Moshe Reuven Azman, the synagogue’s rabbi, insists that these actions are purely humanitarian and not intended as political statement.
“I never call on people to support any of the candidates,” said the St. Petersburg-born rabbi, who is one of Kiev’s chief rabbis.
“We will live peacefully with any regime that does not prevent Jews from being Jews,” he said. “We will support any legally elected president.”
But ordinary Ukrainian Jews appear to be more partisan. Those who fear the anti-Semitism that has been associated with Ukrainian nationalism are likely to prefer Yanukovich.
“I do not believe in the promises politicians make during the elections. But I do believe in stability, and most of all I fear anti-Semitism,” said Lina Abramovna, a retired accountant who was at a center for elderly Jews at Kiev’s Hesed Avot welfare center on last week.
Many elderly Jews approve of Yanukovich because of the relatively stable economy of the past few years, coupled with a recent increase in pensions he initiated as prime minister.
But others are backing Yuschenko, who is seen as less tied to the corruption of the regime of President Leonid Kuchma, Yanukovich’s political mentor.
Nelli Sklyar, 72, a retired economist who also was at the welfare center, was happy with the court decision nullifying the Nov. 21 runoff vote.
“Yuschenko is capable of bringing order to Ukraine,” she said. “He is the only hope we have today.”