Jewish communities across Ukraine prepare for Purim with planned visits to isolated seniors, mass holiday meals, and a nationwide distribution of 24,000 mishloach manot (gifts of food) packages, as local rabbis described ongoing power cuts, winter hardship, and damage to community facilities during the war.
In the central city of Kryvyi Rih, Rabbi Liron Edri, the local Chabad emissary, said the community had faced months of limited electricity, with power available in homes for only about three hours a day, leaving many residents without reliable heat in freezing conditions.
Edri also referenced recent damage in the area affecting Jewish communal life, including harm to a mikveh (ritual bath) and his family’s home, as previously reported. Still, he said registrations for Purim events had filled quickly, including a costume party for children and adults ahead of the holiday meal, and a Purim seudah (festive meal) expected to draw more than 200 participants.
In the western city of Chernivtsi, Rabbi Menachem Glitzenstein described long daily blackouts and cold weather as the community organized a Purim feast for hundreds in a heated venue. He also said volunteers planned door to door deliveries of mishloach manot to elderly residents and people with disabilities, aiming to reach Jews who could not attend communal events.
The broader effort was coordinated through Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, known as JRNU, a Chabad-linked humanitarian aid framework that says its leaders, staff, and volunteers live in the communities they serve. JRNU and local emissaries said preparations had been completed for distributing 24,000 Purim packages across 25 major cities and regions, alongside deliveries to smaller and more remote towns and villages.
The mishloach manot packages were expected to include hamantaschen baked in Israel, graggers (Purim noisemakers), snacks, cookies, and grape juice, organizers said. Alongside the holiday packages, JRNU teams also planned the distribution of humanitarian food parcels for families in need, including many households with small children, with supplies such as poultry, dairy products, oil, sugar, grains, pasta, tea, and coffee.
Generators, heaters added for Ukraine Purim aid
Organizers said they added an emergency layer this year: generators, fuel, heaters, and other energy solutions for communities in areas where electricity remained unstable. JRNU materials also described ongoing efforts to keep communities functional during outages, including support centers where residents could warm up, eat, and charge phones.
Rabbi Simcha Levenharts, a Chabad emissary in Kyiv, has been identified in prior reporting as a coordinator of JRNU operations in the country.
JRNU officials described warehouse-style logistics in the capital, with volunteers working in shifts and trucks moving in and out as boxes were packed and prepared for distribution.
Purim 2026 begins Monday night, March 2, and continued through Tuesday, March 3, with the holiday extending an additional day in Jerusalem. In Ukraine, rabbis said their goal remained steady: deliver food, warmth, and a sense of community, including to Jews who were homebound, elderly, or living far from established community centers.
Local emissaries also reported a rise in requests for assistance, citing economic strain and prolonged disruption from the war, and said they were attempting to reach even hard-to-access locations when possible.