United States Ambassador to Ukraine, John F. Tefft, began a visit to the city of Dnepropetrovsk with a tour of the local Jewish institutions.
He was welcomed by the city’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky and Lubavitch businessman Uri Laber.
The Ambassador heard about the plans and development of what will be the largest Jewish Community Center in the world, built over the Rose Synagogue.
Kaminetzky told the Ambassador that the center is being built near the place where Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, father of the Rebbe, was arrested by the Soviets.
With a 33 year career with the U.S. Foreign Service – including a stint in Jerusalem – Tefft speaks Hebrew and had a close Jewish friend in his childhood.
Asked by a Ukrainian journalist why the U.S. does not support Ukraine like it does with Israel, Tefft answered that no country should compare itself to Israel.
“Israel has special status in America and that is a fact,” he stated.
you are th best!!!
keep up your good work!!!
go yossi glick
Rabbi Kaminetzky came as a Shliach and Rav to a city that had no Yiddishkeit till 1990, and not only managed to garner support from those around him in a short period of time, but has also succeeded in creating a Jewish center – one that each and every Jew and Jewish community around the world could only dream of having in their own city. It is no surprise that Rabbi Kaminetsky has accomplished such a feat – He is a person that doesn’t sleep; helping each and every Jew in his community with their personal issues and problems, despite… Read more »
We all know the value of a friend in the middle east.
TRY NOT TO MISTREAT IT DEMOCRATS, OR IT MAY NOT BE THERE WHEN YOU NEED IT MOST.