Yaakov Bleich
Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | October 19, 1964[1] |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Nationality | American |
| Children | 7[1] |
| Denomination | Hasidic Judaism |
| Alma mater | Telshe Yeshiva (Chicago) |
| Synagogue | Great Choral Synagogue |
| Position | Chief Rabbi of Podil synagogue |
| Organisation | Union of Jewish Religious Organizations of Ukraine[2] |
| Began | 1990 |
| Residence | Monsey, New York |
Yaakov Dov Bleich (born October 19, 1964) is an American-born rabbi. He serves as Rabbi of the Kyiv synagogue in Podil since 1989. Rabbi Bleich was vice-president of the World Jewish Congress from 2009-2017.[3] Bleich chose not to run for re-election as a member of the WJC Executive Committee at the WJC’s May 2021 plenary assembly.[4]
Biography
Bleich graduated from Telshe Yeshiva High School in Chicago, Illinois where he began his rabbinical studies. From 1984 to 1986, he studied at the Karlin Stolin Rabbinical Institute in Jerusalem.
In November 2014, Bleich strongly criticized Minister of the Interior Arsen Avakov for appointing Vadym Troyan, a former Azov Battalion commander, to the post of police chief of the Kyiv Oblast. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Bleich stated that “if the interior minister continues to appoint people of questionable repute and ideologies tainted with fascism and right-wing extremism, the interior minister should be replaced”.[5]
In 2018, Kievan weekly magazine Focus named Rabbi Bleich among the most "powerful people" in the community
In 2019, Bleich, together with Sviatoslav Shevchuk (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) and Epiphanius I of Ukraine (Orthodox Church of Ukraine), held a prayer service for members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in the Jewish cemetery of Sambir.[6][7][8]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Bleich raised over 5.5 million dollars to help Jews in Ukraine.
On February 27, 2022, Bleich told Arutz Sheva: "President Zelensky called my community a few hours ago, while waging war, and asked the Jewish people should Pray for Ukraine. 'The Russians have more soldiers than us, but our soldiers have more determination than the Russians. We need your prayers for us to succeed, the Ukrainian president said."[9]
References
- ^ a b "Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich". European Jewish Fund. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ "Yaakov Dov Bleich, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine". vrciro.org.ua. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
- ^ "World Jewish Congress".
- ^ "U.K. Jewish Group Cuts Ties to European Jewish Congress over Claims Against Top Rabbi". Haaretz.
- ^ Sokol, Sam (November 12, 2014). "Kiev regional police head accused of neo-Nazi ties". The Jerusalem Post.
- ^ https://kresy.pl/wydarzenia/sambor-uroczyste-odsloniecie-krzyza-ku-czci-oun-upa-poswieconego-przez-abpa-szewczuka-z-udzialem-zwierzchnika-ukrainskiej-cerkwi-video-foto/ (in Polish)
- ^ In Sambir, abuse was replaced by abuse — a monument to the heroes of the OUN-UPA was opened in the cemetery with the graves of the Jews they killed (in Russian)
- ^ https://nk.org.ua/ukraina/palachi-i-jertvyi-vo-lvovskoy-oblasti-osvyatili-pamyatnik-oun-upa-ustanovlennyiy-na-evreyskom-kladbische-202907 (in Russian)
- ^ "Ukraine Rabbi: President Zelensky asked us to pray for Ukraine". Israel National News. February 27, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
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- 1964 births
- Living people
- Ukrainian Orthodox rabbis
- 20th-century Ukrainian rabbis
- 21st-century Ukrainian rabbis
- Chief rabbis of Ukraine
- American Hasidic rabbis
- People from Borough Park, Brooklyn