With the hum of generators, Ukraine's Jews defy the brutal Russian blackouts

Photos: JRNU

W

hen Kyiv’s Jewish community celebrated Chanukah this year, they had their own minor miracle to be thankful for — the wonder of light and electric power in a country plunged into darkness.

Ten months into Russia’s assault, Ukraine has regressed a century or more in terms of basic infrastructure. Since the beginning of October, wave after wave of Moscow’s cruise missiles and suicide drones have slammed into the country’s critical utilities plants, knocking out electricity, heat, water, and Internet connection across much of the country.

“We only have electric power from the grid for a few hours a day, and even that is unpredictable,” says Rabbi Motty Lebenhartz, a senior Chabad shaliach in Kyiv. “Without power, there are no phones, no hot water, and no light. After 5 p.m., the capital is dark, with no street lights and no traffic lights. To bake challah for Shabbos, you need to hope that there’s no interruption in power. And it’s well below freezing.”

Into that miserable murk came a beam of light in a bulky box — a generator. The diesel-fueled electric wonder was powerful, providing enough voltage for all the community’s needs, including a shul, school, and soup kitchen.

“We wanted to do a Chanukah concert to raise everyone’s spirits,” says Rabbi Lebenhartz, “but the musicians asked how we could guarantee electric power. With the help of the generators, we were able to have a beautiful event for 300 people, with no interruptions.”

Over the weeks since the shul in an eastern district of Kyiv started generating its own power, it has become a beacon of light even for Jews who were previously unconnected. Drawn by the opportunity to charge their phones, get some hot food, and connect to the Jewish community at a time of crisis, they’re coming in greater numbers than before.

The scene at the Lebenhartzes’ event has been repeated in community after community across the war-stricken country. As the lights have gone out across Ukraine, over 100 large generators — each enough to power major institutions — have come onstream to provide power as part of a multimillion-dollar Jewish relief effort.

Behind Operation Generator is an international supply chain. With Ukraine’s authorities desperately struggling to power their war effort, and aid donors scrambling to lay their hands on every generator possible, it’s exceedingly hard to get hold of the machines. Orders to suppliers in Europe, China, and Turkey are backed up for months.

Into the breach has stepped a pan-Jewish coalition ranging from Chabad to the OU, America’s Jewish Federations, and individual activists. As it became clear in the fall that Russia was going to attempt to freeze Ukraine into submission over the winter, the working group called in business and diplomatic contacts to secure the infrastructure needed to keep lights on for Ukraine’s freezing schoolchildren and elderly.

With Jewish community centers now warm, the effort has greased the wheels of intercommunal relations and given new meaning to the phrase “light unto the nations,” as many non-Jews come in for a dose of good cheer and some critical battery power.

As Ukraine endures the second punishing winter of a brutal war, the battle for its home front has distilled itself into two dueling soundtracks. Russian aggression is measured by the whine of incoming missiles and the thump of exploding drones. Ukrainian defiance is represented by the low hum of generators, large and small.