Being a Jewish community leader in 2025 is no easy task, but that is especially true in countries in the grip of war. Mem Global community builders in Ukraine — young Jewish leaders in the cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipro and Chernivtsi — continue to be our role models, sources of pride and inspiration and true examples of resilience and strength.

Moishe House, one of Mem Global’s core programs, was created to be a space for young adults who want to explore Judaism and community building to gather and celebrate their Jewish roots. After the war in Ukraine began, the program’s focus quickly shifted to providing safe spaces and supporting both Jewish and non-Jewish community members in need. Each of our four communities in Ukraine became a place where people could support each other and find a sense of normalcy despite the chaos. 

To be a young leader in such a community is a major responsibility, and these leaders need support from their organization. To help meet this need, we decided to hold an online event for our Ukrainian leaders and members of their communities, organized by a global team from Toronto, Haifa, Israel, Washington. and Kyiv. We called the event “Hurtom Lehshe” (Ukrainian for “Together is Easier”) and invited everyone for a three-hour Sunday event on Zoom focused on wellness, mental health and resilience grounded in Jewish wisdom and rituals. We wondered, though: Would people even show up? Aren’t mental health and wellness already talked about enough in the Jewish nonprofit world? Would people respond or even be able to join, considering that electricity outages and internet issues are common in Ukraine? 

To our shock and delight, 41 participants joined. It was clear that people needed and wanted tools to cope and a space to share their experiences. 

A few elements made this experience both special and effective, which we gladly share here in hopes of inspiring others to support the Ukrainian Jewish community or other communities in need. We found that virtual events to support community leaders in regions under fire can be an effective vehicle for demonstrating solidarity and expressing appreciation, offering respite, and sharing Jewish ideas and experiences.

1.) Send a care package in advance of the virtual gathering. 

It’s hard to meaningfully engage with people using only online tools, so we decided to send care packages to each of our community leaders. They contained things they could share with their community (fidget toys, stress release toys, earplugs) and individual gifts for our community leaders (sleeping masks, essential oil rollers, more fidgets). 

We included an assortment of printouts, from Shabbat brachot for future programming, designed with traditional Ukrainian patterns, to an emergency response poster with an infographic explaining what to do if someone finds themselves in a state of high anxiety or shock. Leaders also received Havdalah candles (because there is no such thing as too many candles) and personal handwritten notes — we wanted them to feel cared for with  something warm and personal, expressing our gratitude and acknowledging their substantial efforts that keep their Jewish community together in Ukraine.

2.) Involve speakers that uniquely understand the situation at hand. 

We are lucky to have a range of experts within the Mem Global network, so we found the perfect guest speaker for this online event: Hryhorii Hrishylo, a Moishe House Odessa alumnus who is a psychologist and a Jewish leader in Ukraine. He shared useful tools for self-regulation, like lying down on a flat surface with no distractions, and a technique focusing on the four elements of earth, air, water and fire combined with simple actions that can help the body snap out of the state of shock or panic attack. In the Earth exercise, you are asked to touch the floor with your bare feet and feel grounded by focusing on that sensation. For Air, you breathe slowly and hold your breath between inhaling and exhaling, as if you were trying to draw a square with the air you breathe in and out. For Water, take a a sip of water and keep your lips wet; this is proven to help people calm down, and if you don’t have water around you can imagine eating a piece of lemon. And for Fire, which is tied to visual focus, you find five red items in the space and name their attributes, which helps you to enter a rational state of mind and leave the emotional, reactive one.

“I enjoyed just being silent and lying down; such moments are so rare in my life when I can just stop rushing somewhere or not be afraid of explosions or anxiety,” Liza, a Moishe House Without Walls host from Kyiv, remarked after the event. “The realization that many people go through similar things gave me the sense that I’m not fighting for something or against someone — usually against myself — but that we are all just people trying to live according to our conscience and do what’s right, as best we can.” 

As someone in Ukraine himself, Hrishylo and the current Mem Global leaders have experiences in common that a speaker from outside the region would not. Hrihorii shared what life was like as a resident at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, similar in many ways to the experience of isolated community leaders and members in Ukraine today operating from a place of limitations and fear of the unknown, and he created a mindful space for the participants to reflect on their own realities. 

This portion of the event was a valuable component of the event for Maria, a participant from Moishe House Dnipro. “In everyday life, especially in our realities, it’s rare to have the opportunity to just talk about your feelings in such a warm circle,” she said. “It was nice to feel a sense of unity with people who understand and support you. After the retreat, I felt light and grateful for this experience.”

“The retreat was not just an opportunity to relax, but also an important resource for working through fears, anxiety, and inner tension,” Alena, a Moishe House Dnipro resident, added. “We live in conditions where war heavily affects our emotional state. That’s why such events are especially important.”

3.) Incorporate Jewish rituals and teachings to deepen the experience. 

As Jewish leaders, we find comfort in Judaism: we ground ourselves in Jewish cycles and we carry Jewish values in everything we do. This event was no exception. 

The event incorporated two Jewish threads: the weekly Torah portion, which was Vayekhel in the Book of Exodus, and the Havdalah ceremony. 

The Torah portion fittingly dealt with themes of community efforts, giving and leadership. When the Israelites brought their contributions to build the Mishkan in the desert, they brought so many gifts that Moshe had to officially declare that it was enough. The nature of the gifts depended on what people had; and we concluded that if all of us are united by the urge to contribute, what we give will be enough. 

The Havdalah ceremony was held in little bits throughout the whole event. We concluded the gathering with the loud “pshhh” from the candle touching the wine. It was a grounding moment — something familiar, symbolic, beautiful and comforting. 

The online gathering reminded us that even small, heartfelt efforts like a care package, a safe space to pause and reflect, and a shared Jewish moment can have a powerful impact. Planning with intentionality can help any event of this kind be more than just a gathering, but a true respite that helps the participants move forward with renewed optimism and sense of support and community. This was a testament to the strength of Jewish leadership in Ukraine and the importance of standing with them, practically and spiritually, as they continue to do the extraordinary every day.

Yulia Bezrukova is a Global RSJ educator for Mem Global.