A particularly fiery holiday passed over the Jews of Ukraine. Major air attacks hit many parts of the country, and more than forty drones were intercepted in the skies of Kyiv. Zhitomer shook with explosions damaging the Jewish orphanage, and in Khmelnitsky pieces of metal fell from the sky.
The rabbi of Khmelnitsky, Levi Stambler, and his family stayed at the community synagogue during the holiday, as they have been doing every Shabbat and holiday since the outbreak of the war.
"When we returned home after the holiday," recalls Rabbi Stambler, "it turned out that shrapnel from a missile had fallen in the yard of the house and in the parking lot. Shrapnel also hit the basement window. In addition, the fluorescent lights on the balcony detached from the ceiling from the top."
The fragments surprised Rabbi Stambler. "Echoes of explosions in the distance is a routine in the last year," he noted, "but shrapnel in the yard, this is the first time."
We are grateful no one was injured and the communities were able to enjoy a festive Shavuot holiday, notwithstanding the ongoing war.
