- July 11, 2026
- 8:25 pm
- Ukraine
The Jewish community of Dnipro is expanding its ongoing program to assist Ukrainian servicemen who find it important to observe kashrut and maintain a connection with Jewish tradition even in wartime conditions.
Military personnel are sent targeted packages with long-lasting kosher products, hygiene products, and everything necessary for celebrating Shabbat. Whereas previously the community formed only a few such packages a week, now their number is in the dozens.
Photos, published on July 9, 2026, by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, show servicemen with received boxes in various conditions — indoors, during service, and at temporary positions. Inside the kits are canned goods, instant foods, bread, snacks, drinks, and other items that can be stored and used away from an equipped kitchen.
The ability to observe kashrut during war
For a person observing kashrut, military service creates many additional challenges. Units are constantly moving, servicemen can be away from home for weeks, and access to certified products and separate dishes is often lacking.
Even in large cities, organizing kosher meals requires certain infrastructure. In field conditions, this task becomes significantly more difficult: products must be long-lasting, ready to eat, or require minimal processing.
That is why the Jewish community of Dnipro forms personal kits, taking into account the needs of specific servicemen and their locations. Community staff regularly contact recipients, clarify necessary products, and organize the sending of packages.
The standard kit includes meat and fish canned goods, crispbreads, snacks, instant foods, and disposable tableware. In the published photos, you can also see halva, kosher dairy substitutes, sweets, drinks, pastries, and packages with ready-to-eat food.
This format allows a serviceman to receive a supply of products that does not depend on the availability of a refrigerator or a full kitchen.
Not just products: everything necessary for celebrating Shabbat
A special place in the packages is occupied by items and products necessary for celebrating Shabbat.
The community sends servicemen challahs, candles, and grape juice. These seemingly simple things take on special significance in conditions of constant movement, anxiety, and military service.
In peaceful life, Shabbat is associated with home, family, a communal meal, and prayer. During the war, the opportunity to light candles, say a blessing over grape juice, and share challah becomes a way to maintain inner resilience and a sense of belonging to one’s people.
Rabbi Reuven Kaminetsky emphasized that the program is not limited to ordinary food assistance.
“For our community, this program is of great importance, as it is not only about food assistance but also about the opportunity to help fulfill commandments, observe kashrut, and remain connected to Yiddishkeit even in the most difficult circumstances,” the rabbi noted.
Yiddishkeit is not only about observing religious rules. It is a connection with Jewish life, traditions, community, and cultural memory. For a serviceman far from home, such support is a reminder that the community continues to care for him and maintains constant contact with him.
If necessary, personal hygiene products are added to the food packages. Thus, the kits are formed not according to a single template but taking into account the real everyday needs of a specific person.
Targeted assistance instead of impersonal distribution
An important feature of the initiative is its targeted nature.
Community staff know who each box is intended for, clarify the serviceman’s location, and maintain contact with him. This is especially important during the war when units change locations, and delivery may depend on the situation on the roads and in the regions.
The photos show that recipients are in different conditions. One serviceman unpacks a box in an open area, others show the kits indoors. Some products are already laid out on tables, while others remain in transport boxes.
These photographs convey the practical side of the program: the assistance is not stored in a warehouse and does not exist only in reports. The packages reach the people they are intended for.
NAnews — Israel News notes that such initiatives reveal a little-known side of the life of the Jewish community of Ukraine during the war. In addition to humanitarian aid to displaced persons, the elderly, and families with children, communities support Jews serving in the military and help them maintain their religious identity.
Who helps implement the program
The program operates thanks to donations from benefactors and members of the Jewish community of Dnipro.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine specifically named Yigal Rogovoy and his family, Yehuda Kes and his family, as well as other sponsors supporting the formation and sending of kosher kits.
A significant role in the implementation of the initiative is played by the chaplain of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Yakov Pinchas Sinyakov. The military chaplain helps maintain the connection between servicemen and the community, understands the specifics of service and the religious needs of people far from home.
The operational work of the program is coordinated by community employee Ilana Esther Shpolyanskaya-Khaneles. It is this daily organizational work — purchasing products, checking kashrut, packaging, clarifying addresses, and sending — that turns a charitable idea into a constantly operating system.
The scale of the program is gradually growing. According to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, the community previously sent several packages a week. Now dozens of kits are formed and sent weekly.
The increase in requests shows that the need for such assistance remains. More and more servicemen are learning about the opportunity to receive kosher food, and the community itself is expanding logistics and attracting new benefactors.
A connection with the community that does not break
This initiative is important not only for the number of products sent.
Each box means that the serviceman remains part of the Jewish community, even if he is hundreds of kilometers away from the synagogue, family, and familiar religious life. Along with canned goods, bread, and instant foods, a person has the opportunity to observe kashrut, celebrate Shabbat, and feel the support of those who remember him.
In wartime conditions, such a connection takes on special value. It helps maintain not only physical strength but also a sense of normal life, dignity, and fidelity to one’s beliefs.
The program of the Jewish community of Dnipro continues to operate on an ongoing basis. Its participants maintain contact with servicemen, learn about their new needs, and send assistance where it is needed.
Kosher food, challahs, candles, and grape juice cannot change the circumstances of war. But they help a person remain themselves even where the usual order of life is almost completely destroyed.