Hello from Ukraine

[Ukrainian Jew]

I guess I'm especially lonely since I'm part of the small Jewish community in L'viv (or Lemberik in Yiddish) and there are very few Jews here but we still have a synagogue (Orthodox), but I'm Conservative so it has been a problem that we have nowhere to worship. But I do keep the faith and pray with my family. There used to be many synagogues but they were destroyed by the Germans and then after the war the Russians would execute the clergy of the remaining synagogues, so now only one remains. I find it embarrassing that as a proud Jew I can speak English, though not very well (in addition to Ukrainian) but I can't speak Yiddish. But I hope to change that soon 

[Zelhar]

Welcome.

[kahaneloyalist]

Welcome to the forum.

Yiddish is in decline. Most Jews cant speak it anymore.

[ChabadKahanist]

I guess I'm especially lonely since I'm part of the small Jewish community in L'viv (or Lemberik in Yiddish) and there are very few Jews here but we still have a synagogue (Orthodox), but I'm Conservative so it has been a problem that we have nowhere to worship. But I do keep the faith and pray with my family. There used to be many synagogues but they were destroyed by the Germans and then after the war the Russians would execute the clergy of the remaining synagogues, so now only one remains. I find it embarrassing that as a proud Jew I can speak English, though not very well (in addition to Ukrainian) but I can't speak Yiddish. But I hope to change that soon 

Why is it a problem?
You can pray at the Orthodox shul.
I know Jews that identify as such that daven at Orthodox shuls.
Besides you may as well go for the real deal instead of the watered down version.

[ChabadKahanist]

Welcome to the forum.

Yiddish is in decline. Most Jews cant speak it anymore.

You are wrong in the chareidi world it is very much alive & vibrant
I speak Yiddish too.

[Ukrainian Jew]

Well, the census results from L'viv on Ukrainian Wikipedia say that there are 100 Yiddish-speakers in L'viv out of just less than 2.000 Jews- (1.300 speak Russian and 500 speak Ukrainian, including me). In a city of 730.000 that's not something you see walking down the street very often, so I'd have to learn it in Israel maybe? According to Wikipedia 2% of Israelis still speak Yiddish.

[ChabadKahanist]

Well, the census results from L'viv on Ukrainian Wikipedia say that there are 100 Yiddish-speakers in L'viv out of just less than 2.000 Jews- (1.300 speak Russian and 500 speak Ukrainian, including me). In a city of 730.000 that's not something you see walking down the street very often, so I'd have to learn it in Israel maybe? According to Wikipedia 2% of Israelis still speak Yiddish.

Out of the overall Israeli population most do not speak Yiddish.
Same with Jews in other parts of the world.
But amongst chareidim it is alive & vibrant.
I speak fluent Yiddish as well as Hebrew,English,German & some Russian.
But I can neither read nor write Russian.

[Ukrainian Jew]

Out of the overall Israeli population most do not speak Yiddish.
Same with Jews in other parts of the world.
But amongst chareidim it is alive & vibrant.
I speak fluent Yiddish as well as Hebrew,English,German & some Russian.
But I can neither read nor write Russian.

I don't know about Haredim in L'viv but I'm sure there are some. I want to learn Yiddish because speaking only Ukrainian and (poor) English isn't enough for me, combined with the fact that some of my maternal ancestors spoke Yiddish.

[ChabadKahanist]

I don't know about Haredim in L'viv but I'm sure there are some. I want to learn Yiddish because speaking only Ukrainian and (poor) English isn't enough for me, combined with the fact that some of my maternal ancestors spoke Yiddish.

Go for it then.
Why not?
If it makes feel closer to Hashem & other Jews it is a good thing.

[Ukrainian Jew]

Go for it then.
Why not?
If it makes feel closer to Hashem & other Jews it is a good thing.

Apparently there's a Yiddish academy online, I'll probably do it. One day I hope to also learn Hebrew but learning languages takes time, as I already know from English.

[ChabadKahanist]

Apparently there's a Yiddish academy online, I'll probably do it. One day I hope to also learn Hebrew but learning languages takes time, as I already know from English.

Yes it does but it can open up doors.

[Ukrainian Jew]

Yes it does but it can open up doors.

That's true.

[Lisa]

Hi.

How many Jews are still in the Ukraine?  And why are they still there? 

[Ukrainian Jew]

Hi.

How many Jews are still in the Ukraine?  And why are they still there?

I knew that was coming- and I'm glad it did so I can address it. There are about 300.000 of us still here. Yes it's sometimes scary, but especially so if you live at the front lines between the pro-Russian and nationalist conflict, as in places like Kharkiv or Dnipropetrovsk. But I live in Lviv, the main city of the nationalist stronghold, or Bandera-land. I've actually barely encountered any anti-Semitism.

I guess a lot of Jews speak Russian, which leads Ukrainians to believe they side with Russia or the interests of the Russian-speaking minority. In fact I think if Jews in western Ukraine spoke Yiddish instead of Russian that would decrease anti-Semitism, believe it or not- of course Ukrainian would even more, and fortunately I speak Ukrainian. I also "look" Ukrainian- i.e. I have very Slavic features because my father is non-Jewish Ukrainian, and supposedly Ukrainians look different from Russians- I've had people tell me I don't "look" Jewish all the time. But then again, many of these people say the same thing when they see full-blooded Jews.

There is a local neo-nazi party, "Swoboda" (which means "freedom" and they say they're just "nationalist") which has gotten a lot of votes but we aren't worried. Everyone thought that most people in Lviv would vote for Oleh Tyahnybok, the leader of the party, for president in this year's elections; but he won in only one district in the entire country. I also remember some time ago he had an interview on Israeli TV where he said he admires Israel and wants Ukraine to be more like Israel, and also received support from the leader of a party in Israel called "Home of David" or something. But I see the filth emanating from his supporters online and I just can't believe a word he says.

But anyway, sorry for being off-topic, I just thought I had to mention that- many of you would be quite surprised about Ukrainian Jews. I consider myself a proud Ukrainian Jew, and I love Ukraine and Israel, and of course America- although I wish they would stay out of our politics and stop making things worse. Russia, of course, is completely different since I consider them an enemy nation, while I do realize there are some good people and political parties there. I could go on and on about Stepan Bandera, the EU, Euromaidan, the language policy, etc. But it would take pages and pages. I definitely will continue to post about the Jewish-related topics in Ukraine.

[ChabadKahanist]

On my father's side my Grandfather from Tarnipol & my Grarandmother from Kiev both spoke Yiddish & absolutely no Ukranian or Russian.
On my mothers side my Grandfather from Moldova & my Grandmother from Bylorus spoke both Yiddish & Russian.

[Ukrainian Jew]

On my father's side my Grandfather from Tarnipol & my Grarandmother from Kiev both spoke Yiddish & absolutely no Ukranian or Russian.
On my mothers side my Grandfather from Moldova & my Grandmother from Bylorus spoke both Yiddish & Russian.

Do you mean Ternopil? That's near me, 2 hours by train. I have relatives from there from my father's family (non-Jewish). When did your grandfather live in Ternopil? Until recently most Jews there spoke Russian, there are barely any left, but now most of them speak Ukrainian.

[ChabadKahanist]

Do you mean Ternopil? That's near me, 2 hours by train. I have relatives from there from my father's family (non-Jewish). When did your grandfather live in Ternopil? Until recently most Jews there spoke Russian, there are barely any left, but now most of them speak Ukrainian.

Yes but in Yiddish it is called Tarnipol.
He lived there before world war 1 & before the communists.
Both sets of grandparents all left what was the Russian Empire before it became the Soviet Union.
My father's parents spoke neither Russian nor Ukranian only Yiddish & of course English because they grew up in America when they left the Ukraine.
Maybe because A.That's all their parents spoke with them & B They left when they were young kids.
My grandfather's older brother Moishe spoke Polish & German & I guess in those days Polish & German were spoken in Tarnipol & Galicia region in general.as at before it was part of the Ukraine it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire & later Poland

[Ukrainian Jew]

Yes but in Yiddish it is called Tarnipol.
He lived there before world war 1 & before the communists.
Both sets of grandparents all left what was the Russian Empire before it became the Soviet Union.
My father's parents spoke neither Russian nor Ukranian only Yiddish & of course English because they grew up in America when they left the Ukraine.
Maybe because A.That's all their parents spoke with them & B They left when they were young kids.
My grandfather's older brother Moishe spoke Polish & German & I guess in those days Polish & German were spoken in Tarnipol & Galicia region in general.as at before it was part of the Ukraine it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire & later Poland

I didn't know that. Yiddish sounds like a beautiful language- much more than German (no offense).

[Super Mentalita]

We already met on some topic but welcome! 

[Ukrainian Jew]

We already met on some topic but welcome! 

Thanks! I do feel quite welcome by the way.