Being the Bridge Between Troubled Waters

PREPARED TO HELP

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, known as “The Fellowship,” has been active in Ukraine for 35 years, providing humanitarian aid and helping Jews to immigrate to Israel. Yael normally goes there three times a year to oversee their work, and last visited in mid-July, 2022.

Four days before the February invasion, she was in Kiev, visiting Jewish orphanages and synagogues, and accessing the potential needs after several weeks of Russian “military exercises.” “No one believed this would happen,” she says. “I left there more worried, as they seemed to be in denial.”  

Seeing what was likely coming, The Fellowship provided a $1 million grant for essential items like non-perishable food, personal supplies, and mattresses for those who would be evacuating the war zone. With staff already on the ground in their Kiev and Odesa offices, they were prepared to start providing both humanitarian needs and evacuation help.  

RELIEF EFFORTS

The emergency relief given by The Fellowship’s generous donors since February now stands at $23 million. Specifically, some 800,000 Ukrainians have received assistance, more than 3,500 Jews have immigrated to Israel, known as “making Aliyah,” and 100 tons of food and essentials have been provided to distressed Ukrainian families.

Soon after the invasion, when it became clear that many Ukrainians would need to escape for safety, The Fellowship obtained special permission to fly chartered planes into neighboring Moldova. On each flight, they packed 15 tons of humanitarian aid supplies for refugees and stranded families. Once unloaded, they filled the planes with Ukrainian Jews who desired to immigrate to Israel and flew back. The Fellowship has been able to help in a number other ways, as well:

•    More than 3,000 blankets and sleeping bags provided for refugees in temporary housing
•    A joint call center established with the Jewish Agency to help refugees with housing and paperwork
•    More than 1,600 children and staff evacuated from orphanages 
•    50 seniors with severe medical conditions evacuated to Israel on medical rescue flights
     
One of the most difficult times that Yael recalls is the evacuation of more than 100 orphans, ranging from babies to teens. The last part of their journey required walking through the snow to safety. As a mother of four herself, her heart went out to the young refugees, who surely were scared, didn’t understand why they had to leave their home, and wondered if they’ll ever return.    

ONGOING NEEDS

“I think for anyone who’s been following what’s been happening in Ukraine,” Yael says, “you know the level of pain and mourning… there’s almost no one who hasn’t lost a family member.” She notes that for many Holocaust survivors still in Ukraine, this is the second time in their lives that they’ve seen an enemy try to destroy their country and needlessly kill people.

Though the war sadly continues, Yael points out that Kiev is still standing, and The Fellowship’s office there and in Odesa are reopening. She adds that there are long lines of people trying to return to their homes. “There’s a ten-hour wait going into Ukraine now,” she says. Most are going back for the next school year and to see husbands, fathers, and brothers required to stay and fight. “The need for help is greater than ever,” she emphasizes, “with winter coming, the price of fuel, and the need for food which they weren’t able to grow all these months. Even if it’s no longer at the top of each news broadcast, there are still millions in danger. We simply can’t let them slip from our memory.”   

FOLLOWING IN HER FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS

When Yael’s beloved father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, passed away on February 6, 2019, she became the president and CEO of IFCJ, or The Fellowship, the organization he founded in 1983. The plan had been clear to all that she would take the organization’s reins of leadership one day, and not long before his passing, Rabbi Eckstein prayed a blessing over his daughter.  

When that passing came unexpectedly, she was thrust into the role without any transition period. She says despite her devastation, it became clear that he’d been preparing her all her life. Yael had worked alongside her father at The Fellowship since 2005, taking on increasing responsibility. That’s the year she and her husband decided to move their family from the U.S. to Israel. Even through the three years of mourning their founder, she says The Fellowship has carried on and done very well. The organization’s work is comprised for four main branches: 
 
•    Guardians of Israel, which delivers food, medicine, and essentials to needy Jews in Israel, including Holocaust survivors, and provides security through their bomb shelter renovation project 
•    Isaiah 58, which supplies food, medical care, housing, and basic assistance to needy Jews in the former Soviet Union 
•    On Wings of Eagles, which assists Jews immigrating to Israel from around the globe to escape poverty and anti-Semitism
•    Stand for Israel, which mobilizes Christian support for Israel though education and understanding  

Since its inception in 1983, The Fellowship has given $1.5 billion of aid to Jews in more than 58 countries. Based in Jerusalem, the ministry also has offices in Chicago, Toronto, and Seoul, Korea.