US rabbi raises money so Ukrainian jews can luxuriate in jacuzzis at resort

[yankeedoodle]

Refugees with Jacuzzis: The surreal life of 200 Jews at a 4-star resort in wartime Ukraine

Like dozens of displaced persons camps that now dot Eastern Europe, the one in this Ukrainian town near the Hungarian border has inhabitants whose lives were turned upside down by Russia's war.

But the refugee camp at Irshava is different.

For one thing, it's equipped with a kosher kitchen and accommodates about 200 Jews from across Ukraine.

For another, it's a four-star riverside resort featuring tennis courts, three swimming pools with saunas, a fishing park, rooms with individual Jacuzzis, a fitness center and an indoor jungle gym complete with a ball pit for children to play in.

"We're refugees, yeah, but over here being refugees has its perks," said one of the inhabitants, Stanislav Gluzman, a 39-year-old Jewish father and finance professional from Kharkiv who's been living in one room with his wife and son for the past month amid uncertainty — and relative luxury.

The surreal situations on display in Irshava encapsulate how many of Ukraine's Jews were caught by surprise by a war that for months had been brewing in their backyards, never believing it would actually happen. And the longer they stay at the resort, the less hope they harbor for a return to normal.

The camp, which costs tens of thousands of dollars to run each week, was set up early last month by Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Ya'akov Dov Bleich, who heads the Great Choral Synagogue of Kyiv and its Orach Chaim congregation.

Bleich, who is one of two men claiming to be Ukraine's chief rabbi, divides his time between Ukraine and his native New York, where he was when Russia invaded on Feb. 24. He returned to Ukraine in March and says he has since raised more than $2.5 million for emergency efforts at Irshava and beyond.

Thousands of people have died in the ensuing fighting and millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes. Most are living in conditions far worse that the ones enjoyed by the 200 inhabitants of the Illara resort, where Bleich's community booked all the rooms and turned it into the only refugee camp in Irshava.

Yevgeni and Anya Rozvadoskyy, a couple from Berdichev who take care of one of that city's Jewish cemeteries, are spending more time than usual with their children, 16-year-old Dasha and her 7-year-old brother Vadim. Yevgeni has taught Vadim how to fish at the resort, and the boy is happy to explain his technique with pride.

But life is no holiday for the inhabitants of the Illara resort, its amenities notwithstanding.

"Life here isn't bad but it's like you're dangling on a string. The uncertainty gets to me sometimes," said Gluzman, who goes by Stan.

A main topic of debate in his family is where they will go next, and when. One option is Israel, where most of Gluzman's family moved many years ago....

Want to read the rest of the nauseating story?  Find it here: 
https://www.jta.org/2022/04/11/global/refugees-with-jacuzzis-the-surreal-life-of-200-jews-at-a-4-star-resort-in-wartime-ukraine