Simon Says, March 4, 2022

The Jakob Glanzer Synagogue (alternatively, it is called the Chadashim Synagogue) is in Lviv, Ukraine.  (If you want to know where Lviv [Lviv is sometimes called Lvov] is, look at the map below, on the left side, to the right of where it says Slovakia:

Lviv is western Ukraine, not far from the Polish border.)

The Jakob Glanzer Synagogue was built from 1841 to 1844 in a Baroque style.  Its construction was financed by Lviv merchant Jacob Glanzer, and in his honor named the Jakob Glanzer Shul. In 1844, Jakob Glanzer Synagogue was the second-largest synagogue in Lviv, after the Great City Synagogue.  (The Nazis destroyed the Great City Synagogue in 1943.)  Here are pictures of the exterior and interior of Jakob Glanzer Shul:

Since 1989 it has been used as a center of Jewish culture, the “Sholom Aleichem Jewish Culture Society”.  Until today.

Last week, the Jakob Glanzer Synagogue has been transformed by volunteers into a refugee center.  One of the refugees from Kyiv volunteering to make the synagogue the refugee center said, “If the Russians come to Lviv, we will fight.  There is no other possibility.”  Here is a photograph of the reading lectern and bags of necessities:

You can help the Ukrainians.  The MetroWest Federation has a website, https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#search/federation/FMfcgzGmvLQglLlHwwpJsJLFrHLjgHQX; you can donate money or supplies.

Unicef has a website, https://www.unicefusa.org/stories/unicef-children-crossfire-ukraine-crisis/39542?form=FUNKBHMZQDQ&utm_content=Ukraine3&ms=cpc_dig_2021_Ukraine3_20210801_google_Ukraine3_delve_None&initialms=cpc_dig_2020_Ukraine3_20210801_google_Ukraine3_delve_None&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriJwdE-4Rz4h3YwtsYdzkjNx86et4WfujkaiTxufLrDlJNEGGkdWvh4aAn7xEALw_wcB.

Catholic Relief Services has a website, https://support.crs.org/donate/donate-ukraine?ms=agigoo0922ukr00gen00&gclid=Cj0KCQiA64GRBhCZARIsAHOLriJGbIHwG_CDpjhsZMLj_ZCpH5IKI5edgmCV_y7_hU6cXNvGp7uvXYcaAv3bEALw_wcB.

I donated to the Federation.  Join with me.