A modern Jewish hero forged in the tradition of the Maccabees

HIS DEFIANCE of Putin’s vastly superior invading army has inspired the world, echoing the heroic stand of the Maccabees.

And as Volodomyr Zelensky rallies the people of Ukraine against the growing Russian onslaught, he is drawing strength and courage from the values nurtured by his Jewish upbringing, the president’s friends and colleagues have told the JC.

It is those values which explain his transition from light entertainer to politician; his vehement defence of inclusive, democratic principles; and now his determination to unite all Ukrainians against the invaders.

“He has always done what he believes to be right,” said Ruslan Kavatsiuk, an aide who was deputy director of a project to build a memorial at Babyn Yar.

“When he threw his support behind the memorial, many people criticised him. And he just said: ‘I’m not doing this for my approval ratings, but because it’s the right thing to do’. Of course, what he’s doing now is much bigger. He’s not just doing the right thing for Ukraine now, but the world.”

Opened last year, the memorial was destroyed by a Russian missile on Tuesday, prompting Zelensky to issue a clarion call to “all the Jews of the world”, urging: “Shout about killing of civilians. Shout about the murder of Ukrainians.”

Last Shabbat morning, Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi, Yaakov Bleich, was in America, trying to coordinate the rescue of Jews from cities under attack. He told the JC: “Suddenly, I got a call from an unfamiliar number. The voice at the other end said, ‘The president would like to speak to you’. Two minutes later, he was on the line.

“His voice sounded very strong. “He told me, ‘Rabbi Bleich, this is Zelensky speaking. I need you to pray for the success of our soldiers. We are outnumbered, but they cannot match our determination and will to win’.”

Zelensky has said: “Of course I believe in God. But I speak with him only in those moments which are personal to me.”

As to whether Zelensky is any way religious, that is a “private” matter, Rabbi Bleich told the JC. When asked whether the president’s wife, the architect-turned-writer Olena Kiyashko, is Jewish, he replied: “Not yet.”

But regardless of religious practice, Judaism is essential to Zelensky’s makeup. As president, he got Ukraine to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism. The significance of this step cannot be overstated. This was a country where thousands joined the Nazi Waffen SS during the war, and where neo-Nazis remain, albeit recently commanding a tiny share of the vote.

He is drawing strength from the values nutured by his Jewish upbringing

Moreover, there is Zelensky’s own family history. On a visit to Israel in 2020 for a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, he told “a tale of four brothers”. He said: “Three of them, their parents and their families became victims of the Holocaust. All of them were shot by German occupiers who invaded