Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine
Chabad-led umbrella body of Jewish religious communities in Ukraine, set up in 1999 and based in Dnipro
| Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU)
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Umbrella body of Jewish religious communities, run by Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder(s) | Meir Stambler "together with other rabbis" (FJCU's own account) |
| Headquarters | Dnipro, Ukraine (in the Menorah Centre) |
| Area served | Ukraine; "more than 160" communities (FJCU), 169 "remaining" communities under Ukrainian control (2025) |
| Key people | Meir Stambler (chairman of the Federation Council); Rafael Rutman (deputy); Alina Teplitskaya (director); Shmuel Kaminezki (chief rabbi of Dnipro) |
| Website | https://www.fjc.org.ua |
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU; Ukrainian Федерація єврейських громад України) is the umbrella body of the Chabad-Lubavitch communities in Ukraine. It describes itself as uniting "more than 160" Jewish communities, and JTA calls it a "body run by Chabad" with its headquarters in Dnipro and affiliated communities "in every region of Ukraine".[1][2] According to the federation, it was set up in 1999 by Rabbi Meir Stambler "together with other rabbis", and Stambler chairs its council.[3] Its main rival claims to communal and rabbinic leadership have come from Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich and, since 2005, from Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, a Chabad-ordained rabbi who stood outside the federation.[4] Since the Russian invasion of 2022 the federation and its rabbis have organised evacuations and relief, and in 2023 it organised Volodymyr Zelensky's first wartime meeting with Jewish leaders.[5][6]
Founding and structure
The federation's own history says that Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union were revived from 1991 "without experience, without a well-thought-out strategy, without sufficient coordination". The federation was then set up, "on the initiative of the leaders of Jewish communities and organisations", to co-ordinate their work. It "at first acted as an informal information and coordinating centre"; official registration came later, as the work grew (translated from Russian).[1] Another page of its site says it was "created at the Conference of Jewish Religious Communities and Organisations of Ukraine", began by setting up regional associations of "5–6 local communities", and now unites "more than 163 communities" in cities with a Jewish population of "more than 500,000" (translated from Russian). Neither page gives a founding date.[7] Its biography of Meir Stambler says: "In 1999, together with other rabbis, he created the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine. He headed the Federation Council and is the chairman of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine." The same page claims that the federation "is the most influential Jewish organization in Ukraine - it unites all the rabbis of Ukraine" (Chabad-side).[3]
The claim that the federation "unites all the rabbis of Ukraine" is the federation's own. It is contradicted by the independent sources on this page: Yaakov Dov Bleich (Karlin-Stolin), Moshe Reuven Azman and the Reform rabbinate all stood outside it.[4][8]
Leaders.
- Meir Stambler (spelled Mayer Stambler by JTA in 2008) was born in the United States in 1972 and came to Ukraine in the mid-1990s "as an envoy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe". "Together with Rabbi Kaminetsky, he built and developed the Dnieper community." He co-founded the Beit Hana teacher-training college in 1995 and is president of its successor, the International Pedagogical Institute Beit Hana (Chabad-side).[3][9] In 2024 JTA described him as "a Brooklyn-born Chabad rabbi who is the head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine".[2]
- Rabbi Rafael Rutman was described in 2025 as Stambler's deputy, and Alina Teplitskaya as the federation's director in 2024.[10][2]
- Shmuel Kaminezki, the Chabad emissary in Dnipro since 1990, is the senior rabbi of the Dnipro community where the federation has its headquarters.[11]
Headquarters. In 2008 JTA reported that the planned Menorah Centre in Dnipro would house "the nerve center of the Ukraine-wide Federation of Jewish Communities".[9] JTA reported in 2024 that the federation "has its headquarters in Dnipro".[2]
Size. The federation says it has "more than 160" member communities (translated from Russian).[1] In July 2025 Anash.org (Chabad-side) said it "unites the 169 remaining Jewish communities under Ukrainian sovereignty", and quoted Stambler: "Although the war destroyed Jewish communities in over ten cities, new ones have been built elsewhere".[10] At the same meeting Andriy Yermak, then head of the President's Office, put the number of Chabad emissary families in Ukraine at "approximately 200".[10]
The chief rabbinate dispute
The federation has twice backed its own candidates for a national rabbinic title, against rival claimants.
- 2003: Azriel Haikin. In September 2003 the Forward reported that Rabbi Azriel (Azrael) Haikin of Brussels had been elected Ukraine's chief rabbi at what was billed as the Second Congress of Ukrainian Rabbis. The Dnipro (then Dnepropetrovsk) community called it "a milestone in the history of the rebirth of Jewish life in Ukraine". Because Yaakov Dov Bleich already held the title, the ceremony in Kyiv instead "focused instead on Haikin's leadership of the country's Chabad-Lubavitch movement and the Chabad-affiliated Federation of Jewish Communities". Haikin said: "I was chosen by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine to organize a central rabbinate".[8] JTA later wrote that Haikin "was proclaimed chief rabbi by dozens of Chabad rabbis working for the federation in Ukraine".[4] The Forward reported in 2022 that he "has not lived in Ukraine since 2008".[12]
- 2005: opposition to Azman. When Moshe Reuven Azman was elected chief rabbi on 11 September 2005 by bodies headed by Vadim Rabinovich, "Three dozen Chabad rabbis representing the Federation of Jewish Communities" called the election "illegitimate" and "insulting to the feelings of every believer". A federation spokesman, Oleg Rostovtsev, called it "nonsense" and said: "This game is aimed at getting political dividends on the eve of parliamentary elections". JTA reported that Azman was "a Chabad-ordained rabbi but not a member of the federation".[4] The World Jewish Congress likewise reported that Azman "is not affiliated with the Chabad-led federation".[13]
- Politics. JTA wrote in 2005 that "most federation rabbis backed Yuschenko's rival, former Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich, the choice of former President Leonid Kuchma, with whom the federation enjoyed close ties", while Viktor Yushchenko visited Azman's Brodsky Synagogue after the Orange Revolution.[4]
The 2022 invasion and relief work
In March 2022 Chabad.org reported that Dnipro had become "the center of refugee and aid activities for the Jews of eastern Ukraine", with the Menorah Centre a hub for people joining "a Chabad-organized convoy, bus or train carriage". The Dnipro emissary Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein said the operation worked with "The Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC), the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency" (Chabad-side).[5]
In 2024 Stambler told JTA: "We have a lot of challenges and the financial situation is getting more and more difficult, but thank God we still have everything we need here." The federation's director, Alina Teplitskaya, said that "Every community building, from the kindergarten to the clinics, the Menorah Center and the old age home, are energy-independent", thanks to generators donated by the Jewish community of Boston and other partners.[2]
Relations with the Ukrainian state and the United States
- Zelensky, 2023. On 14 September 2023 Volodymyr Zelensky met 32 Chabad emissaries and rabbis, his "first official meeting with Jewish leaders since Russia invaded". JTA reported that the event "was organized by the Chabad-affiliated Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, an organization led by Rabbi Meir Stambler". Zelensky told them: "Because of you, the glorious Jewish community continues to flourish here."[6]
- Kellogg meeting, 2025. In July 2025 the federation organised a meeting at Babyn Yar between Chabad rabbis and Lt Gen (ret.) Keith Kellogg, Donald Trump's special envoy, attended by Andriy Yermak. Stambler told him: "We enjoy strong support from the government in Kyiv as well as from regional and local authorities." Yermak told the envoy: "We view them as ambassadors of light—not only in Ukraine, but representing us before the world." Anash.org reported that, "In response to claims that the war was launched to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine", the rabbis told Kellogg that Ukrainian Jews "feel completely secure" (Chabad-side report).[10] The Babyn Yar memorial reserve, a Ukrainian state body, also reported the meeting "with rabbis from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU)".[14]
No accounts of the Ukrainian federation itself were found. The sources below concern bodies that fund or work with it.
- Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS and the Ohr Avner Foundation. In 2010 Chabad.org reported that the Odesa school network was "one of more than 100 educational institutions throughout Eastern Europe funded by the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union and the Ohr Avner Foundation" (Chabad-side).[15] For Chabad's wider funding networks in the former Soviet Union, see Russian oligarchs and Chabad.
- Dnipro patrons. The federation's headquarters building, the Menorah Centre, was funded by Gennadiy Bogolyubov and Ihor Kolomoisky; see that page for the funding and for the separate legal status of the proceedings against the two men.[16]
- Jewish Relief Network Ukraine (JRNU). The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS describes JRNU as the body "which coordinates Chabad's efforts in the country", and reported in 2024: "Since the beginning of the crisis, JFNA has provided major funding to JRNU" (Chabad-side). The Jewish Federations of North America are the funders named.[17] JRNU's advisory committee lists Shmuel Kaminezki and Avraham Wolff among five Ukrainian rabbis.[18]
- US entities. Two US charities with Ukrainian Chabad names appear in the IRS master file:
| Entity | EIN | Registered | IRS ruling date | Latest figures in the IRS master file | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Relief Network Ukraine | 88-2131119 | Tempe, Arizona | November 2022 | Revenue $7,797,833 and expenses $8,013,009 (2023 Form 990); income $10,491,607 for the tax period to December 2024 | [19] |
| Federation of Jewish Communities Ukraine Inc | 88-1472358 | Brooklyn, New York | December 2025 | Assets $5,609,825; income $1,632,909 (tax period to December 2025) | [20] |
Controversies
- Rival rabbinates. See "The chief rabbinate dispute" above. The disputes are over titles and recognition; no court or regulator finding about the federation was found.
- Dnipro donors. The federation's best-known patrons, Ihor Kolomoisky and Gennadiy Bogolyubov, have been held civilly liable in England for the misappropriation of PrivatBank funds, and Kolomoisky faces criminal charges in Ukraine; the US forfeiture cases are allegations. No source found links the federation to the funds in dispute. Details, with each legal status kept separate, are on Chabad and Ukraine.
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1990 | Shmuel Kaminezki arrives in Dnipro (then Dnepropetrovsk) as Chabad emissary |
| 1999 | Federation founded (federation's own date) |
| 2003 | Federation-backed election of Azriel Haikin as chief rabbi of Ukraine |
| 2005 | Federation rabbis call Moshe Reuven Azman's election "illegitimate" |
| 2008 | JTA reports the planned Menorah Centre will house the federation's "nerve center" |
| October 2012 | Menorah Centre opens in Dnipro |
| 2022 | Federation and Dnipro community run evacuations after the Russian invasion |
| November 2022 | IRS ruling for Jewish Relief Network Ukraine |
| 14 September 2023 | Federation organises Zelensky's meeting with 32 Chabad rabbis |
| July 2025 | Federation organises Kellogg meeting at Babyn Yar |
| December 2025 | IRS ruling for Federation of Jewish Communities Ukraine Inc (Brooklyn) |
See also
- Chabad Lubavitch of Ukraine
- Chabad and Ukraine
- Menorah Centre (Dnipro)
- Shmuel Kaminezki
- Moshe Reuven Azman
- United Jewish Community of Ukraine
- Odesa Chabad
- Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "История создания" (History of the founding), Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, consulted 20 October 2026. In Russian. Chabad-side; self-published. Originals: "без опыта работы, без продуманной стратегии, без достаточной координации"; "по инициативе руководителей еврейских общин и организаций"; "Вначале она действовала как неформальный информационный и координирующий центр"; "Сегодня в Федерацию еврейских общин Украины входят свыше 160 еврейских общин".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Marcel Gascón Barberá, "Baking matzah and defying blackouts, Dnipro's Jews press on despite the grind of Russia's war on Ukraine", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 26 August 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Rabbi Meir Stambler", Chairman of the Federation Council, Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, consulted 20 October 2026. Chabad-side; self-published.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "In Ukraine, dueling chief rabbis", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 24 October 2005.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mendel Super, "Rocket Attacks on Dnipro Intensify, Jewish Community Evacuating Hundreds Daily", Chabad.org, 15 March 2022. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "In a first, Volodymyr Zelensky met with Chabad rabbis ahead of Rosh Hashanah", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 15 September 2023.
- ↑ "О Федерации" (About the Federation), Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, consulted 20 October 2026. In Russian. Chabad-side; self-published. Originals: "созданная на Конференции иудейских религиозных общин и организаций Украины"; "в составе 5-6 местных общин"; "объединяет более 163 общин в городах, еврейское население которых составляет более 500 000 человек".
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rabbinical Election Stirs Confusion in Ukraine", The Forward, September 2003.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Ukraine city building toward prominence", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 25 September 2008.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Trump Sends Ukraine Envoy to Hear from Shluchim", Anash.org staff, Anash.org, 17 July 2025. Chabad-side.
- ↑ "Dnipro: Shmuel Kaminetsky", Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, consulted 20 October 2026. Chabad-side; self-published.
- ↑ Jacob Kornbluh, "Meet the two men who claim to be chief rabbi of Ukraine", The Forward, 3 March 2022.
- ↑ "Dispute in Ukraine over election of new chief rabbi", World Jewish Congress, 20 September 2005.
- ↑ "U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg Visits Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve", National Historical and Memorial Reserve "Babyn Yar", July 2025. Ukrainian state body.
- ↑ Tamar Runyan, "Odessa Jewish Educational Network Celebrates 10 Years", Chabad.org, 12 January 2010. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Cnaan Liphshiz, "Giant Ukraine JCC provides shelter from the storm – in style", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 1 October 2014.
- ↑ "Jewish Federations of North America Stands Behind the Ukrainian Chabad Emissaries", Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS, 20 June 2024. Chabad-side.
- ↑ Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, home page (staff and advisory committee list), consulted 20 October 2026. Chabad-side; self-published.
- ↑ "Jewish Relief Network Ukraine", ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 88-2131119; IRS Business Master File data of 16 September 2026 and Form 990 for 2023), consulted 20 October 2026.
- ↑ "Federation Of Jewish Communities Ukraine Inc", ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 88-1472358; IRS Business Master File data of 16 September 2026), consulted 20 October 2026.