Hanukkah is a joyous holiday, celebrated every year by Jews around the world with the lighting of candles on a candelabra called a menorah, or hanukkiya* in modern Hebrew. Traditional Hanukkah treats include potato latkes, called  plyatsky or deruny in Ukrainian, and sufganiyot, doughnuts with jam, called pampushky in Ukrainian. There is also a tradition to give Chanukeh gelt—coins, and more recently gifts— to children. And there is a special Hanukkah dreidel (E.top,Uk.dzyga) game. A dreidel is a top, or dzyga in Ukrainian. Hanukkah is actually a relatively minor Jewish holiday. There are no religious restrictions on work … other than a few minutes after lighting the candles. In North America, however, as a symbol of Jewish identity, Hanukkah has assumed a place equal to Passover … largely due to its proximity on the calendar to Christmas. As a result, in this part of the world, Hanukkah has integrated several Christmas-related customs, in particular, extensive gift-giving and Hanukkah parties. The lit menorah is displayed in windows or at the doors of Jewish houses during the festival, alongside neighbouring Christmas lights. In Ukraine,  during Soviet times, it was a very different story. Judaism could not be practiced freely under the atheist regime. In fact, it was […]

Welcome to the final episode of our 4-part series on the currencies of Ukraine and Israel. In Episode 1, the focus was on the respective histories of the currencies of these two states. In Episodes 2 and 3, we focused on eight prominent Jews born in Ukraine who were depicted on Israel’s currency. In this 4th and final episode in the series, we will focus on the currency of Ukraine. By 1994, less than three years after the break-up of the USSR, Ukraine had its own facility producing paper money of international-standard quality, security level and design. As we learned in Episode one, however, its establishment faced many challenges and obstacles. The establishment of a mint that produced coins took even longer, and followed an even more convoluted path. The first Ukrainian coins were made available in 1995. They were commemorative, or collectible, coins. A year later, general circulation coins were released. This coincided with Ukrainian monetary reform in 1996, when the karbovanets was dropped in favor of the new hryvnia. These early coins were produced at a temporary facility, a converted factory in Luhansk. They were the first coins minted on Ukrainian soil in over 300 years. Meanwhile, plans […]

In the last two episodes of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, we learned that several Jews from Ukrainian territories were awarded one of Israel’s highest honors: their portraits depicted on the state’s banknotes and coins. And that Ukraine has returned the favour. In Episode 1, the focus was on the respective histories of the currencies of Israel and Ukraine. In Episode 2, we introduced four prominent Jews on Israel’s currency who were born in Ukraine. The poet Hayim Nahman Bialik, who is considered Israel’s national poet; Volodymyr Ze’ev Jabotinsky, whose legacy includes the Betar youth movement and the Likud party; Levi Eshkol, who built the foundation of Israel’s modern infrastructure day Israel as well as the army that won the six-day war; and Golda Meir, the most famous female politician in Israel. Today, four more natives of Ukraine on Israel’s currency. Moshe Sharett, Israel’s second prime minister, was born 1894 in Kherson. His family immigrated to Ottoman Palestine in 1906, then to Jaffa in 1910. The family became one of the founding families of Tel Aviv. After Israel’s proclamation of independence Moshe Sharett changed his surname to Shertok. Like the majority of the founding fathers of Israel, Moshe Shertok devoted his life […]

The State of Israel was created and built by Jewish settlers who came mainly from Eastern Europe. Among them were quite a few natives of Ukraine, then ruled by the Russian & Austro-Hungarian Empires. Today’s episode of Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, Part 2 of our series on the currencies of Ukraine and Israel, features Jews from Ukrainian territories who were awarded one of Israel’s highest honors: their portraits depicted on banknotes and coins. As we learned in Part 1 of our series, Israel’s currency underwent several changes. From the Palestine Pound in 1948 to the Israeli pound— or the Israeli lira—in 1952, to the shekel in 1980. And finally, in 1986 the Israeli New Shekel, which remains Israel’s official monetary unit to today. Eight natives of Ukraine have figured prominently on Israel’s currencies over the years. The poet Hayim Nahman Bialik was born in 1873 in the village of Ivnytsia, in what is today the Zhytomyr oblast, or province. Bialik is considered one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. His life coincided with the restoration of this ancient language, long considered a bookish, “dead” language. He also wrote prolifically in Yiddish. Bialik spent his childhood and youth in Zhytomyr. He […]

Banknotes and coins are not only means of payment, they are also a symbol of sovereignty. This is a story about two currencies, two countries, and two peoples with a long and closely intertwined history. The hyrnvia, currency of Ukraine and the shekel, currency of Israel. This is the story of how both of these countries have honoured the other with their respective currencies. Nothing confirms sovereign statehood like its own unique, identifiable and stable currency. And arguably, no two countries know this better than Ukraine and Israel. One of the biggest challenges of any new state is being taken seriously on the world stage as a sovereign political entity with a viable economy. To that end, engaging in international trade is crucial. And for that to happen, a new state needs its own currency. In 1991, shortly after the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, Ukraine suddenly found itself an independent state. After over 70 years of political and economic subordination, Ukraine was finally free of Kremlin control. But taking control of its own affairs after centuries of foreign control would be no easy task. As a new state, Ukraine found itself stuck with the Soviet ruble as its […]

Last week we aired the first part of an interview with Paulina Zelitsky, who published The Sea is Only Knee Deep. In this two-volume memoir she tells the fascinating story of her life growing up in the Soviet Union, working in Cuba on a Soviet naval base in the late 1960s, and her famous and daring defection to Canada in 1971. In Part 1 of our interview, Paulina described the dangers she faced, and the indignities she endured, as a Jewish girl growing up in the Soviet Union…and later working on a Soviet naval base in Cuba and accidentally becoming privy to the political intrigues of the little-known Second Cuban Missile Crisis. Today in Part 2 of this two-part interview, Paulina will tell us about her harrowing defection and the circumstances that convinced her that defection was the lesser danger. As well, she will explain why recent alarming developments in Cuba today—which are being ignored by western media—lead her to believe that we are now facing a third, and much more dangerous, Cuban Missile Crisis, and its potentially disastrous ramifications in Ukraine and eastern Europe. Pawlina: So then you started to seriously look at defection. You chose Canada. You knew […]

A couple of weeks ago on Ukrainian Jewish Heritage, we aired a book review of the memoirs of a Jewish woman from Odessa. An engineer, who worked on a nuclear submarine station in Cuba during the height of The Cold War, shortly before a daring defection from the Soviet Union to Canada. Her name is Paulina Zelitsky, and her two-volume memoir reads like a John le Carré spy thriller. Only it’s a true story. When I reached out to her this week to get a photo for the blog post with the transcript on the Nash Holos website, Paulina dropped a bombshell, almost but not quite literally speaking, about an alarming development today that makes her story less a memoir than perhaps a prophecy. Paulina Zelitsky defected in 1971 with her two young sons and later brought her family members. To say that she has been a contributing member of Canadian society since day one is an understatement of vast proportions. But that’s a story for another time. Today we’ll talk about her book and her life in Cuba, the former Soviet Union, and her harrowing defection to Canada. Paulina Zelitsky joins me now by phone from her home in […]