A Jewish Premier for the Ukraine?

Will the next premier of the Ukraine be Jewish? Quite likely.

Thirty-eight year-old Vladimir Groisman who has served as Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament since last November will likely be appointed as prime minister to replace acting Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk who resigned on Sunday.

Groisman, who was born in Vinnytsia to Jewish parents, lost his mother at an early age. He is married to his second wife, a non-Jewish woman. His national political career took off in 2014 when he was appointed as mayor. After the revolution at age 27, he was named Minister of Development and Construction. He was later appointed Chairman of the Parliament by President Petro Poroshenko.

Following Yatsenyuk’s resignation, Poroshenko suggested Groisman for the position of prime minster in the new government. The Parliament was meant to confirm his appointment this past Tuesday, but the vote was put off and will be held in the coming days, as the members of Parliament decide whether to allow Groisman to form a new government. As of now, it looks like Groisman will win wide support. Elected, he will be the first Jewish prime minster in Ukrainian history.

Rav Shaul Horowitz, head Chabad emissary in Vinnytsia, told Behadrey Haredim: “Groisman is from our town; he was our mayor and is a grandson of Holocaust survivors. His grandparents lived in a nearby shtetl and were among those brought to a mass killing like sheep to the slaughter. The bullets miraculously missed them and they spent the night pretending to be dead among all the dead bodies. That’s how they were saved.

“He’s a warm-hearted Jew whose only wish is to help others,” Rav Horowitz continued. “When he lived in Vinnytsia he would always spend the holidays with us and greet the community. On Yom Kippur people would join him as he visited his mother’s grave. He always celebrated the Jewish holidays – for example, he would light Hanukah candles publically in his office.”

Would a Jewish Ukrainian prime minster be good for the Jews? Or would it just increase anti-Semitism?

“Well, anti-Semites have a way of blaming everything that happens on the Jews. . . so there really is no answer to this question. In Vinnytsia, he did a lot for the people and was admired for being a doer, and that’s how he got to his current position.”

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!