Pikesville Synagogue Members Head To Moldova To Help Ukrainian Refugees
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Nine members of the Beth Tfiloh Congregation in Pikesville are heading off to Moldova to support the thousands of Ukrainian refugees who are passing through the country.
Congregation members said that they intended to show the people of Moldova and the refugees how much they care about them. That is why they are providing support during difficult times.
They left for Moldova on Sunday.
"We are heading out nine of us toward a solidarity mission to Moldova to bring some smiles and some joy to refugees who are leaving from Ukraine," Rabbi Chai Posner of the Beth Tfiloh Congregation said.
Synagogue members will be working with a humanitarian group from Israel called IsraAid to meet with refugees in shelters and at the border to show that Americans and Jews support them, Posner said.
"Basically, like, we feel helpless here with the situation there," he said. "We wanted to do something—what can we do—and just to bring something, some kind of message of positivity."
Church members also want to show that they support the people of Moldova who are taking in more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other country.
"Just standing shoulder to shoulder with folks who have done so much for upward of 400,000 refugees," Ari Mittleman said.
Mittleman organized the trip to Moldova.
Congregation members will also be bringing a message from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan to present to the people of the country. Member Bill Fox read it aloud.
"Your country's demonstration of solidarity on behalf of their urgent needs is truly heroic and the state of Maryland stands with you in support of them," Fox said.
Hogan terminated Maryland's sister-state relationship with the Leningrad Oblast in February, not long after Russia began attacking Ukraine.
Other Maryland officials followed his lead in subsequent weeks, taking aim at the state's $70 billion pension system in an attempt to divest its rapidly declining assets in Russia.
Maryland residents have been proactive about supporting Ukraine too.
During the uptick of the war, the lights at Baltimore City Hall turned blue and yellow to show Baltimore's support for Ukraine.
The lights of M&T Bank Stadium, the home of the Baltimore Ravens, and the lights of Oriole Park at Camden Yards turned blue and yellow too.
To show their support, people across the city have held donation drives and sold homemade pierogies to raise money for Ukrainians who are struggling to survive the war in their country.
The trek to Moldova to help Ukrainian refugees is just one more example of the kindness that Marylanders hope to extend overseas.
