By COLlive reporter

In recent weeks, Ukraine has faced some of the heaviest missile and drone attacks since the outbreak of the war, leaving communities across the country contending with frequent air raid alerts and the continuing threat of strikes.

Against that backdrop, Jewish parents are trying to give their children some semblance of a normal summer, even as the realities of war make traditional vacations difficult or impossible.

“The children need a break from the sirens,” one community rabbi said.

Emergency regulations add another complication. Most Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country, while the financial pressures of years of war have left many families unable to afford travel abroad even when other family members are permitted to leave.

Some Ukrainian women and children who can afford to travel have sought brief respite in the Carpathian Mountains or other relatively quieter parts of the country. But thousands of Jewish families are remaining close to home, increasingly relying on their local Jewish communities for stability, social interaction and a sense of routine.

Jewish community centers and Chabad institutions across Ukraine have consequently taken on an expanded role during the summer. Programs and communal activities offer children opportunities to get out of their homes and spend time with friends, while even regular visits to the synagogue can provide families with a welcome change of environment.

At the same time, having entire families at home for much of the summer is adding to household expenses at a time when many Ukrainians are already facing serious economic hardship.

Chabad’s Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, known as JRNU, together with the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, has continued humanitarian assistance throughout the summer, distributing thousands of packages of kosher food to elderly residents, people with illnesses and low-income families.

The assistance is delivered directly to recipients, including those living in isolated areas where obtaining basic necessities can be particularly difficult.

“We really don’t have the ability to take a vacation, and these food deliveries are a lifeline,” said a Jewish mother in Kyiv. “We are living in a state of day-to-day survival.”

Rabbi Simcha Levenharz of JRNU said that while winter has ended, the humanitarian challenges facing Ukrainian Jews have hardly eased.

“The long winter ended and summer brought warmer weather, but the reality on the ground has only become more difficult with the latest missile barrages,” he said. “Prices have risen sharply, and people are struggling for their most basic needs.”

“We have entered another year of war, and the pace of the attacks and the tension continue to increase,” Rabbi Levenharz said.

While many institutions traditionally reduce operations during the summer months, he said the humanitarian infrastructure serving Ukraine’s Jewish communities remains active every day.

“While institutions are on summer break, our kitchens continue operating nonstop, every day,” he said. “When the assistance and food reach families, there is enormous relief simply from knowing that they are not alone, that someone is thinking about them and supporting them through the exhausting and seemingly endless routine we are all experiencing here.”