Abstract: The article deals with the complexities of Judaism’s revival in Ukraine, where Jews have enriched the Jewish civilization with Hasidism, gifted the Jewish world with a whole plethora of outstanding Jewish figures and a remarkable cultural heritage both tangible and intangible, and where their religion underwent a monstrous destruction during the Holocaust and the Soviet anti-religious persecutions. Today's Judaism in Ukraine is a complex mixture of at least six decisive components. That is, (i) more than 20 centuries of the Judaism’s history in Ukrainian lands; (ii) the "great religious comeback," which unfolded in the world in the late 1970s; (iii) the religious revival in the space which was subject to a quasi-theistic experiment; (iv) the “upheaval of identities” within the new independent countries; (v) the religious-conservative rise among the World Jewry, and (vi) amazing activity of Israeli and the US-based Jewish religious centers, primarily of Chabad-Lubavitch. Despite the extremely intensive emigration of Jews from Ukraine, which peaked in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Judaism has a considerable demographic base in Ukraine. It includes an “ethnic core,” an enlarged Jewish population, and a community of non-Jews seeking to immerse themselves into the Jewish civilization.
Abstract: The first wave of the new coronavirus pandemic swept through Slovakia between March 1 and May 31, 2020. During this relatively short period, four important Jewish holidays took place: Purim, Pesach, Lag BaOmer, and Shavuot. When the news of the pandemic initially broke, a large part of Slovak society viewed COVID-19 as a remote, and therefore, not entirely dangerous, threat. This attitude shifted on March 6, , when the first case of the disease was confirmed in the country. On March 9, the authorities reacted by introducing the first set of public health measures, which the Jewish Religious Community immediately relayed to its members. The policy adopted by the JRC leadership was faced with a serious religious challenge. In these conditions, the observance of holidays required a degree of improvisation. Bar a few extraordinary examples, it was impossible to fulfill all of the traditionally required customs. Factors of selectiveness, streamlining, and individualization therefore had an even greater impact than usual. Involuntary isolation brought out the importance of family ties, as well as the need for solidarity.
