NYC Jewish Officials, Many Well-wishers Welcome Back Two Families who Serve as Shluchim in Kharkov, Ukraine

By Yehudit Garmaise

Two families, the Raices and the Levinsons, who serve as shluchim in Kharkov, Ukraine, the second biggest city in the country after Kyiv, arrived safely at JFK Airport Sunday night after a harrowing five-day journey to be greeted by a large and joyous welcome: filled music, dancing, and tears.

Among the group of 30 well-wishers were family members, a busload of bochurim, and many high-ranking NYC Jewish officials, such as Fred Kreizman, the commissioner of the Mayor Adams’ Community Affairs Unit, Joel Eisdorfer, a senior advisor to the mayor, and Inspector Richie Taylor, who is the highest ranking police officer to wear a kipa.

"It was a beautiful scene to be part of," Inspector Taylor told BoroPark24. "We saw that no matter how dark the world can get, we can be a source of light to each other."

Rabbi Yaacov Behrman of Operation Survival and Rabbi Lazer Avtzon of the Association of Crown Heights Shuls also joined in the celebratory welcome at JFK Airport.

Rabbi Yossi Rapp of Chabad of the Airport helped the Raice and Levinson families to pass quickly through border security and into the arms of loved ones who played music and danced as they were reunited upon the families’ escape from a war-torn country, Crown Heights Info reported.

Rabbi Levi Raices, who originally hails from Brooklyn, has served the Jewish community, along with his wife and 10 children in Kharkov since Chanukah 1993.

“We experienced just plain fear, but mostly we were focused on helping other people get over their fear because people are scared, and they come to us,” Rabbi Raices said on TorahCafe before Russia invaded Ukraine, but the threat hung in the air. “We help Jews to live as Yidden in whatever ways we can.”

Last night, when he and his family arrived, Rabbi Raices briefly spoke to the crowd that had assembled, he thanked everyone for their tefillos, however, he pointed out that many thousands of Jews remained in danger in Ukraine.