Rav of Kyiv, HaRav Yonatan Markovich, who fled Ukraine last week, participated in the shiur of HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef in Jerusalem on Motzei Shabbos.

HaRav Yosef began the shiur by revealing the reason for Rav Markovich’s dramatic rescue from Kyiv under fire.

“Rav Markovich was in Kyiv until last Thursday. He took care of all the kehilla’s needs until last Thursday he received a message from the Mossad that the Chechens want to harm him. The soldiers smuggled him out and he was saved. He came to Israel on Thursday night. Not just him – other Rabbanim in Ukraine left there, saving their lives.”

HaRav Markovich then spoke and said: “A few weeks ago I received a letter from HaRav Yosef regarding the situation in Ukraine, that the Jews should be persuaded to leave and of course to help them with whatever’s possible.”

“It wasn’t shayach to try to persuade them to leave, whoever was able to leave already left. But I decided that if I received such a letter from the Rav, I need to take action.”

“I went and purchased tons of food so we’ll have a supply. Today there’s hardly any food in Kyiv. The only food that’s there is in the zechus of that letter from the Rav. We can see how much HaRav Yosef thinks about Am Yisrael, worrying about every Jew in every location.”

“We have the zechus, I have the zechus to be together with the Rav, to listen to his Torah, and understand that everything the Rav says is Kodesh Jedoshim. In the zechus of that letter from the Rav – thousands of Jews were saved because they now have food to eat.”

Rav Markovich modestly left out his vital role of personally purchasing and distributing the food and tending to his community in a war zone, giving all the credit to HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)