Head of Ukraine’s council of churches is a rabbi from New York

JTA — An American rabbi is heading Ukraine’s national council of churches.

New York-born Yaakov Dov Bleich, who is one of two Orthodox Jewish individuals widely recognized as chief rabbi of Ukraine, in January will end his six-month stint as chairman of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, Tablet Magazine reported last week in an interview with Bleich.

Bleich, who has worked in Ukraine since 1990, in June took over the title, which rotates automatically among the 18 organizations of various religious faiths and streams represented at the Council, of which one is Jewish and two are Muslim.

“As I see it, my mandate is to do something that unites all the different religious leaders of the Ukrainian churches, so that the council retains its relevance,” Bleich told Tablet. The council steers decisions affecting faith communities but also has served as a power broker through various events and crises since Ukraine declared its independence in 1991.

Ukraine’s territorial conflict with Russia, which erupted in 2014, has stoked divisions among Ukrainian churches, as well as some Jewish groups.

During a December 17 council meeting that Bleich chaired, the group passed a motion calling on Russia to release Ukrainian prisoners and another declaration naming 2019 “The Year of the Family” in recognition of “the challenges faced by the institution of family and marriage as a union between men and women,” the council said.