The war in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than 1,000 days, continues to produce exciting stories.
Such is the story of a refugee, a Ukrainian gentile, who converted and married last week according to the Mosaic and Jewish law to his Jewish wife, to whom he had been married until now in a civil marriage - after being moved by the gesture of Chabad emissaries on behalf of the refugees.
The couple lived until the war in Berdyansk, a small town in the Zaporozhye region of eastern Ukraine, a short distance from the Russian border. They fled by the skin of their teeth on the first day of the war after Russian infantry forces invaded and captured it.
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But the Ukrainian couple - she is Jewish, named Daniela, who even attended a Haredi high school in the country, and he is a Gentile, named Andrey - split up on their escape route, fearing that the Russians would kill all the men they met. The husband fled on a motorcycle to get away from the area as quickly as possible, and the wife traveled in an old family car, along with their son David, under constant bombardment.
Thus, while Andrey managed to escape the country the very next day, Daniela arrived only a day later in the city of Dnipro in the east of the country, where the offices of the Jewish community administration in Ukraine are located - and to which tens of thousands of Jews have flocked.
In Dnipro, they were received by the members of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine (FJCU) and made sure to accommodate them in one of the dozens of buildings prepared for this purpose. A few days later, they boarded a train that departed for Moldova, along with thousands of other Jewish refugees. From Moldova, Daniela and Bena welcomed them to Romania and from there to Hungary - there, in the Chabad refugee camp set up by the Torah Observant Community of Hungary (EMIH) for the benefit of the Federation and the refugees from Ukraine, the family was reunited.
After a year and a half in the refugee camp, during which their son Aviram was born, Daniela and Andrei decided to move to Budapest. During this time, Daniela began to observe the mitzvot and Andrei expressed a growing interest in Judaism - and they wanted to live near a vibrant Jewish community.
The couple enrolled their two children in EMIH's thriving educational institutions and began working in community institutions - she in one of the kindergartens and he in a community nursing home.
The continuous work with the Jewish community, as well as hosting on Shabbat at the home of Rabbi Shlomo Kovesh, did their part - and Andrei decided that he wanted to convert, after being deeply impressed by the rabbi's activities and the activities of Chabad emissaries in Hungary and Ukraine for the refugees.
After a year of in-depth and intensive Jewish studies and after it became clear that he was serious about his intentions, a conversion ceremony was held last month by a rabbi who came especially from Israel, and last night the refugee couple's Jewish wedding took place.
In an exciting closing of the circle, the wedding was held in the refugee camp in Belton, which still hosts Jewish refugees from Ukraine - and Rabbi Kobash was honored to be the one performing the consecration.
The one who managed to obtain a visa and arrive at the surprise wedding was Daniela's mother, who lives in Kazakhstan and hasn't seen her daughter in over a decade.
The groom and new Jew, Daniel, said at the event that he decided to convert after getting to know Jews and Judaism closely and seeing the dedication and caring of "Rabbis Stambler and Kosh - in Ukraine and Hungary - for their communities and also for those who don't know them.".
Rabbi Kovesh: "This wedding is a sign of the flourishing of Jewish life in Hungary. More and more Jewish families are moving here from all over Europe, knowing that this is the safest country for Jews on the continent. Without a doubt, the story of this family joining our community was one of the most exciting that has happened in recent years. Welcome to the Jewish people, Daniel.".
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