Led by Edward G. Marks
Jewish life in Ukraine has changed dramatically since the country’s independence. Under the old Soviet system, Jews went to the back of many, many lines – for jobs, for apartments, for basic respect. Since the 1990s, Jews gain respect by what they do with their lives and how they relate to their neighbors – not by the accident of having been born Jewish.
Join us to learn a bit about the history and the recent lives of our Jewish friends in Ukraine, and the extent to which Putin’s unprovoked invasion has changed everyone’s lives.
Edward G. Marks retired in 2013 after practicing law in Greater Cincinnati for 46 years, following an initial career in broadcasting. He is now president of Temple Ahavat Shalom in Palm Harbor, FL.
In the 1990s, he and his wife began hosting visiting Ukrainians as part of a volunteer effort for the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project, and he traveled to Ukraine a number of times during his years as an active member and as president of CKSCP.
In 2016, he was invited to teach for a two-week period for The Leavitt Institute for International Development (“TLI”), which presents a two-semester course for law students and practicing lawyers, teaching the Rule of Law, the adversary system of justice, the jury system, and a judicial system free from corruption and graft. He has continued to teach for TLI, and now serves as Chair of its board of directors. TLI has offered classes in Moldova, Poland, and Romania, in addition to Ukraine.
Mr. Marks has traveled to Eastern European countries more than 30 times for these two organizations, and has developed close friendships with people from many walks of life and many age groups. He has developed a close friendship with Rabbi Alexandr Dukhovny, Chief Rabbi of the Progressive (Reform) Jewish community of Ukraine. Ed continues to communicate with a number of these friends, who have recently fled Ukraine for Italy, Israel, Denmark, Slovakia, and other places.
Ed and his wife were active through Jewish Family Services in their home town of Cincinnati, helping New Americans -- immigrants from the former Soviet Union -- acclimate to life in the United States.
In addition, and perhaps most importantly, Ed is the father of Ner Shalom Board Member, Alison Marks.