Beri Foundation in Ukraine: Alisa Rostovtseva on Emergency Aid, Community, and Jewish Mutual Support

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/02/21

 Alisa Rostovtseva is a Jewish Ukrainian community organizer and humanitarian volunteer who assisted evacuation efforts after the 2022 full-scale invasion, drawing on networks formed in Mariupol and across frontline regions. She helps coordinate the Beri Foundation’s support for displaced and isolated Jewish families, especially mothers with children living outside major centers of Jewish communal life. Her work blends emergency relief—such as rapid fundraising for medical needs and winter equipment—with community rebuilding through holiday packages, camps, and online “Circle of Support” psychological programming. Marik emphasizes mutual aid, dignity, and belonging as core principles.

In conversation with Scott Douglas Jacobsen, Alisa Marik describes the Beri Foundation’s origins in wartime evacuation work and its guiding idea: no separation between helpers and helped. She outlines rapid winter relief during blackouts, including portable gas stoves and essential supplies. She explains how small donations and partner networks enable fast responses to urgent needs, from wheelchairs to hearing aids. Beyond material assistance, Marik highlights community camps, Jewish educational programming, and psychologist-led group and individual support via Zoom. Holiday packages and local meetups sustain connection for families living far from Jewish communal centers.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: My understanding is that this is a new charity foundation. What was the inspiration for founding it? Following from that, what is its scope of operation?

Alisa Rostovtseva: Before the full-scale invasion, I assisted a rabbi in Mariupol. When the full-scale war began in 2022, I spent much of the first year helping with evacuations from Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, and frontline areas. I built an extensive contact list of people who fled their homes. My involvement with the foundation began when the team called me and said they wanted to help these people. I did not ask whether it was paid work or volunteering. I said yes immediately. I already had a base of contacts, I understood the needs, and I knew I had to find people who could help. 

My inspiration comes from my experience. I am in the same situation as many of the people we help. One difference between our foundation and others is that we do not separate “us” and “them.” We see ourselves as one community. When I ask people about their needs, I tell them we are one team. Our shared purpose is to help our children. Sometimes people ask me whether I have children. I say yes—in a sense, I have 250 children, and even more. That is my inspiration: they are in a situation similar to mine. 

Once, when I came from Mariupol to Vinnytsia, I visited a large organization focused on aliyah, Jewish immigration to Israel. For example, the Jewish Agency for Israel, often called Sokhnut, supports aliyah. I believe that aliyah can help Jewish people find safety and community, and that this can be a force for good. They asked when I would go to Israel as part of the Jewish nation. I said that as long as there are Jewish people in Ukraine whom I can help, I will stay. As long as I can help, I will be here.

Jacobsen: Why focus on gas stoves for the winter? Is that primarily due to electrical instability and heating instability caused by electricity problems?

Rostovtseva: Yes.

Jacobsen: Beyond gas stoves, were there other urgent winter-related needs affecting very young or older adults that you identified?

Rostovtseva: This project developed very quickly. It felt like a minor miracle. When the blackouts began, we realized they would not last one or two days. Many families lived in buildings that depended on electricity. Without electricity, they had no heating, no hot water, no way to warm themselves, and no way to cook food. 

We reached out to our community—our Beria community—especially those living in such buildings who could not leave cities like Kyiv for villages and had no way to relocate. We compiled a list of families. The list was not very large, but it was manageable. The situation was urgent because it was very cold. Temperatures dropped to minus 22 degrees Celsius in buildings without heating or hot water. We immediately began calling our friends.

The team called their  friends in Israel and asked whether they could help. It was not a large amount, but it was enough. We collected the funds, ordered the gas stoves, and distributed them to families very quickly. These were portable gas stoves, commonly used for travel or camping, and they were easy to operate. Families later sent us videos showing how simple they were to use. With a small gas canister, people could boil water, make tea, and warm themselves slightly during freezing conditions, including temperatures around minus 22 degrees Celsius, when there was no heating. The project moved very quickly, and the pace felt like a minor miracle.

I think I did not always answer this clearly, so I would love to add this to the text. We try to closely follow the situation and help with everything we realistically can. In addition to gas stoves, we have provided blankets and pillows for displaced families and for those who stayed in their homes, flashlights, and USB-powered lamps. The USB lamps were especially important, because they are bright, hold a charge for a long time, and use very little power from a power bank, which allows children to do their homework even during blackouts.

I also want to emphasize that we try to take on as much as we can to support our people. We reach out to many organizations, and at the same time we are still a small foundation. We are flexible and fast, but we do not yet have the capacity to regularly and fully cover all needs. There are many requests, many urgent situations, and unfortunately we cannot help everyone at the scale we wish we could. But whenever we understand that something is truly urgent, we absolutely do everything possible to help.

Jacobsen: What about psychological support and social support as well?

Rostovtseva: Yes, we work in more than one way. In addition to humanitarian aid, we focus on community support. We organize camps several times a year. These are not only traditional Jewish camps with educators, culture, history, and learning about practices such as Shabbat, although that is an important part. Many participants arrive without much knowledge of Jewish traditions or roots, so this educational component matters. Another equally important part of the camps is psychological support. 

A team of psychologists joins the camp, and every family—typically mothers with children—can receive a short individual consultation. After that initial conversation, participants can decide whether they want ongoing support. We also run regular online meetings called the Circle of Support. These take place over Zoom with participants from across Ukraine. Psychologists lead discussions, guided practices, and structured activities, and participants can request individual psychological support if needed. 

There are two parallel forms of support: one focused on mental health and the other on community and tradition. We also hold informal community gatherings, sometimes called Kava V’Shala, which focus on conversation, tradition, and connection. Although these are not held on Shabbat itself, people spend time together in a spirit of communal sharing. We have plans to expand this model, including small exchanges among participants, such as sending challah or small gifts within the community. 

Throughout the year, the team travelled to different cities in Ukraine to meet participants in person. For example, we held a gathering in Bila Tserkva, where participants came from Kyiv, Zolotonosha, and surrounding areas. People came because they wanted to see each other, spend time together, participate in psychological practices, and take part in workshops, such as making challah together. These meetings strengthen both emotional support and community bonds.

Jacobsen: Because you have workshops, community programs, psychological support, and material aid, such as the gas stoves. What are the supports there?

Rostovtseva: Psychological support works in two main ways. One is group support, where many people meet together, and the other is individual support, where someone can request a one-on-one conversation with a psychologist. This also includes support for children. We maintain a list of children who need specialized help, such as psychological support, speech therapy, or educational assistance, like math or writing. 

If a family makes a request and we determine the need is real, we can help cover the cost of a specialist, such as a speech therapist. We also provide immediate support when necessary. Every family knows that if something urgent happens, they can contact us. For example, if someone needs a wheelchair, or in one case, a mother contacted us because her young son, around eight years old, had lost his hearing. 

We raised funds and purchased a hearing aid for him. We collected donations by posting on social media with a fundraising link. Many people responded, including our regular supporters, partners, and sponsors. We are grateful for their help with camps and meetings. Sometimes urgent needs cannot wait. Large foundations often require lengthy application processes, forms, and grants, but some children need help immediately. 

In those cases, we have a rapid-response support system. When families write to us needing funds for medical tests, treatment, or operations, we ask people to contribute small donations so help can be provided quickly.

Jacobsen: Looking ahead to 2026—spring, summer, and following winter—what do you see as the likely needs for Jewish communities in Ukraine?

Rostovtseva: We do have plans and ongoing projects, including our camp program, Camberry, and regular meetings with participants. At the same time, we continuously monitor current needs and requests, because circumstances change. For example, this winter brought widespread blackouts, while the previous year did not, and we could not have predicted the need for gas stoves in advance. In general, our plans include camps, celebrating Jewish holidays, and sending small gifts to participants. These are not large humanitarian shipments, but instead small gestures of support.

When we have the possibility, we send something useful, but even a small gift matters. It is a way of saying, “We remember you.” Many of these families do not live in large cities or in centers of Jewish life. Often, they are refugees who came to Kyiv, realized it was too expensive, and then moved to nearby small towns or villages. As a result, they are not surrounded by Jewish community life, and their connection to Jewish traditions weakens over time. This is not because they want it to weaken, but because of their circumstances. 

For example, if you live forty kilometres from Vinnytsia, you cannot attend communal activities every Shabbat. Gradually, the connection becomes weaker. Our audience is these participants—people living in places like Zolotonosha, Lutsk, and small villages. We try to maintain a connection and presence during holidays. For three to five holidays each year, such as Purim, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah, we send small holiday packages. 

These might include a card and sweets. This is not humanitarian aid; it is spiritual and communal support. It is about connection and reminding people that they are not forgotten and that they belong. When possible, we also include practical items. For example, recently we included flashlights for use during power outages.

Jacobsen: We can conclude with values. I have heard from different rabbis—Orthodox and others—about perspectives on tzedakah and charity. When you think about the Beri Foundation, which core Jewish ethical values come together in your work?

Rostovtseva: First of all, the people involved are very diverse. We are participants together, but many people only realized they were Jewish or had Jewish roots after the full-scale war began. There is a difference between my understanding of Jewish identity and a rabbinical definition, and that difference matters here.

Many families discovered their Jewish identity only when the war began, and they found themselves in crisis, not knowing where to turn. Suddenly, they realized they had Jewish roots and that there was a Jewish community they could reach out to. Our approach is based on equality. Everyone stands in a circle. It does not matter whether someone has been part of Jewish life for many years or is just beginning to reconnect. The foundation is built on mutual support. For me, one of the most essential values in Jewish culture and ethics is the commandment to love your neighbour as yourself.

Jacobsen: What I am hearing is that when you reach people in need, they also develop a stronger awareness of their Jewish identity. It is not only the individual, but something experienced through an extended community that comes to support them. That creates a very different emotional landscape. When people receive help, what kinds of words do they use to describe their experience?

Rostovtseva: First of all, it is about community and mutual help. We emphasize that people can support those around them. This is a core principle of Jewish community life: you find someone nearby and help them. It spreads outward like circles on water. Support becomes something shared by everyone. For me, it is essential to see how people help each other directly. We have a large Telegram group with different channels. 

One focuses on psychological support, another on sharing challah and food, and another specifically for requests for help. People can write that they need assistance. For example, someone might say they are coming to Kyiv with children and do not know how to get to a particular place. Families in Kyiv from our community will respond and offer to pick them up. These are people who have never met in person. They often know each other only through Zoom, but they step in to help. This is how community is built.

We also gather online for shared moments. During the summer, when there was a serious escalation of the war in Israel, we organized a large Zoom gathering for prayer. A rabbi from Jerusalem joined us, and participants came together from across Ukraine. Other organizations also joined, including representatives from the Jewish Agency. 

Prayer became a way to be together across distance. In our main chat, we also organize collective prayer through reading Tehillim. We send participants Tehillim books in Ukrainian. When someone is afraid—for example, during nighttime rocket attacks or while sheltering with children—they can write in the chat. Someone else may respond at three in the morning, saying they are reading specific chapters. Others join in, each taking a section. Together, we read the entire book through the night, sometimes more than once, during especially frightening nights. 

Because we cannot gather physically in synagogues or community centers—we are spread across villages, small towns, and large cities—this shared reading allows us to be together. The same happens when someone is facing medical treatment or surgery. Participants ask others to read specific chapters for someone in need. This is our way of staying connected, supporting each other, and being present as a community for the participants of the Beri Foundation.

This is how our community stays together and supports one another.

Jacobsen: A broader message I hear is that many people did not realize they had a community until this moment. This is something I have encountered in other interviews with Jewish people in the context of the war. Ukraine became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and gave up what was then the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances. 

Those assurances were later violated when Russia attacked and occupied Ukrainian territory, and Western guarantees did not prevent that outcome. Many Ukrainians may experience this as a form of betrayal. This war is the most significant conflict in Europe since World War II and carries substantial emotional weight. For me, there are historical echoes with Jewish experiences in Europe in the twentieth century, where Jewish communities were integrated into societies, later betrayed, forced to flee, and often turned away. 

Many eventually went to Israel after experiencing repeated abandonment. The situations are different, but the emotional pattern of betrayal feels similar. I think this helps explain Ukraine’s strong stance, including its refusal to concede territory. Ukrainians today may be experiencing a different and less extreme version of what Jewish communities endured decades ago. I do not know what this means in the long term, but it is instructive. 

For Jewish Ukrainians, this historical situation may not feel entirely new. It feels painful, but not unfamiliar to those with historical awareness.

Rostovtseva: I have felt this strongly since the beginning of the war. I am Jewish, and I am Ukrainian, and I cannot separate these identities. Many people think the same way, including soldiers. My father lives in Dnipro and is part of the Jewish community there. Many members of the Jewish community there joined the Ukrainian army. Some of them went to Israel when fighting escalated there and later returned to Ukraine. It is tough when war comes to your own country. In that sense, it feels like a double war.

What you are doing is essential, and it matters when people speak about Ukrainians. I am currently without electricity as well, which explains the interruptions. Information support is crucial. Many people do not realize how important it is to have people speaking about Ukraine, especially non-Ukrainians. Ukrainian voices are not as loud now as they were at the beginning of the war, so this kind of support matters.

Jacobsen: There are likely fewer journalists in Ukraine now than in earlier phases of the war. I do not know how many are in this city, but I am here. I am not the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, or Amnesty International, and so on. I do not have a large budget. I am one person with limited funding, telling stories. It is a small contribution.

Rostovtseva: Like our foundation, we also work with many small and large partners and friends, but we have many participants. Often, participants support each other directly. When we share donation links in our main community chat, people contribute what they can—sometimes small amounts, such as 100 or 200 hryvnias. 

For example, this is how we helped raise funds for a wheelchair for a child who could not walk. When I look at the donor lists, I often see the names of our own participants. These small contributions add up. Your work is essential because a single voice is hard to hear, but many voices together become loud. 

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for your time. I hope your electricity comes back soon. We will stay in touch.

Rostovtseva: Thank you very much. What you are doing is truly important, and I sincerely appreciate your attention to what is happening in our country and with the participants of our projects. A significant part of our work is individual support for Jewish families in Ukraine who are living in extremely difficult circumstances because of the war. At the moment, we support around 250 Jewish families who are in urgent need of assistance and social supervision. Unfortunately, this is also the most challenging area when it comes to finding funding. We would very much like to try to raise $50,000 specifically to provide support to these families.

For donations, please see data below:

CO CF «Beri»	Beneficiary  name:
Ukraine,Kyiv	City and Country:
kyiv, Leonid Kadenyuk Ave, 13a., Aprt. 18zip code 02094	Beneficiary’s address
JSC CB “PRIVATBANK”	Bank name:
1D HRUSHEVSKOHO STR., KYIV, 01001, UKRAINE	Bank address (include city):
PBANUA2X	Swift code:
UA593052990000026001021032491	IBAN number:
$	Currency for payment:

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