- April 14, 2026
- 9:02 pm
- Ukraine
On March 26, 2026, Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine reported an event that holds not only religious but also cultural and historical significance for Ukraine. The Judaica Department of the Institute of Manuscripts of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine received a Ukrainian edition of the Torah as a gift — a bilingual book with the original Hebrew text alongside the Ukrainian translation.
This is not just the transfer of a rare edition to the library’s collection. It is the first-ever Jewish translation of the entire Torah, or the Five Books of Moses, into Ukrainian. The very appearance of such a text can already be considered a milestone for Ukrainian Jewish life, for the academic community, and for the preservation of the country’s shared cultural heritage.
What exactly was transferred to the library
Two copies of the book were received by the Judaica Department. One was donated by the Ukrainian Association of Judaica, and the other by the Religious Community of Jews of Mariupol.
This adds additional depth to the event. The transfer took place on the eve of Passover, one of the main holidays of Judaism, as well as during the days of remembrance for the people of Mariupol who perished at the hands of Russian invaders in the Mariupol Drama Theater in March 2022.
Such context makes the news much broader than a regular report about a new library acquisition. The book is connected with living religious tradition, with the memory of a destroyed city, and with the attempt to preserve Jewish presence in Ukrainian history not only through archives but also through contemporary words.
Why this edition has already made history
The main thing in this story is the scale of the project itself. For the first time, a complete Jewish translation of the Torah into Ukrainian was accomplished. The edition is bilingual, which means it is important simultaneously for religious study, for the academic community, for the translation tradition, and for future work with Jewish heritage in Ukraine.
Such books do not appear by chance and are not made “for show.” They change the very architecture of the cultural space. When a sacred text becomes available in Ukrainian, it means that Jewish tradition gains another stable form of presence within Ukrainian culture.
Who initiated the publication of the Torah in Ukrainian
The publication was carried out in 2025 at the initiative of the Council of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine. The book was published in Kharkiv with a print run of 15,000 copies.
This is an important number. Such a print run indicates that the project was conceived not as a narrow symbolic gesture but as a real tool for spreading knowledge. We are not looking at a single copy for display or an academic rarity for a few specialists. This is a full-fledged edition intended for wide use.
Against the backdrop of war, such work resonates especially strongly. Ukraine continues to defend not only its territory but also its multilayered historical fabric, of which Jewish heritage is a part. It is in this context that the news of the book’s transfer to the Judaica collection acquires national significance.
In this sense, NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency view the story not as a local note for a narrow circle but as an important signal that Jewish life in Ukraine continues to speak, translate, preserve, and pass on its texts further, despite war and losses.
What Rabbi Meir Tzvi Stambler said
The head of the Council, Rabbi Meir Tzvi Stambler, emphasized that from now on, the knowledge of the Almighty — the study of the Torah — will also be heard in Ukrainian. He called this an outstanding milestone for the Jewish people.
There is no unnecessary rhetoric in these words. They accurately describe the essence of what happened. The sacred text is not just translated. It is included in a new linguistic space where it can live, be read, studied, and be part of everyday religious and cultural practice.
Memory, language, and tradition at the same time
The transfer of the Ukrainian edition of the Torah to the Vernadsky National Library is a story about a book, but not only about a book. It is a story about how language becomes a means of preserving tradition. About how a library becomes a place for recording not only the past but also the present. And about how even in years of war, projects emerge that work for decades ahead.
The event on the eve of Passover and during the days of remembrance for the victims of Mariupol makes this news especially strong. Here, the religious calendar, national pain, Jewish memory, and Ukrainian cultural work converge.
Therefore, we are not looking at a passing informational occasion, but an important sign of the times: the Torah in Ukrainian has already become part of history, and its appearance in the collection of the country’s main library cements this not only spiritually but also institutionally.
