Kherson’s only synagogue has been damaged, but not destroyed, while Rabbi Wolff ‘miraculously’ avoided death or injury
October 24, 2025 12:27
A rabbi in Ukraine narrowly escaped with his life when a Russian projectile hit Kherson’s only synagogue, having left the premises moments earlier to install a mezuzah at the home of a member of the local community, according to the Chabad movement and the country’s chief rabbi.
The incident, characterised by Chabad as a “miracle”, occurred yesterday, when an estimated 130 drones were launched from Russia into eastern and southern Ukraine yesterday, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The projectile damaged but did not destroy the city’s only synagogue, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Wolff, said, as it pierced the structure but did not explode.
There are several hundred Jewish households in the the southern Ukrainian city, and the rabbi had gone out “minutes earlier” to put up a mezuzah at the home of one of a community member, Chabad said.
✨ Mezuzah Mission Protects Kherson Rabbi From Direct Missile Strike On Synagogue pic.twitter.com/EaLBsyGT5o
— Chabad.org (@Chabad) October 23, 2025
Rabbi Wolff, an Israel-born Chabad-Lubavitch emissary whose has been living in Ukraine with his wife, Chaya, for more than 30 years, said of the synagogue: “There’s damage but it’s not destroyed and it’s fixable, because whatever hit the place miraculously passed right through its walls without exploding.”
This was not the rabbi’s first close call; in July, he was travelling by car with his wife and their daughter when a Russian drone hit their car. The Wolffs were about a mile from a checkpoint outside the city when the drone hit, mangling the engine without injuring any of the passengers.
The following month, a Russian drone damaged and caused a fire at the Old Peresip Synagogue – also known as the Nahalat Eliezer Synagogue – in Odesa. A few days before that, the home of the secretary to Israeli ambassador Michael Brodsky was hit in a Russian drone and missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
Emergency services said that one rescue worker was killed and five others were wounded yesterday putting out a fire caused by one of the drones in the town of Zelenyi Hai in the eastern Kharkiv region, news agency AFP reported.
Tonight, a synagogue in Kyiv was attacked, and this morning, the Russian army targeted a synagogue in Kherson.
— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine Moshe Azman (@RabbiUkraine) October 23, 2025
But a great miracle happened! Although the rocket hit the synagogue directly, it did not explode! Praise the Almighty!
The rocket damaged the roof and interior of the… pic.twitter.com/oXnC6zgbaM
Commenting on the most recent attack, Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Moshe Azman noted that another synagogue, in the capital, Kyiv, had also been hit in the same day, but deemed the Kherson incident a “miracle”. He also warned of what he called a “worrying trend” in shuls being hit and appealed to Ukrainian Jews to take heed of air raid sirens.
Writing on X, Rabbi Azman said: Tonight, a synagogue in Kyiv was attacked, and this morning, the Russian army targeted a synagogue in Kherson. But a great miracle happened! Although the rocket hit the synagogue directly, it did not explode! Praise the Almighty! The rocket damaged the roof and interior of the synagogue, and there were people inside at the time, but there was no detonation. Praise the Almighty—it did not happen! I see a frightening trend, and I urge Jews to be very careful and not to ignore air raid sirens!”
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