Travel: Ukraine
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Bare Trees In The Ukraine: Inspiring Photos Taken From The Car Window
On our recent trip to the Ukraine we spent many hours traveling by car, and I was mesmerized by the patterns I saw in the bare trees. Field after field after field, lines and lines and lines of bare trees that beckoned to be sketched into a pattern, to march along the fabric I was designing in my head……..I kept thinking about sketch books and the idea of recording such inspiration, and fortunately thought to just take some photos, blurry or not, from the window of the car. Knowing that I had captured this inspiration gave me great comfort, and hopefully I’ll have some time to use these images for…
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Swans On An Early Spring Day In The Ukraine
On our trip to the Ukraine this past Passover we visited the The Mezhyhirya Residence, an estate near Kyiv, in the Ukraine, where Viktor Yanukovych lived (and spent tons of money on himself) when he was Prime Minister and then President of Ukraine. The Estate is now a park open to the public, and while our visit occurred during the very early Spring, when the gardens were still sleeping, we had a wonderful time just watching the beautiful swans, and photographing them as well. For those of you who are swan lovers, or never really gave swans much thought, enjoy my photos and don’t forget to spend some time just…
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Vernacular Ukrainian Architecture In The Western Ukraine Countryside
I love vernacular architecture and so I especially enjoyed viewing all the charming cottages in the Western Ukrainian countryside on our recent trip to the Ukraine. Most of the houses I saw were viewed either from the car or on days when I did not have a camera with me, though on our visit to Mezhybiz I did have a camera, so I took photos of all the houses on the one dirt road near the Jewish quarter of town that took up to the Historic Baal Shem Tov shul. Please understand it was still very much winter, and zero degrees with flurries, which is why the photos are so…
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The Gravesite Of The Baal Shem Tov, Medzhybizh, Ukraine
The father of the Jewish Hassidic movement was a very special and holy man by the name of Rebbi Yisrael Ben Eliezer, The Baal Shem Tov. For those who view Kabbalah as Jewish mysticism that is trendy, well I have news for you! Hassidic Judiasm is actually a way of Jewish Torah observance that includes Kabbalistic ideas. So while Hassidic Jews may look like the most old fashioned folks on earth, they are actually the ones truly living the Kabbalah……how’s that for a fresh outlook? The Baal Shem Tov is buried in Medzhybizh, Western Ukraine, and his burial site together with several hotels and historic and modern day shuls has…
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The Historic Baal Shem Tov Shul In Medzhybizh, Ukraine
On our recent trip to the Ukraine for the Passover holiday, we made sure to save a day to travel to Medzhybizh to visit the grave site of the very holy Baal Shem Tov, who lived in Medzhybizh from 1742 until his passing in 1760, and was buried there in the old Jewish cemetary. Because the Baal Shem Tov is the father of Hasidism, he has many many many “children” who come to pay their regards from all over the world. That said, the trek to Medzhybizh, in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast province in Western Ukraine, is not simple, because of its location quite a distance from airports, and because the country roads…
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Reb Nosson’s Gravesite In Breslov, Ukraine
During our Passover trip to the Ukraine, we had the opportunity to the gravesite of the very great Reb Nosson, the student of Rebbi Nachman of Breslev. This was my second trip to this special location, and while this time winter still had its grasp on the area, the beauty and peaceful countryside location was just as lovely as I remembered. You can see my recent posts showing the Old Cemetary In Bratslav, The Soliterman Family Mill In Bratslav, and Mass Holocaust Gravesites In Bratslav, to get an even better look at our visit. The Ukraine is a very interesting country, with lots of rich (and sad) Jewish history,…
