I am Ukrainian.

As far as my mom and dad know, there isn’t a single drop of Jewish blood in me. But I’m so glad to have the chance to be, at least, Israeli.

Yes, that’s me wearing more modest clothes when I go to my favorite shop run by religious Jews — the prices there are lower.

Yes, that’s me who worked for many years at the Great Choral Synagogue — wake me up in the middle of the night, and I’ll still be able to tell you the story behind any Jewish holiday.

Yes, that’s me who averts her eyes from religious men, who doesn’t turn on the washing machine, and tries not to drive through a religious neighborhood on Shabbat.

Not because anyone makes me.

Because… I am a guest in the home of the Jewish people.

Thank you for letting me be with you — in moments of joy, and in moments as difficult as these.

עם ישראל חי — a one-day photo project, shot from sunrise to sunset on October 20, 2023, about people who keep living with wide open hearts, even through the pain that suffocates.

All participants received their color photos.

They will appear on my page after the war ends.