American Values, Jewish Values and Ukraine
Liev Schreiber spent April 2022 in Przemyśl, Poland, slicing vegetables for vats of borscht and roasting a literal ton of brisket to feed Ukrainians fleeing the war. “Let all who are hungry come and eat," he posted on Instagram, citing the obligation he learned from his Ukrainian grandfather.
He then made his way across the border into Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and listen to the Lviv Symphony Orchestra rehearse Mozart’s Requiem — at least when its members were not unloading the crates of food and medical supplies they stored where their audience used to sit.
That was the best Schreiber could do after he realized that he wasn’t brave enough to take to the battlefield and instead cofounded Blue Check Ukraine, which harnesses the generosity of donors by vetting and fast-tracking funds to charity organizations on the ground in Ukraine.
Most people assume Schreiber’s activism was spurred by his Ukrainian lineage, but he insists that his work instead reflects the best of his American values. “T[he] pure idea of democracy for me feels like it's being challenged all around the world right now,” he says, and he cannot abide the prospect of “democracy losing out to an authoritarian regime as powerful and as wide-reaching as the Kremlin.”
The five-time Golden Globe and three-time Emmy nominee joins us during Friday Night worship services to speak about America’s stake in Ukraine’s victory. After services, he and Michael Goldfarb, another Blue Check Ukraine cofounder, will sit down for a Q&A.
Actor, director and writer, Liev Schreiber has appeared in more than a dozen films, won a Tony award for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross, made his directorial debut with Everything Is Illuminated, starred in Ray Donovan, appeared as Otto Frank in the series A Small Light and plays Henry Kissinger in the 2023 film Golda. He is also ambassador of United24, a fundraising platform for medical care in Ukraine.
An independent strategic and crisis communications consultant, Michael Goldfarb served as the communications director for the US Section of Doctors Without Borders and has worked in active conflict zones and refugee camps from Afghanistan and Cameroon to South Yemen, Haiti and beyond.