The rich and diverse Jewish heritage makes Ukraine an essential destination for those who want to get to know and understand their past.

Jews were a huge creative force in Ukraine -- from the Nobel Prize winning Israeli writer Agnon to the violinist Isaac Stern. Israeli Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol both came from Ukraine as did the writer and political leader Zeev Jabotinsky.

Ukraine was also a rich centre for Jewish spirituality and remains a place of inspiration. Our tour to Western Ukraine takes you through Kosiv where Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (Ba'al Shem Tov) founded the Chasidic movement- nearby you can collect a pebble as a memento from his mikva -- a pool in a Carpathian mountain stream. Not far from there is Vizhnitsa home of the Hager dynasty of Rabbis. You will also visit Chernivtsi in Bukovina and Lvov (Lviv in Ukrainian, once Lemburg under the Hapsburgs) both lovely old cities that once had thriving Jewish communities and where today you can still see the buildings that were synagogues and places of Jewish learning . You will also see how many of these communities are, with outside help, being revived -- synagogues have been reopened and schools ring with the sound of children learning the great tradition.

Olyanna is a UK based travel company that specialises in arranging tours in Ukraine. We have years of experience arranging individual and group tours for Jewish visitors who want to find out more about Jewish history or their family heritage.