The award ceremony was held on December 14 at the Taras Shevchenko National Museum in Kyiv. The event was organised by the Institute of Leadership and Management of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Special guests of the evening were Larysa Zalyvna, winner of the 2012 award, and Bishop Borys Gudziak, president of UCU.

The Light of Justice Award was established in 2010 by Anastasiia Shkilnyk, a Canadian of Ukrainian origin, and Borys Gudziak, Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and president of UCU, in honour of Anastasiia’s father, Dr. Mykhailo Shkilnyk, a lawyer and public and political figure from the time of the liberation movement in Ukraine in 1917–1920. This award is designed to draw attention to the value of leadership, the importance of moral principles in leadership, and the popularisation of examples of such leadership in Ukrainian society.

Since its foundation, the award has been given to five people: journalist and investigator of corruption schemes Natalia Sedletska (2017), former Ukrainian military Nadiia Savchenko (2015), a human rights activist from Luhansk Larysa Zalyvna (2012), leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement Mustafa Dzhemilev (2011), and publicist Yevhen Sverstiuk (2010).

This year, the winner was chosen among those who showed moral leadership during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. It was Leonid Finberg, a sociologist, researcher, and editor-in-chief of the Dukh I Litera publishing house.

“We are searching for people who, in everyday life, give us an example of sacrifice for the development of a democratic society. What it means to be a moral leader today and what the cost of that is are questions that the West should answer. One thing is clear: such people become value orientations for us; they create islands of a new Ukraine,” says Natalia Bordun, one of the organisers of the Light of Justice Award and director of the UCU Institute of Leadership and Management.

“Every period of time has its own needs. There are people who are rewarded after a certain moment, and there are people who work purposefully and persistently. This year’s winner, Leonid Finberg, is a man of systematic work who prefers to remain in the shadows,” says Bishop Borys Gudziak. “In my opinion, Leonid Finberg always creates relationships with his networking, shows how to consolidate society, and raises topics that society does not see.” Since the 1990s, Finberg has organised many initiatives calling for Ukrainian-Jewish reconciliation. He is also one of the founders of the Dukh I Litera publishing house, which publishes critical works that bring to Ukrainian culture what was forbidden. In this context, literature on Jewish heritage plays an important role.

In a special way, the chapter wants to reward Leonid Finberg and show the public his figure during the Maidan. Not only bullets are used in modern warfare. This is also a war of information. When the new political nation of Ukrainians showed that it was reaching a new maturity, an attempt was made to suppress this movement by casting a shadow of anti-Semitism on it. At that time, Finberg, along with other Jewish patriots, conducted a systematic action, explaining to the world that Jews are also on the Maidan and also support Ukraine. Such endurance at the frontline is an example of great courage.”

The most anticipated moment of the evening was the winner’s inaugural speech.

“We didn’t notice how much we changed because we compare our lives with what we have in other countries, while we need to compare our lives today with yesterday’s,” said Leonid Finberg. “Ukrainian cinema, which is becoming famous in the world, Ukrainian theatres are being revived, and important cultural institutions are being opened. Fantastic changes are also taking place in the Ukrainian book market. We have a true philosophical library, which consists of such representatives as Andrii Baumeister and Oleh Khoma. A historical library was also created, which breaks the myths of Soviet historiography, and Judaism is developing. Humanities and literature from Ukraine clearly predominate, and more and more people are buying Ukrainian translations. Another victory is Ukrainian children’s literature, whose individual works are printed in hundreds of thousands of copies.

Another positive change is that students get unique internship opportunities at foreign universities. I don’t think they can imagine that their parents didn’t even have a chance to go abroad. There are many impressive changes, and they give us the strength to overcome difficulties that no one but us can solve. The personal responsibility club is crucial to solving the problems in Ukraine. We need to create powerful intellectual centres that will dictate to the authorities how to act and make the right decisions. The key roles in this should belong to a new generation.”

Solemn speech of Leonid Finberg, editor-in-chief of Dukh I Litera Publishing House and director of the Center for Jewish Studies, on the occasion of presenting him with the Light of Justice Award for moral, spiritual, and ethical leadership.

We didn’t notice how much we changed. Our museums have become qualitatively different, and they are led by responsible professionals – large-scale figures – Taras Vozniak, Yuliia Lytvynets, Dmytro Stus, Oleksandr Rojtburd, and Petro Honchar. Ukrainian cinema was revived and, as in the past, during the time of Parajanov, Balaian, and Muratova, how it became a part of the national and international cultural life. “Cyborgs” by Akhtem Seitablaiev, Serhii Loznytsa’s films, and documentaries by Serhii Bukovskyi and Roman Shyrman have become an important part of Ukrainian contemporary culture. The network of Ukrainian theatres has expanded; there are now about 50 of them in Kyiv alone. Performances rose, and everything is now at a very high level, starting with directing and finishing with acting.

I’m talking about Morituri te salutant on the small stage of the Franko theater directed by Bohomazov, about the performances of the DAKH theatre directed by Vlad Troiitskyi and many other. In Kyiv, dozens of public and private cultural institutions compete every day, especially on weekends—the Arsenal and Gallery M17, Master Class and Kalita Art Centre, Izolyatsia, and Dukat. They offer exhibitions, concerts, workshops, and lectures.

Fantastic changes have also taken place in the area to which I am related and which I know better, which is the country’s book market. We have a completely new philosophical library, which is headed by the European Dictionary of Philosophies, a world intellectual bestseller published in Ukrainian under the editorship of Kostiantyn Sihov and Andrii Vasylchenko. Books by Andrii Baumeister, Volodymyr Yermolenko, and Oleh Khoma are available in this library. They were either written by them or were translated from other languages but were edited by them. We have a new historical library that presents the world and domestic history as an alternative to the Soviet and Russian lie that has been fed to generations of our grandparents, parents, and ourselves for a long time. We read books by Natalia Yakovenko, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Tamara Vronska, Serhii Plokhii, Timothy Snyder, David Sutter, and many others.

Judaism has been revived, and three universities have master’s programmes. We have published more than 100 books in our NaUKMA Judaica Centre alone (unfortunately, there are not so many competitors). We held about 30 scientific conferences and more than 60 art, historical, and cultural exhibitions.

Another victory is the Ukrainian children’s book, one of the most interesting in Europe. Some of these books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. This is a synthesis of texts and videos that have never existed before.

Our achievements are not only books but also libraries: translations of the humanitarian book supported by the Vidrodzhennia Foundation; European philosophy (projects of the Institute of Philosophy and the Dukh I Litera publishing house); Polish literature and journalism; the library of Judaism; the library of “Resistance and Hope”; “Figures of Culture;” and the library of Nobel laureates. I didn’t name all of them, even the ones I knew. But I emphasise that I am talking about libraries as a collection of books. We can also see significant changes in other areas of humanitarianism.

What are the opportunities for training and internships for young scientists and students? They can’t even imagine that their parents had to get permission from the party committees, which proved their trustworthiness, and also from the holders of a visa to leave the country, not just to study but simply to travel abroad.

The situation has also changed dramatically in the language sphere. If earlier Russian-language texts dominated and were responded to by important figures from Moscow and St. Petersburg, now, especially with the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, this information channel has practically ceased to exist. Ukrainian-language humanities and Ukrainian literature dominate. If, as a publisher, I get a good text written in Russian, then I look for translators in Ukrainian for it to be read. We frequently refuse to publish texts, even good ones, in Russian—not because of us, but because of buyers.

It is important for me to say all this because we need to compare our present first of all with what we had yesterday. And only then with what is available in Berlin, Paris, or New York. That’s right; it doesn’t work otherwise. We can’t jump over that abyss, the Soviet-Russian one. Only occasionally can you crawl out of it, and even then, only with extreme effort.

Having noted the victories, I will focus on the challenges that urgently need to be addressed.

We do not keep our finger on the pulse of global humanitarian thought because we translate a relatively small number of books that educated communities need. Our distance from intellectuals and the public is prohibitively great, and we have not yet learned how to effectively disseminate contemporary ideas and books. We have minimal volumes of electronic versions of nonfiction; it practically does not exist. The problem requires systematic reflection. We are only taking the first steps abroad by distributing Ukrainian books. It is difficult to build chains between us and our partners in the world, but it is absolutely necessary. And the main issue is not communication. If we interest the world with outstanding experience and creative ideas, we will be heard!

I’ll try to identify ways to solve some of these problems.

First of all, no one but us will solve them. But how to do it?

We should clearly formulate the issue as a managerial task. We remember what Stanisław Jerzy Lec said: “It is easiest to hide your thoughts when they are not collected in words.” So, it is necessary to clearly answer the question of how to keep your finger on the pulse of world humanitarian science. To achieve this, it is necessary to unite a group of intellectuals (philosophers, historians, specialists in geopolitics, etc.) who will collect a data bank of texts that need to be translated and distributed. It is necessary to calculate the resources that are needed for this (finance, specialists, and publishers) and decide where to find them. There are a lot of such resources. You need to look for them in international and domestic foundations, contact philanthropists, and so on. Recently, state structures in this area, such as the Institute of Books, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, and the Ministry of Information, have started working quite effectively. Responsible business benefactors also lend their shoulders to important projects. I have dozens of confirmations from our experience alone. Someone personally or a group of people should take responsibility for solving the problem. It is critical to know how many people are willing to accept such responsibility. Independent public organisations play a significant role in society. The Ukrainian PEN Club continues to win projects, and the post-Soviet Union of writers—whose genes are inextricably linked to Sovietism—continues to have endless internal conflicts. This aspect of personal responsibility is crucial, as it determines whether or not we will feel responsible for all the significant problems facing the nation. If “no,”  we are doomed to defeat. If “yes,” we should do it. We need to create powerful intellectual centres that will formulate and dictate to society. The government needs to structure a list and hierarchy of problems that need to be solved together. The activity of the “Club of Rome” can be analogised to some extent.

I don’t have a ready-made recipe for how to form such intellectual centres, but I have absolute confidence that they are vital. I am ready to join the creation of one of these centres, clearly understanding that the key roles here should belong to our children, who are more energetic, more educated, and so on.

The leading role in the implementation of this idea should be played by individuals who feel responsible for themselves, the fate of their children, and the fate of the country in memory of their great predecessors.

Maidan did not end in 2014. The humanitarian development of Ukraine is one of our Maidan events today, and the drama here is no less than then. Not just the east of Ukraine is experiencing the war. We also have our own battlefield, perhaps safer but no less responsible.

We have come a long way in recent years, and what we have done allows us to speak of Ukraine as one of the centres of freedom and democracy in the modern world.

Our potential is the solidarity of Ukrainian intellectuals, proven in many cases. They need to be fixed adequately, organisationally, recognising the importance of this step. Inner solidarity and solidarity with the democratic civilised forces in the world are with those for whom the ethical values of Judeo-Christian civilisation are the guiding principles of life, for whom human rights and the legal culture of the civilised world are not just words but absolute values.

The award is designed to draw attention to the value of leadership, the importance of moral principles in leadership, and the popularisation of examples of such leadership in Ukrainian society. After all, with their dedicated work, the laureates showed a willingness to help people in times of perhaps the greatest fear of COVID-19 and the uncertainty caused by it.

“During COVID, the Light of Justice Award will be presented to two doctors. Thanks to them and many other quiet heroes, including doctors and nurses, thousands of lives were saved. With this award, the chapter wants to emphasise that justice is shown wherever you are and act. It is best manifested in a place where there is a need for a neighbour,” says the co-founder of the Light of Justice Award, Borys Gudziak, archbishop and metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia

Eight people have been awarded since the foundation, among them: publicist Yevhen Sverstiuk; leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement Mustafa Dzhemilev; journalist and investigator of corruption schemes Natalia Sedletska; editor-in-chief of the Dukh I Litera publishing house, Leonid Finberg; and head of the Forest Initiatives and Society NGO, Dmytro Karabchuk

“I don’t belittle what I and all my colleagues are doing. It’s great that it’s been recognised. Moreover, I am glad that there are some awards that I am not ashamed to accept. “When I see Mustafa Dzhemilev or Yevhen Sverstiuk among the awardees, I understand that I am on a list that, from my point of view, I have not yet earned to be on,” Leonid Finberg said during the award ceremony in 2018.

You can support doctors this year by joining the live broadcast of the ceremony, which will take place on February 18 at 6 p.m. A link to the event will be sent to registered guests: http://bit.ly/2O9Nvog.

The programme of the event includes the inaugural speech of the laureates, the presentation of the Light of Justice scholarship to a student with an active public position, a screening of a film with the co-founder of the award, Anastasiia Shkilyk, and a performance by a musical group.

Accredited journalists will be sent the programme of the event that will take place at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Centre: http://bit.ly/37gn8DU

Photo: Archive / Ukrainian Catholic University