In Ukraine — the very country that Russian propaganda has spent years trying to portray as needing “denazification” — there is a wine with a Hebrew name: Yafe Nagar / יפה נהר.

This is not marketing exotica and not a random play with a Jewish theme. The wine, produced by the Ukrainian winery Beykush, is dedicated to the Jewish winemakers of the Black Sea region and to the memory of the colony of Efingar — a Jewish agricultural settlement in southern Ukraine whose history began in the early nineteenth century and was tragically cut short during the Holocaust.

The official page of the Ukrainian producer Beykush, located at 73/2, Chornomorka, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, describes Yafe Nagar as a dry white wine from its historical series: a blend of Chardonnay and Riesling dedicated to the Jewish winemakers of the Black Sea region.

The name Efingar is connected with the Hebrew expression יפה נהר — “beautiful river.” In Slavic usage, several forms appear: Efingar, Efingary, and Efengar. The Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia describes it as a Jewish agricultural colony on the Inhul River, in the former Kherson Governorate, on the territory of today’s Mykolaiv region of Ukraine.

There is a small discrepancy regarding the date of its foundation. Beykush, on the wine’s page, gives the year 1807, while the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia gives 1809. The most careful formulation is therefore this: the colony was founded in the early nineteenth century, with 1807 and 1809 both appearing in different sources.

In 1835, the colony had 755 residents. In 1845, Efingar had 99 households — 60 stone houses and 39 earthen homes — two Jewish prayer houses, a shop, and a bathhouse. There were 111 families registered there, while 15 families were listed as not yet permanently settled.

This detail matters because it does not change the essence of the story. In southern Ukraine, there truly existed a Jewish agricultural settlement connected with farming, viticulture, crafts, trade, and the life of a Jewish community outside the usual image of the Eastern European shtetl.

Not Only Memory, but Labor

The history of Efingar is the story of people who tried to build a new life on the land. The first decades were difficult: lack of experience, poor harvests, poverty, and a struggle for survival.

One detailed historical account of the colony recalls the........

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