Providing Warm Homes for Elderly Jews

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Even in Israel, winter can be severe. Especially for the elderly poor…

The photos of the Western Wall, Temple Mount, and other parts of Jerusalem covered with snow are like the beautiful winter scenes you might see on a postcard.

Winter Suffering
But thinking of frail, elderly people living in unheated rooms and apartments during this kind of cold brings the true picture into sharp focus. As one older Israeli man told a Fellowship worker, "People don't realize how cold it gets in Israel in the winter!"

Rabbi Eckstein has experienced Israel's winters, which he says can be "surprisingly cold," and he has been in the homes of the elderly who cannot afford to pay for heat. So when The Fellowship was asked to provide support for a program of aid called "Winter Heat for the Golden Age," we readily agreed to help.

Thanks to the generous gifts of our many faithful Guardians of Israel, this has been an extremely effective program. For example, during the winter of 2009, some 48,000 elderly people benefited from this critical assistance, of whom almost 40 percent were Holocaust survivors.

Golden Age Need The "Winter Heat for the Golden Age" project came about because thousands of Israelis in their socalled golden years must make such heartbreaking choices in the winter as whether to eat, heat their homes, or forgo their medications.

One study revealed that 20 percent of all the elderly in Israel reported that they were cold during the winter. That's a staggering number of people, considering that the elderly population in the Holy Land is about 670,000.

But thanks to compassionate Fellowship supporters, tens of thousands of older people who live on government stipends are being helped with their bills this winter. These funds will enable them to keep warm during the cold winter months.

"My heart is grieved to think of the Jewish elderly, whether in Russia or in Jerusalem, having to decide between food and other necessities," Rabbi Eckstein said. "And these are not one-time decisions, but an ongoing reality for many of these men and women.

"When the Israeli government first asked us to assist with the winter heat project several years ago, we were shocked at the extent of the needs among tens of thousands of older Israelis. We have other programs to help them, but we knew something needed to be done to meet their need for assistance in the winter," he added.

Living without Heat
The story of Olga provides a vivid reminder of how serious this need can be. She and her mother came to Israel from the former Soviet Union some years ago to live out Olga's dream of spending her final years in the Holy Land.

Olga's apartment needed a heater and a stove, which she was able to purchase with their modest government stipend allowance. "We spent all of our money on these because they are the two most basic living necessities that you need in the winter—the harshest time of year for us elderly."

Olga was too old to be hired for many jobs after they came to Israel, but she still had to support herself and her mother. So Olga worked hard for seven years cleaning houses. "I used all my earnings for food, medicine, and electricity, so thank God we didn't go hungry."

But then the heater in Olga's apartment broke, and she had no money to repair it. She and her mother lived through two freezing winters without any heat before the heater could be repaired. "The only thing we could do was pile on blankets and try to stay warm," she recalled.

Even with a repaired heater, however, the cost of heating was still beyond Olga's budget. When she was told she would have heat thanks to The Fellowship and Christians in America, she cried with gratitude. "This is really a lifesaving blessing for me," she said.

"The heater is so expensive that the only time I can use it is when The Fellowship helps to pay for it. I have seen firsthand the dire consequences for elderly people not having heat. Thank you for giving me warmth."

Expanded Outreach
Our goal this winter is to do everything possible to ensure that such tragedies do not occur again. It is our joyful privilege to help tens of thousands of other older Jewish people like Elana who need our assistance.

Elana is a Holocaust survivor who lives in the town of Lod. She spends her days and her sparse resources caring for her son, an Israeli military veteran who was wounded during the Six Day War.

"My son is housed in a nearby facility for injured veterans, and he can't take care of himself," Elana explained. "Although I live on a fixed income, and I don't have enough for all of my needs, as long as I'm alive I want to give him as much as possible.

"I've known a lot of hardship in my life, and I'm used to doing without a lot, but I can’t do enough for my son. He was injured defending our country and I want him to have as much as I can give."

Many Trials
Elana's hardships began early in life when she, her parents, and her older sister were arrested by the Nazis and sent to the infamous Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Elana and her sister were rescued and sent to England on a transport.

England's decision to open its borders to children, mostly Jewish, who were fleeing the Nazis helped save the lives of Elana and her sister. "But I never saw my parents again," she said with deep sadness.

One cost of Elana's admirable devotion to her son is that she has been going without heat in the winter for some time.

"I live in a senior citizen's residence that doesn't have central heating in the apartments. If we want to keep warm, we need to buy radiators and then pay the electric bills when we use them. What can I say? Those are expenses that can be better used to help my son."

One of our Fellowship staff members in Jerusalem asked Elana how she managed to do without heat during the cold winters before receiving help with her heating needs. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm a warm person. I put on some extra sweaters and stayed under the blankets."

Christian Friends
"It's only because of the generosity of Rabbi Eckstein and your Christian donors that I now have heat in my apartment," Elana continued.

"I look at how much you help, and it brings tears to my eyes to see true Christian love. As a young girl my life was saved because Christians understood that children needed to be rescued from the Nazis.

"And now, as an old woman, I can stay warm in the winter because Christians understand how important this is. Your blessings and generosity warm me as much as the heat. Thank you."

Please donate to Guardians of Israel today to give comfort to suffering elderly Jews like these

Learn more about this project