Yida: A Break To Her Loneliness
Yida, born in Ukraine in 1931, grew up in a very religious Jewish family. Her parents strictly observed the Sabbath and other Jewish holidays, and took Yida and her three siblings to synagogue every week. Yida especially remembers the family's bright and joyous Purim and Hanukkah celebrations.
Today, there is nothing left of Yida's family except these precious memories. Her parents and siblings are gone, and her husband and their only child, a son, died several years ago. Now, she is absolutely alone in Ukraine.
Yida struggles with poor health. Hypertension and crippling arthritis make it difficult for her to move around on her own. Her financial situation is likewise desperate. With her only source of income a monthly government pension of $44 - almost half of which goes toward utilities -- she cannot afford much-needed repairs and improvements to her home, which has no central heating or running water.
But a local Hesed center, one of many throughout the former Soviet Union (FSU) sponsored by your donations to The Fellowship's Isaiah 58 program, provides a ray of light in Yida's difficult life. Through Hesed - a Hebrew word meaning "loving kindness" - Yida receives a variety of assistance, including food, medication, and winter relief items such as blankets and heating fuel. Regular visits from a Hesed homecare worker help break through her loneliness.
Thank God for the Isaiah 58 partners who fund centers such as this! Please give generously today to this lifesaving program - so that Yida, and thousands more Jews in the FSU trapped in poverty and isolation, may continue to know the "loving kindness" of Isaiah 58.