Faces of The Fellowship: Nekadam
The Fellowship | October 27, 2021
“This is still my home, but my heart is already in Israel,” says 77-year-old Nekadam, a new olim (immigrant), speaking of her hometown in Uzbekistan. This Jewish woman worked hard for most of her life as a laboratory chemist until retirement. She supported her two daughters after her husband passed away 30 years ago. She never imagined she would leave Uzbekistan, where she’s lived her entire life.
After all, she tells us how proud she is that the Jewish community there has held together over the centuries. Her earliest memories are of Shabbat and walking to the synagogue with her father. Then, in her elderly years, her oldest daughter became sick with cancer and everything changed.
Nekadam’s daughter, her best friend, Izabella was just 52 when she passed away nine months ago. “I miss her every second, hoping each morning to see her come to the kitchen and talk with me as we always did,” says Nekadam.
Today, as Nekadam grows weaker, suffering from limited mobility, she wants to be near her youngest daughter who made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) 12 years ago, who she also misses. “My home in Uzbekistan feels so empty. I want to be close to my daughter and spend time with my two grandchildren.”
With The Fellowship’s assistance and you, we arranged for her son-in-law to come all the way from Israel to help with the packing and accompany her on a Fellowship Freedom Flight. She hopes to make it to the Western Wall and share moments with her grandchildren. “I am so moved by the help from The Fellowship,” she says. “You are a beacon of light in my life!”
With The Fellowship, you can help more elderly and Holocaust survivors in need in Israel and the FSU.