Early last month, Fellowship staff in Israel set out across the Holy Land, hand-delivering the first of this year’s Rosh Hashanah aid. As we approach the Jewish New Year at sundown this Friday, the effort is still very much ongoing. Special holiday food boxes filled with essentials, as well as apples, honey, and grape juice, have been making their way directly into the hands of elderly Jews and Holocaust survivors like 94-year-old Maria in the Galilee countryside.
Originally from Moldova, Maria lives in an assisted-living apartment. Her childhood in Moldova was normal, but that all changed, as it did for millions of children like her, when World War II began and her father was drafted. Maria, her mother, and her sister were evacuated to Ukraine on a train that was already full of cows also being relocated. Passengers and animals had to share the limited space as the train traveled slowly—even coming under Nazi bombardment along the way.
Fortunately, they arrived in Ukraine unharmed. Another stroke of luck came before their boat ride to Russia, when their mother was initially denied boarding but allowed on at the last moment. When they arrived in the city of Nalchik, Maria’s mother became ill. Maria stood in bread lines on her behalf. She recalls, “It was either bread or school, I chose bread.” When her mother recovered, they relocated again, this time to Armenia, where Maria sang for wounded soldiers in exchange for meals. After the war, they returned to Ukraine.
Maria’s family never hid their Jewishness, either before or during the war. They kept kosher and celebrated the holidays. Still, anti-Semitism existed. Maria recalls that some of her employers would not allow her to advance in the workplace because she was Jewish. She also saw many Jews in managerial positions fired and replaced.
In 1990, Maria and her husband made aliyah, something they had always dreamed of doing. They had even studied Hebrew at a local ulpan (Hebrew school) in Kyiv. From the moment they stepped off the plane, they felt they were truly home.
Today, Maria lives on her own after the passing of her husband and has been receiving Fellowship assistance for many years. The war with Iran was difficult for her, as problems with her leg prevented her from going down to her building’s bomb shelter. Instead, she and some of her neighbors stood in the stairwell.
Because of The Fellowship’s support, Maria starts each month knowing that she will have enough food to eat and money to put aside for when she needs it. She is deeply moved knowing that there are people who care about her.
She says, “Thank you very much to The Fellowship’s donors. I wish them all good health.”