Fellowship staff visited 87-year-old Liliya in Kazakhstan while distributing aid to elderly Jews and Holocaust survivors in the former Soviet Union. She was born mere months before World War II shattered her world. Her father left their hometown of Almaty to fight the Nazis and never returned.
Liliya was raised by her mother and grandmother in the shadow of the uncertainty and hardship their family was facing. However, she would grow up and find a way to dispel some of that darkness.
At the time, Jewish families faced restrictions on where they could live and work in the Soviet Union. Liliya and her family were forced to live in a remote village near the Chinese border—far from where Jewish families had once lived. Liliya’s father and his entire generation were engulfed in the war. It seemed that the family’s life would be defined by hardship.
As a child, Liliya was always asking why. As she grew older, she discovered how she could find answers to her questions through learning. She says, “Reasoning is my craft. That’s my motto. Understanding. If you learn a lot, it changes your life.” Liliya pursued this as a teacher – first with school children and then as philosophy teacher at a local medical college.
She also reconnected with the Jewish community of Almaty. After the fall of communism, Liliya helped revitalize Jewish life in the town after so many decades of suppression. She worked in the community library and organized literary gatherings on the Torah and Jewish tradition. Liliya says that this is how she learned about the Torah since she did not grow up going to synagogue.
Sadly, at her age, Liliya can no longer be the pillar of her community that she once was. Problems with her eyes, vascular system, and stomach make it difficult for her to read and manage her old Soviet-era home. She also struggles to keep up with the cost of medicine. Thanks to The Fellowship’s support, she receives a bank card to help pay for food and medicine, as well as a phone to keep her connected with her neighbors. This is especially important to Liliya, who believes that communication is one of the most important things in life.
Liliya says, “My piece of advice to people, according to the Torah wisdom, is unity above all. Life is a diamond, with everyone seeing their own facet. Unity gives strength. Unity gives peace. It gives goodness.”