Knit And Purl: Elderly Argentine Volunteer Gives Back to Her Jewish Community

Unlike most women her age, Adela, 73, fills her days with organized activities. At this point in her life – having raised her own children and being a proud and dedicated grandmother who enjoys being with her grandkids – Adela devotes most of her time to teaching knitting courses. These courses are part of her volunteer work at a center for retirees and at a synagogue in Buenos Aires.

"It is important to give something back as a way of expressing my gratitude to the Jewish community," says Adela. She is referring to the help that she and her husband receive from JDC – basic needs such as food assistance and medicines – that allow them to better meet the challenges of being senior citizens in these times of inflation and economic insecurity. "Living on my monthly pension would be impossible," she says.

For Adela, the possibility of teaching this knitting course at the synagogue fills a need, allowing her to be in touch with other people and connect with the Jewish community. She and her husband have always been active in the Jewish community, and their children and grandchildren are also regular participants. Adela particularly enjoys teaching at the synagogue, knowing that her students love her and are always anxious to begin their knitting class. She routinely arrives at shul smartly dressed, greets her students and begins instruction. "In the Jewish community we have to help one another," Adela says. "We must always support one another."

Through her own initiative, Adela began offering knitting classes at the synagogue as a means of "repaying" the help she receives through JDC. To deliver the lessons she walks 20 blocks to take the subway, which is five cents cheaper than the bus. "It is a small difference, but it is still a difference," she says, blushing.

When she speaks about her husband, Adela sounds like an adolescent girl speaking of her first love. Those who know the couple say that even after fifty three years of marriage they can still be seen walking through the street holding hands, accompanying one another whenever they can. "Our marriage could not have been happier."

When Adela was young, her mother used to tell her, 'One day you reap what you have sown.' Today she knows that her mother was right, and she wants to convey the same message to young people. "With effort, love and hard work, we all reap what we have sown."