Someone Thinks I’m Important

For Juliana Farhi, a middle generation member, it was a story about JDC’s relief work in Bulgaria after World War Two that initially brought her to the Jewish community.  But it was the tales shared by her clients in the JDC-supported home care program – reminiscences of a time when Sephardic traditions enriched daily Jewish life – that inspired her to help launch Manos Bendichas. 

After her JDC Buncher Leadership Training Program in Israel, Julia returned to Bulgaria to take Manos Bendichas to the next level.  Today, participants not only achieve a level of personal self-sufficiency by marketing their own handiwork, such as fruit bags for Tu B’shvat, but they play an active role in bringing the younger generations into the Jewish community.  Cherishing visits by their "students," they proudly tell Julia over and over, "Someone thinks I’m important."  

And as they work to ensure the survival of these traditions, the women of Manos Bendichas continue to effect Bulgaria’s Jewish renaissance.  "Through its trust in our abilities and understanding of the importance of our unique Jewish traditions," says Julia, "JDC has helped us revive Jewish tradition here and has secured a Jewish future in the Balkans."