Amidst the Shadows of Sectarian Strife, Hope is Reborn

Aaron sits in his small room, waiting for the volunteer doctor who regularly visits and attends his ailing wife. He glances around the room at his meager belongings and the few pieces of furniture. Most were gifts from neighbors. Aaron and his wife are refugees. Since coming to Tbilisi, they have been almost entirely dependent upon the generosity of others.

Life wasn’t always this way. With a sad smile, Aaron remembers how, just a few years ago, he had a job and a home in Skhinvali. He regularly attended synagogue and got along well with his non-Jewish neighbors. When the Soviet Union collapsed, all that changed. Nationalist groups began asserting their independence. The transitional period brought lawlessness and violence. Aaron recalls how the Jews in his community became the first targets of roving gangs. Many were robbed and beaten. Some of their homes were burned. Even the synagogue was vandalized.

Aaron and his wife escaped to Tbilisi only to find themselves thrust onto city streets where thugs eyed them as easy prey. From his savings, he rented a room and bought a couple of blankets and an old refrigerator, but he couldn’t afford a heating stove and gas tank. Then JDC volunteers found him. Now the couple has a stove and enough gas to see them through the winter. They receive warm meals, food packages and medicine for his wife. Best of all, Aaron knows he is once again part of a Jewish community, a kehilla that will not collapse or forsake him in times of need. From the horrors of sectarian strife, hope has been reborn.