Ten Years of Hesed: Memories of a First Home Visit

In September 2003, JDC is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the first Hesed Welfare Center in the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Many individuals were involved in the founding of the JDC-supported Hesed network. Their stories, such as the one below, reflect one of the most exciting chapters in modern Jewish history, of which JDC is privileged to be a part.

My First Home Visit
As told by Amos Avgar

I will never forget one of my first visits to the home of an elderly "babushka", which for me drove home the importance of this effort. The old woman lived in a very small, dark apartment, on the fifth floor of an old building. She hadn't been outside in years – she could no longer climb the stairs. When I asked her what she needed most, she responded, ' Shabbat candlesticks, and someone to light them with me.'

Her shelves were empty. She needed food, and material and medical assistance. But more than anything, she had a thirst for things Jewish, and for someone to keep her company.

Then I noticed, on the empty shelf in her kitchen, a chicken bone with two feathers tied to it. 'Could you please tell me what that is for?' I asked. 'I save that chicken bone and its feathers to clean hametz (bread) each Passover.' Then she added: 'since I don't know when I will be able to buy a chicken.'

With the fall of the Soviet regime, JDC had a fantastic and compelling opportunity to finally be able to openly help Jews. We knew we had to help. But we had no model, no paradigm. We didn't want to just provide food. We wanted, somehow, to use this assistance as a way to rebuild Jewish communities. This is how the idea of Hesed was born.

The JDC Hesed assistance model is built on the pillars of Yiddishkeit, voluntarism and community. Implementation of the Hesed system, at the time, seemed an insurmountable challenge. The FSU Jewish community's assistance was needed to mobilize and to carry out this endeavor. But after 70 years of Communism, the concept of community, let alone voluntarism and Yiddishkeit, was unknown. Thus, JDC recognized the need to recruit and train volunteers, and to help fuel the fire of compassion. In 1993, JDC held the first seminar for Hesed volunteers called "Giving".

At first, there were only a handful of volunteers. But it was one of those early volunteers who joined that babushka, lit Sabbath candles with her, made sure she had food on her table, and acted as a caring Jewish soul by her side.

Today, there are more than 16,500 volunteers, in addition to the thousands of Hesed professionals and para-professionals who carry out this effort of behalf of the Jewish community.

Through the creation of the Hesed network, JDC has helped Jews in the FSU evolve into Jewish communities. JDC has given me, as a professional and as a Jew, the unique opportunity to help carry this out.

Amos, JDC’s Chief Program Officer, was Director of Welfare Operations in the former Soviet Union and Area Director for St. Petersburg, when the first Hesed was opened.