Former Actress Breathes New Life into Volunteering through Music

When two years ago Vera, a professional actress, became a beneficiary of the Hesed Bencion welfare center in Russia, a pair of JDC volunteers visited her at home. Vera's appearance revealed former beauty and betrayed both her 78 years and the loneliness she expressed. Her mannerisms and style were vestiges of her artistic background and training.

As a young girl, Vera had studied music at the Kiev Conservatory. She had taken classes in piano and singing, and later gave concerts in hospitals for soldiers wounded in the Great Patriotic War.

Sitting in her living room, Vera spoke emotionally and with longing for her youth, conveying how difficult she felt life had become as an elderly woman. Mostly, it was palatable on speaking with Vera how much she longed for the days when she performed on stage.

Then, as if transporting herself to a different time and place, Vera sat down at the piano--the only thing that shone against the background of dusty furniture. The room filled with electrifying music, and it was as though Vera herself became younger in that instant. Singing beautiful arias from operettas, a potpourri of military songs, and, most notably, "Grandmother Etl’s song" in Yiddish, Vera's soul radiated a talent that had withstood the test of time.

Today, Vera is a volunteer at the same Hesed center where she became a client two years ago. Using her professional skills and perfect pitch, Vera now conducts the musical studio for the Hesed center's "Shalom" club. Many of the elderly of Hesed Bencion take individual lessons with her three times a week, and as a result are able to sing Jewish songs, including some in Yiddish.

For Rosh Hashanah last year Vera performed a traditional song entitled "Varnachkis", and on Chanukah the she and her pupils from the "Shalom" club celebrated with Hebrew renditions of "Hava Nagila" and "Tumbalalaika".

Thanks to Vera's musical prowess and dedication, the "Shalom" club has become the soul of the Hesed center, bringing harmonious tunes to every birthday and holiday celebration. She also volunteers by performing military songs for the WW II Veterans’ Club.

Vera is the first to say that her life has been greatly improved by her affiliation with Hesed. "The 'Shalom' club is like a second breath for me," she says. "It has helped me to find youth in my old age."

Through her volunteer work at Hesed, Vera, 80, has made friends and gained admirers of her talent. She has discovered a place where, without regard for age, she is respected both as a person and as a performer. Throughout this process, she has given other elderly individuals the invaluable opportunity to forget about their loneliness, and to express their Judaism through song.