At the Hesed, I Found My New Family

Simyon, age 74, lives in alone Uzbekistan, in the same city where he buried his wife ten years ago. His two sons have long since emigrated to Israel, where Simyon's four grandchildren now also reside. Though he is without blood relatives in his city, Simyon says, "I may live by myself, but I am not alone. At the Hesed I found my new family."

"My pension is not very big and, after the payments for all public services, I have very little money for food," says Simyon. "The canteen at my Hesed rescues me. It is very clean and nice, and the food is good." He explains that one day he fell ill and was unable to come to the canteen. "Our Hesed volunteer, Nisman, called me, arranged for a hot meal to be brought to me and told the doctors of the Hesed about my illness. They reacted immediately; the doctor came and examined me, and gave me necessary medicines," says Simyon.

More than just providing physical nourishment, activities held at Heseds nurture the soul. "Very often music and poetry meetings and lectures are held. I can see the best doctors in the city give their lectures here," he adds. "I am loved and respected at my Hesed, and I am an active participant in Jewish community life."

Simyon greatly values the way in which he is honored by his Hesed because, like many Jews who lived through the era of WWII, he has experienced great indignity.

Born in 1929 in Chechelnik (Vinnizkaya province), he was a young boy when fascists occupied his town and drove all of its Jews into a barbed-wire ghetto. There he witnessed the death of thousands of fellow Jews, many of whom went unburied for lack of time. "My grandmother was tormented to death in this ghetto," says Simyon. "I still pray today for the fact that I survived."

He was liberated in 1944, and two years later, Simyon entered the Odessa Oil Technical School. He completed his mandatory service in the army and then entered the oil and gas department of Odessa Industrial Institute. With his degree, he worked as a Chief Mechanical Engineer in Reni, Odessa.

Though Simyon could move to Israel to be with his children, he does not want to desert the place where his wife is buried. With the new family he has found at the Hesed, he has little reason to go.

"I am glad to have the opportunity to thank the JDC and Hesed for the kind and sympathetic attitude of all the workers and volunteers," says Simyon. "A heartfelt thanks for the delicate care they give me."