JDC Voices

For 30-year-old Israeli couple Lior and Lotem, who met on a dating website, Valentine’s Day is especially meaningful as it marks Lotem’s birthday, which is also the same day the couple got engaged. Lior, who works at a pharmacy, and Lotem, who works at her father’s business, were married this past September in an emotional ceremony with 300 guests in attendance.

In a 200-year-old home in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolaev, an elderly woman sits alone, looking out the window at the passersby. Perhaps her mind has wandered to happier times as she’s watched the hustle and bustle of the last week when fellow Jews celebrated Chanukah.

As one of the few American participants, I felt a special bond and closeness with these amazing young people and their journey, which is far from over.

Each year we celebrate Chanukah by remembering the miracle of light. Left with only one day’s worth of oil, the Maccabees found themselves with eight days of light.

When we hear of someone who is different, someone who has a physical or mental disability, many people feel uncomfortable and create barriers in their perception. The Ruderman family has devoted their considerable time, skills and resources not only to helping people with disabilities, but also to helping everyone else to understand how much we gain by incorporating them into our lives instead, and not pushing them away.

Sitting with Vera, it is her tearful eyes that first grab your attention.

At 62-years-old, her struggles have been endless. But it is her inability to get through the month, the grinding poverty she experiences, that occupies her thoughts.

At Rosh Hashanah, Natalia B., a 63-year-old widow in Sumy, Ukraine, reminds us that people should always live with hope. She says “we must believe in the good in this world, and in miracles.”

At face value, 85-year old Morris, who lives alone in a remote, rundown cottage he built himself in Zhitomer, Ukraine is a mirror of the tragic circumstances of his life.

Besides being major summer hotspots and beautiful locations, the Hamptons and the Berkshires were recently the destinations for two not-to-miss JDC events. The Amagansett-based Next Wave event hosted in the home of the Rosen Family, including JDC Board Members Leslie and Michele Rosen, and husband Stan, and the West Stockbridge-based special event held in the home of JDC Emeritus Board Member Helene Berger informed new audiences about JDC’s present and past relief work.

When you think of the elderly living in senior living facilities, do the words “vibrant” and “exciting” immediately come to mind? If they didn’t before, they will after seeing the New Look at Aging photo exhibition, a collection featuring original, colorful, and compelling photos of active seniors from Israeli photographer Oren Biran.