A VISIT TO HAIFA

We had heard a lot about the wonderful new assisted living facility in Haifa, purpose-built for elderly and impoverished Holocaust survivors by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem and a few weeks ago, were given the opportunity to visit it.  Yudit, the Embassy’s senior social worker was calling for us at 8 a.m. and we knew it would be late before we returned to Jerusalem so Norman volunteered to stay at home and dog-sit, the reason why this month’s report is written by only one of us.

THE HAIFA HOME FOR HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

The home is only one of the many charitable projects that the ICEJ has funded over the years, that helps many poor families both Israeli and Arab in many ways.  One project with which we were very impressed some years ago, was providing back to school essentials, such as school bags, pencil- boxes and other necessities for the children of poor families, all over Israel, who were starting school for the first time.

The home is a large and continually growing project that began with just one dilapidated house in Haifa and now occupies the side of one street, providing a warm and comfortable residence for over 100 survivors.  As Yehudit was busy with administration details for most of the day I was free to wander around and meet many of the residents in their small but cosy apartments, all of whom expressed enormous gratitude and wonder that so much had been done for them by Christians, especially Germans, by whom the bulk of the money for constructing the home was donated.  Practical help was also given from Germany, I was told that a group of skilled building workers from Saxony had given up their vacations to volunteer with work on the renovating of the original building.  While I was there I met a charming if very paint-splattered, young Swiss couple who were spending two weeks of their honeymoon volunteering at the home by painting the walls of the hallways and public rooms.

DELICIOUS FOOD

 The home has a spacious dining room which is also used for social events and there I enjoyed a well cooked and appetizing kosher lunch with some of my new friends. The self-service lunch offered an excellent variety of tasty dishes, starting with a delicious vegetable soup that was brought round to the tables.   I heard nothing but praise for the quality of the food in fact for everything concerning the home from everyone to whom I spoke, and I felt a great sense of harmony between the residents themselves and also the residents and staff.  They all obviously adore the Israeli director Shimon who several residents described as an ‘Angel.’  I spent so much time chatting to the residents that it was only after I left that I realised that I had not seen round all of the buildings, for example I had not visited the shul which several of them had mentioned to me.  Never mind, Yudit has promised to take me there again.

ISRAEL’S HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

There are 200,000 thousand Holocaust survivors in Israel, one third of whom are impoverished, struggling with Illness or living alone.  I know Israel is not a rich country but I left Haifa wondering why it seems to be only Israel’s Christian friends who saw the huge need for at least some of them to be able to spend their last years in a warm and loving environment where all their needs are catered for.  There are so many charitable organisations here that it seems strange that we have never once been asked to donate towards a similar project.

Lola Cohen