Holocaust Survivors & Elderly

Yad Yisroel provides food and social visits to Pink’s Holocaust survivors and elderly.

There are over 30 Holocaust survivors in Pinsk, Belarus that benefit from Yad Yisroel’s “Meals on Wheels” Program that enables them to receive a hot meal, six days a week.

Students from Yad Yisroel’s schools visit the Holocaust survivors and together with volunteers, bring them their daily, hot meal.

Needless to say, this brings great joy and happiness  to Pinsk’s Holocaust survivors.
Besides being a life-saving project, it shows them that they are not forgotten.

Before COVID-19, Yad Yisroel provided Pinsk’s Holocaust survivors with social activities in the Yad Yisroel’s school. This was accomplished through diverse lectures and enrichment classes on Jewish heritage and customs.  The elderly were encouraged to attend by being served good Kosher food, combined with a healthy dose of yiddishkeit through various recreational activities.

Many aging Jews in Belarus today have lived most of their lives barely in touch with the Jewish community or aware of their Jewish identity. With its determination to revive Belarusian Jewry, Yad Yisroel recognizes the importance of attending to the spiritual and physical needs of all age groups, the young as well as the old.

In the physical realm, Yad Yisroel focuses on bringing basic supplies to the elderly, especially those in need. The organization dispatches its volunteer force to deliver food packages, clothing, bedding, electric heaters and even used furniture to the needy. In many cases, this work has been carried out in bad weather conditions, sometimes in the dead of winter, to Holocaust survivors and elderly who live in remote areas.

Moreover, Yad Yisroel has a special fund to assist older men and women who are in dire need of medication and/or medical attention. Oftentimes, the organization has responded to emergency situations and saved lives by purchasing and delivering drugs or providing transportation to the nearest health facility.