I am coming to the end of a long day at my desk but the phone call I just received could not have made me happier or more firmly convinced that the work that we do makes all the difference to so many people, many of them lonely with no one who really cares about their well-being.
The call was from Darla Oz who with her husband, "Oz", runs House to House in Jerusalem.(http://housetohouseisrael.org). Back on May 11, I shared the following story in this Diary:
…While catching up with Darla in an early morning call today, we learned about a small hotel in Jerusalem which is home to almost 200 elderly Shoah survivors, many of them ill and lonely. Darla shared that in a conversation with the social worker at the site; she learned…that for many of these elders birthdays are rarely celebrated-no gifts, no cards…just a lonely day like any other. The social worker also told Darla that many residents wished that the local grocer (who brings basic food items to the hotel lobby each Friday so that everyone can come down and shop) would include some fresh cheese in his weekly visits. They truly missed enjoying a piece of fresh cheese! In about 30 seconds Darla and I decided that each of these residents should enjoy a nice chunk of fresh cheese, and what better time for them to receive one than on their birthday! Darla also asked if it would be possible to get birthday cards for each of them and we promised we would enlist as many teachers as possible in this simple act of chesed.
This afternoon, Darla called to tell me how she and her friend, a cab driver, made their way over to the hotel with the first batch of gifts for all birthdays recently celebrated. The gift bags were beautiful. Darla had enlisted some women at the local women’s shelter who wrapped the soap bars with paper donated by a local shop, and another nearby shop had given Darla a deep discount on the jars of preserves (there were 10 flavors to choose from!). All Darla needed were the birthday cards which she managed to have done by two Russian women that she knew, along with a third that she met on the street!
The social worker called each resident down on the house phone and one by one they received their little gifts. (we should tell you that not one of these elders is younger than 80!) Nothing prepared Darla for the comments. One elderly man who is suffering from cancer and has had an arm amputated and has sight in only one eye, came for his gift and holding the bag in the stub of his arm, told her "I’ve never received anything at all…". Another elderly woman shared that it had been 40 years since she had last gotten a birthday present…
One additional comment Darla shared with me really hit me…she reminded me that so often the sparkle in our elders’ eyes dims as they age; in each of the people who came for their gifts you could not miss the light that shone when they opened their packages and saw the cards. It must have been a truly beautiful experience.
By the time this little mitzvah reaches all 197 residents of the hotel we can only imagine what comments, what joy and what happiness we engendered. Who would have thought?
PS-We are excited to add that the remaining birthday cards are going to be made by kids in several religious school classes here in the States and will be mailed to Darla so that she can put them in the next batch of gift bags.
