Right now we are on the bus leaving Donetsk, after spending the last three days in the city working on the Hesed, or Jewish community center. My time in Donetsk really has been an unforgettable experience. Even though I am thousands of miles away from home, I have felt as comfortable in this city and with my Ukrainian peers as if I were in my own backyard. After going on a tour of the Hesed and seeing what a central role it plays in the lives of the Jews in the city, I felt such a strong connection to our work here. Many of the members of the Hesed have no other family, friends, or resources, and the Hesed gives them not only the vital resources they need to survive, but also gives them companionship and community. Our group spent the last two days renovating the Hesed yard, clearing the fields and creating a playground for little children. As soon as we set up the swing set, five little boys and girls ran over with huge smiles on their faces and couldn’t wait to use it. It was such a rewarding experience to see the children of Donetsk smile a little brighter because we came.
Today, I went with Danya, Jacob, and Sam to a “warm home,” or a home of one of the elderly Jewish Ukrainian women who opened her home to all the lonely Jews in her neighborhood to celebrate Shabbat together. Many of the elderly people at the warm home have no relatives and are completely isolated, but they have formed a sort of surrogate family at the warm home. The room really did effuse a certain warmth, and I felt like I was at a Thanksgiving dinner back at home. They prepared a feast for us, with different courses and fresh picked fruit from their gardens. The group all shared stories about the difficult times they endured during the Holocaust and the war, but even after talking about all of their hardships they still all managed to be the most vibrant group of 70 and 80 year olds I’ve ever seen. They told dirty jokes, tried to convince us to move to the Ukraine to marry their grandsons, and even served us some of their delicious homemade wine. They were so excited to talk to us, and even though we don’t speak the same language, we were still able to have a meaningful conversation (with Danya’s help translating of course) that lasted the whole meal.
It really is a great feeling to come to such a foreign place and still hear the same Jewish songs I learned growing up, and to know that I am not so different from my peers here. Even though this trip is going by too fast, I’m so excited for the next few days that we have in Dnepropetrovsk.
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