Something for Sarah

(Photo: Mishel Amzallag)

“Believe it or not, I am 100 years old,” says Sarah. When IFCJ Canada volunteers recently visited this sweet Jewish centenarian’s modest apartment, she shared her earliest memories. “I was born in Mogilev, Belarus. I was almost 19 when World War II began. The first thing my father decided to do was take all of us and run away to the forest. We knew the Germans could occupy the city at any moment, and being arrested by them meant being killed. We stayed in the forest for a week… nobody knew then that it was going to last almost 5 years.”

Five years in a forest. Can you imagine? But the forest saved Sarah’s life. “My father’s sister was the only one from the family who stayed in the city,” Sarah remembers. “She was sent to the ghetto and later to a concentration camp, where she died.”

Our volunteers brought a Passover food box, sent with love from friends across the globe, and we learned this wasn’t the first time in her life that Sarah has depended on the kindness of others. “I remember how we managed to catch the last train and escape the German army. However, the problem began when winter arrived. It was hard. My parents tried to get food for my little brother and sister who often remained hungry. We saved some food during the lean months. Also, there were always kind people who gave some help—an apple, a slice of bread, a piece of something.”

But this Passover, this precious woman has more than just a piece of something. Sarah has all the necessities to celebrate this holy season, as well as food to last her a month. And she knows that faithful friends around the world will be celebrating with her.

Your gift today will provide a Passover food box for an elderly Jewish person like Sarah—a box full of nutritious staples, as well as the necessities to celebrate Passover as the Bible says.

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