Program Stories

Mikhail dedicated his entire life in Ukraine to taking care of others. First, he looked after his mother, who was ill and bedridden for many years.

Varvara remembers the Jewish traditions, from long, long ago. From before the Nazis. From before the Communists. From before the current war in Ukraine.

“When the Nazis came, they came for us. I was one of three children, but I pretended that I did not belong to my family and that is how I survived,” says 95-year-old Mariya, a cold and tired Jewish woman who still lives in the same village in Ukraine the Nazis invaded as World War II began.

While many of the Jewish elderly who depend on IFCJ Canada for lifesaving aid and loving companionship, as well, their loneliness only arrived in their twilight years. But for Marfa, her entire lifetime has been one of loneliness.

Matat wouldn’t be alive if not for Fellowship friends. Quite literally, The Fellowship saved this elderly Jewish widower’s life when he’d lost all hope.

For historians of the Holocaust, Vinitsa in Ukraine is a horrifying name. Near the town, Adolf Hitler constructed his eastern retreat, complete with 20 buildings, gardens, a swimming pool, and a wire fence.

Now in his sixties, Yuri seems both older and younger. Living with a disability since birth, Yuri seems like a young child when he speaks. But when he walks, it’s with the body of a weak, elderly man, as he also faces many physical challenges.

In Russian, her name means “hope.” That’s what 84-year-old Nadezhda tells us. Her mother, a doctor in Russia, named her that after losing her first child.

For Ariel and Cynthia, and their sons — Gabriel (14) and Emanuel (10) — Hanukkah is a time of miracles. Because for this Jewish couple from South America, making aliyah (immigrating to Israel) had long been a miracle waiting to happen. But then, right as the family prepared to move to the Holy Land with the help of IFCJ Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Oksana worked hard as a single mother to care for her two boys — Nikita (14) and the baby — in the Former Soviet Union. While they didn’t have much money, she still had a decent job and small home that protected her family. Even if the home wasn’t always full of food or new clothing, it was always filled with their mother’s love.

As she prepares to celebrate Hanukkah, Lenina could look back on her hard life. At 84 years of age, she survived not only the Holocaust carried out by the Nazis, but the Soviets’ communist rule, as well. Both of these cruel eras not only took away faith traditions from Jews like Lenina, but took their lives, as well.

Isaak and Isabela, a married couple in their 70s, couldn’t contain their excitement as they packed their bags to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) with IFCJ Canada. After all, they waited an entire year for this due to the COVID-19 crisis — but, really, they’ve been waiting their entire lives. As a faithful Jewish couple, they’ve always prayed and wished to live in the Holy Land.