ICEJ Brings Relief to Elderly Ukrainian Jewish Immigrant
Published on: 22.6.2023
By: Laurina Driesse
At age 76, Ruchlya Perlmuter arrived in Israel towards the end of 2022 after some harrowing months in war-torn Ukraine. At first, she was reluctant to leave and start life over in another country, but when her city came under heavy Russian shelling it became increasingly difficult for the elderly Jewish lady to get needed medical care – especially insulin to manage her diabetes. At that point she knew she would have to go, but it still was not easily done!
Ruchlya Perlmuter at the airport
As the number of Ukrainian war refugees has risen over the past 18 months, the ICEJ has been committed to helping uprooted Jewish families make Aliyah to Israel as swiftly as possible. With assistance by many along the way, Ruchlya’s long journey began with a special ambulance out of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to a nearby former Soviet republic. There, she needed to update documents to enable her to travel further. This process took more than a month, but finally she was able to fly to Israel accompanied by a medical doctor on an ICEJ-sponsored flight.
Once in Israel, she initially stayed in an absorption center until she received priority treatment that allowed her to jump to the front of a waiting list for a small one-room apartment in Beersheva.
All alone in Israel and with only one suitcase of personal belongings, she moved into a one-room unfurnished apartment and faced the challenge of making it her new home. More than once, she thought back to her beautiful apartment in Donetsk, where she left everything behind with no hope of ever recovering any of it.
Earlier this year, Nicole Yoder, the ICEJ’s Vice President for Aid and Aliyah, and other members of our staff visited Ruchyla to see how she was doing.
“The challenges this courageous woman faces every day were immediately evident when she received a phone call from the doctor and couldn’t understand what he was saying”, recounted Nicole. “Fortunately, because the call came during our visit, there was someone nearby to translate and all was quickly organized. It’s obvious, though, that she has many questions and with thousands of immigrants flooding in, personal help isn’t always readily available.”
Ruchlya noted that everything is new to her. She has to learn new ways to get around town, where to buy what she needs, and so much more.
“I have to think how to spend my money”, Ruchyla explained. “Do I need an air conditioner for the summer? I could only bring one bag of my own belongings and half of that was medication. So, I needed to buy everything new in Israel.”
Hearing her talk about her concerns, Nicole and the team understood that the purchase of an air conditioner was a big worry for Ruchlya, who did not know how she was going to manage in the sweltering desert heat of Beersheva. So, our team went into action to find her one!
While her apartment is small, Ruchyla takes much pride in it, making sure that it is clean with everything in its place. Now that she is settling in, Nicole asked about her dreams for the future? Ruchlya shared that she wants to learn as much as she can about Israel.
“I’ve always been Jewish, but now I want to understand what it means to be a Jew living in my own homeland of Israel”, she said.
Part of that process means learning the Hebrew language to be able to connect with others, form friendships, and fully integrate into Israeli society. Daily tasks can be so challenging here without Hebrew. Her advanced age is another hurdle to overcome, as even attending an online class is difficult and the recent surge in immigrants has created a shortage of physical ulpan language classes in Beersheva.
Over a cup of tea, Ruchyla also shared about her family’s history.
“There was always antisemitism around us. Having both a first and last Jewish name, I suffered greatly. But even when I had the opportunity to change my name at 16 years old, I chose not to. I’ve always proudly worn the Star of David. I’m Jewish”, recalled Ruchyla.
Nicole encouraged her to “keep the legacy of your family and people close to your heart. You are a brave woman – choosing to come on Aliyah and make this your home without looking back!”
“You are right”, she quickly replied. “But without the help of ICEJ and the Jewish Agency, it would not have been possible. Thank you!”
The need to control her insulin levels and blood sugar through diet and medication kept Ruchlya confined close to her city for 47 years. In Israel, she’s discovered a new sense of freedom as advanced ways to control her blood sugar levels are now more widely available to her. Suddenly, a whole new world of possibilities has opened, allowing her to dream of travel abroad to visit family and friends.
A few weeks after our visit, the air conditioner arrived and Ruchlya wrote us a beautiful thank you letter:
Ruchyla is so happy with her new aircon, she is giving a thumbs up!
“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Jewish Agency and the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, in the person of Nicole, for their valuable assistance in going to Israel and for their support in my arrival in Israel. I am a 76-year-old who got used to being completely alone in my hometown of Donetsk. If I didn’t have this help both morally and materially, including the purchase of an air conditioner that is so necessary here, I certainly would not have been able to deal with all the difficulties that befell me during the war and on the way from there to Israel. It was only thanks to these organisations and most importantly the aforementioned people that I was able to finally arrive in Israel, and now I am starting to be integrated into it. There are probably no words to express my gratitude. I can only say ‘thank you’ 1000 times.”
As so clearly can be seen here, Aliyah is about much more than the cost of a flight, it also encompasses helping new arrivals as they integrate into Israeli society. Thank you for partnering with the ICEJ in our Aliyah and Integration efforts. Your support is making a huge difference in the lives of many new Jewish immigrants to Israel.
ICEJ 為老年烏克蘭猶太移民提供救濟
發佈於：2023年6月22日
作者：勞麗娜·德里斯

76 歲的 Ruchlya Perlmuter 在飽受戰爭蹂躪的烏克蘭度過了痛苦的幾個月後，於 2022 年底抵達以色列。 起初，她不願意離開並在另一個國家開始生活，但當她的城市遭到俄羅斯的猛烈砲擊時，這位年長的猶太女士變得越來越難以獲得所需的醫療護理，尤其是用於治療糖尿病的胰島素。 那時她就知道自己必須走，但仍然不容易！
魯赫利亞·佩爾穆特現身機場
隨著過去 18 個月烏克蘭戰爭難民人數不斷增加，ICEJ 一直致力於幫助背井離鄉的猶太家庭盡快回歸以色列。 在一路上許多人的幫助下，魯赫利亞的長途旅程開始於一輛特殊的救護車，從烏克蘭東部的頓涅茨克出發，前往附近的前蘇聯共和國。 在那裡，她需要更新文件以便能夠走得更遠。 這個過程花了一個多月的時間，但最終她在醫生的陪同下乘坐 ICEJ 贊助的航班飛往以色列。
到達以色列後，她最初住在收容中心，直到接受優先治療，這使她能夠排在貝爾謝瓦一間小單室公寓的等候名單的前面。
她獨自一人在以色列，只帶了一個手提箱的個人物品，搬進了一間沒有家具的單間公寓，並面臨著將其作為新家的挑戰。 她不止一次地回想起她在頓涅茨克的美麗公寓，她把一切都拋在了身後，而且沒有希望收回任何東西。
今年早些時候，ICEJ 負責援助和回歸的副總裁 Nicole Yoder 和我們的其他工作人員拜訪了 Ruchyla，了解她的情況。
“當這位勇敢的女士接到醫生的電話並且無法理解他在說什麼時，她每天面臨的挑戰立即顯而易見”，妮可回憶道。 “幸好，因為我們訪問期間接到電話，附近有人翻譯，一切很快就安排好了。 但很明顯，她有很多問題，而且隨著成千上萬的移民湧入，她並不總是能隨時獲得個人幫助。”
魯奇利亞指出，一切對她來說都是新的。 她必須學習新的出行方式、在哪裡購買她需要的東西等等。
“我必須考慮如何花我的錢”，魯奇拉解釋道。 “夏天需要空調嗎？ 我只能帶一袋自己的東西，其中一半是藥品。 所以，我需要在以色列購買所有新的東西。”
聽到她講述自己的擔憂，妮可和團隊明白購買空調對魯奇利亞來說是一件大事，她不知道如何在貝爾謝瓦酷熱的沙漠中度過。 因此，我們的團隊開始行動尋找她！
雖然她的公寓很小，但魯奇拉對此感到非常自豪，她確保公寓乾淨整潔，所有東西都就位。 現在她已經安頓下來，妮可問她未來的夢想是什麼？ 魯奇利亞表示，她想盡可能多地了解以色列。
“我一直是猶太人，但現在我想了解作為一個生活在我自己的祖國以色列的猶太人意味著什麼”，她說。
這個過程的一部分意味著學習希伯來語，以便能夠與他人聯繫、建立友誼並完全融入以色列社會。 如果沒有希伯來語，日常任務可能會非常具有挑戰性。 她的高齡是另一個需要克服的障礙，因為即使參加在線課程也很困難，而且最近移民的激增導致貝爾謝瓦的實體烏爾潘語言課程短缺。
喝茶時，Ruchyla 還分享了她家族的歷史。
“我們周圍總是存在反猶太主義。 我的名字和姓氏都是猶太人，這給我帶來了很大的痛苦。 但即使我有機會在16歲時改名，我還是選擇不改。 我一直自豪地佩戴大衛之星。 我是猶太人”，魯奇拉回憶道。
妮可鼓勵她“牢記家人和人民的遺產。 你是一個勇敢的女人——選擇加入Aliyah，義無反顧地將這裡作為你的家！”
“你說得對”，她很快回答道。 “但如果沒有 ICEJ 和猶太機構的幫助，這是不可能的。 謝謝你！”
由於需要通過飲食和藥物來控制胰島素水平和血糖，Ruchlya 47 年來一直被限制在靠近城市的地方。 在以色列，她發現了一種新的自由感，因為現在她可以更廣泛地使用控制血糖水平的先進方法。 突然，一個充滿可能性的全新世界打開了，讓她夢想著出國旅行探望家人和朋友。
我們訪問幾週後，空調到了，Ruchlya 給我們寫了一封漂亮的感謝信：
Ruchyla 對她的新空調非常滿意，她豎起了大拇指！
“我想我謹代表妮可向猶太機構和駐耶路撒冷基督徒大使館表示深深的謝意，感謝他們在前往以色列過程中提供的寶貴協助以及在我抵達以色列過程中提供的支持。 我是一位 76 歲的老人，在家鄉頓涅茨克已經習慣了完全孤獨。 如果我沒有這種精神上和物質上的幫助，包括購買了這裡如此必需的空調，我肯定無法應對戰爭期間和回國途中遇到的所有困難。 那裡到以色列。 正是感謝這些組織，最重要的是上述的人，我才能夠最終到達以色列，現在我開始融入其中。 大概無法用語言來表達我的感激之情。 我只能說1000遍‘謝謝’。”
從這裡可以清楚地看到，“回歸”不僅僅涉及飛行費用，它還包括幫助新移民融入以色列社會。 感謝您與 ICEJ 合作開展回歸和融合工作。 您的支持正在為許多以色列新猶太移民的生活帶來巨大的改變。