Maria fulfilling her destiny helping Holocaust survivors
Published on: 18.4.2023
By: Annaliese Johnson
Maria and resident
One of the most impactful projects of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem is our Haifa Home for Holocaust Survivors, a safe haven for about 60 residents who survived the horrors of the Nazi genocide. The residents receive daily care from loving staff, including our newest ICEJ team member, Maria Grinfeld.
Maria was born in Russia, married a Jewish man, and then moved to Israel with her husband on an Aliyah flight sponsored by the Christian Embassy. Three years later, she started volunteering part time at the Haifa Home and then recently came on as a full-time staff member, where her kindness and experience have made an instant impact on the residents as well as the staff.
“After setting foot on the Land of Israel, I was constantly asking myself: ‘How can I serve this country? How could my knowledge and qualifications be useful to the Jewish people?’” she said.
Maria knew that if she opened her heart to the Lord, He would fill it with an outpouring of love and comfort for the nation and people of Israel, in keeping with Isaiah 40:1. After being in contact with Yudit Setz, head of our Haifa Home team, she made it her mission to bring new hope to the Holocaust survivors living there.
The most important task for those working at the Haifa Home is to make every resident truly feel at home. Maria’s presence has been doing just that, as she has been a blessing and joy to everyone involved.
The first practical step is to understand the residents’ needs, which Maria is able to do through her language and interpersonal skills. Maria speaks English, Russian and Hebrew, and thus she can effectively understand and communicate the needs and wishes of the residents, especially those who have recently arrived from Ukraine and Russia. For many, they often are overwhelmed with feelings of loneliness and abandonment after having to suddenly leave behind all they had known, such as an 89-year-old Ukrainian resident who was shaken by air raids at the start of the Russian invasion last year just as she was by the German invasion during World War II.
More than just understanding their words, Maria focuses on understanding the hearts of the residents. She finds they long for genuine connections with individuals who can relate to them.
“Though they are all older than I am, I can understand not only their language but also their culture and the country in which they grew up,” explained Maria. “I take great joy in visiting them and encouraging them to keep living and not feel downhearted.”
Along with Simcha, our team physiotherapist, Maria took several residents to IKEA recently to purchase basic items for their new apartments. One of the women, aged 85, had just arrived in Israel with nothing but one outfit and a toothbrush. She and the other immigrants from Ukraine fled from their homes with hardly anything, but with Maria’s language assistance and Simcha’s attentiveness, they were able to purchase all the bedding and household items they needed.
Maria teaching Hebrew
After helping the residents settle in, Maria began the longer-term project of connecting them with Israel by teaching them the Hebrew language. Each week, Maria gathers with some ten ‘students’ around a table for companionship and Hebrew lessons. Knowing the difficulty in learning new languages, she is extra proud of her students when their faces shine after recognizing a new word.
“It is my greatest joy to see that my students are successful. It always has been and always will be,” expressed Maria. “I never envisioned myself teaching Hebrew to such elderly students, but I am amazed at what God has done through this initiative.”
When asked what she enjoys the most about working at the Haifa Home, Maria’s face lit up.
“I enjoy working with the ICEJ team, because we have a very special team with special people. I can learn a lot from them,” she said. “I watched Yudit treating the residents with love and care as if they were her own children, which strengthened my desire to help. I just gradually felt like this was the place for me to be.”
“My goal is to bring as much light as I can to their lives, to encourage them that they can carry on with their life. This is because they left everything, including their friends. I want them to see that Israel is a nice country where they can continue their lives. Working at the Haifa Home, I can fulfill my destiny,” she added.
The ICEJ is very grateful for Maria’s commitment and passion for improving the lives of our Haifa Home residents.
Please consider partnering with us as we continue to provide love, hope and support for the Holocaust survivors under our care at the Haifa Home.
瑪麗亞完成了她幫助大屠殺倖存者的使命
發表於 18.4.2023
By： 安娜莉斯-詹森
瑪麗亞和居民
耶路撒冷國際基督徒大使館最有影響力的項目之一是我們的海法大屠殺生還者之家，這是一個安全的避風港，供大約60名在納粹種族滅絕的恐怖中生還的居民使用。這些居民每天接受愛心員工的照顧，包括我們最新的ICEJ團隊成員，Maria Grinfeld。
瑪麗亞出生在俄羅斯，與一個猶太人結婚，然後與她的丈夫乘坐由基督徒大使館贊助的Aliyah航班搬到以色列。三年後，她開始在海法之家做兼職志願者，最近又成為全職工作人員，她的善良和經驗對居民和工作人員產生了即時的影響。
「在踏上以色列的土地後，我不斷問自己：'我怎樣才能為這個國家服務？我的知識和資歷如何能對猶太人有用？」她說。
瑪麗亞知道，如果她向主敞開心扉，主就會按照以賽亞書40章1節的規定，將對以色列國和以色列人的愛和安慰充滿其中。在與我們海法之家團隊的負責人尤迪特-塞茨（Yudit Setz）取得聯繫後，她把為生活在那裡的大屠殺生還者帶來新的希望作為自己的使命。
對於在海法之家工作的人來說，最重要的任務是讓每一位居民真正感受到家的溫暖。瑪麗亞的存在一直在做到這一點，因為她一直是每個人的祝福和快樂。
第一個切實可行的步驟是了解居民的需求，瑪麗亞透過她的語言和人際關係技巧能夠做到這一點。瑪麗亞會說英語、俄語和希伯來語，因此她能夠有效地理解並傳達居民的需求和願望，特別是那些最近從烏克蘭和俄羅斯來的居民。對許多人來說，在不得不突然離開他們所熟悉的一切之後，他們往往被孤獨和被遺棄的感覺所淹沒，例如一位89歲的烏克蘭居民，在去年俄羅斯入侵開始時被空襲所震撼，就像她在第二次世界大戰期間被德國入侵一樣。
除了理解他們的話語之外，瑪麗亞還專注於理解居民的內心。她發現他們渴望與那些能與他們產生共鳴的人建立真正的聯繫。
「雖然他們都比我年長，但我不僅能理解他們的語言，還能理解他們的文化和他們成長的國家，」瑪麗亞解釋說。「我非常高興去看望他們，鼓勵他們繼續生活，不要感到沮喪」。
最近，瑪麗亞和我們團隊的理療師辛查一起，帶著幾位居民去宜家為他們的新公寓購買基本物品。其中一位85歲的婦女剛到以色列時，除了一件衣服和一把牙刷外一無所有。她和其他來自烏克蘭的移民在逃離家園時幾乎一無所有，但在瑪麗亞的語言説明和辛查的細心照料下，他們能夠購買到他們所需的所有床上用品和家居用品。
瑪麗亞教授希伯來語
在幫助居民們安頓下來後，瑪麗亞開始了長期的專案，透過教他們希伯來語將他們與以色列聯繫起來。每星期，瑪麗亞都會和大約10名「學生」聚集在一張桌子旁，進行陪伴和希伯來語課程。她深知學習新語言的難度，所以當她的學生在認出一個新單詞後臉上閃閃發光時，她會感到特別自豪。
「看到我的學生獲得成功，是我最大的快樂。過去是這樣，將來也是這樣，」瑪麗亞說。「我從未設想過自己會向這樣的老年學生教授希伯來語，但我對上帝透過這一舉措所做的事情感到驚奇。」
當問到她在海法之家工作最享受的是什麼時，瑪麗亞的臉亮了起來。
「我喜歡與ICEJ團隊一起工作，因為我們有一個非常特別的團隊，有特別的人。我可以從他們身上學到很多東西，」她說。我看著Yudit用愛和關懷對待居民，就像他們是她自己的孩子一樣，這加強了我幫助的願望。我就逐漸感覺到這是我要去的地方。」
「我的目標是為他們的生活帶來盡可能多的光明，鼓勵他們可以繼續生活。這是因為他們離開了一切，包括他們的朋友。我想讓他們看到，以色列是一個不錯的國家，他們可以繼續他們的生活。在海法之家工作，我可以完成我的使命，」她補充說。
ICEJ非常感謝Maria對改善我們海法之家居民生活的承諾和熱情。
請考慮與我們合作，我們將繼續為海法之家照顧下的大屠殺生還者提供愛、希望和支持。