By YOCHEVED MIRIAM RUSSO
Jerusalam Post, October 1, 2010

The charity’s drab, old corrugated metal building near Soroka Hospital occupied 300 cramped meters plus. Its elegant new Jusidman Center extends over 3,800 meters.

It’s hard to tell which of the Yad Sarah volunteers will appreciate their new quarters the most when the Beersheba branch of the venerable aid-to-the-ailing charity moves into its huge new building just after Succot.
The men who check in returned equipment will surely be delighted. Today, in a space smaller than a standard bedroom, dozens of wheelchairs vie for space with stacks of walkers, crutches, canes and all manner of sickroom equipment. So tight are the quarters that two volunteers can hardly get into the room at the same time.
The volunteers who daily staff the lending desks will be ecstatic. In the old building, four or five volunteers sit behind student desks in a small, extraordinarily crowded room. As lines of people queue up in front, waiting their turn, the volunteers struggle to hear over the din of everything else going on.
In the spacious new quarters, in a room at least 10 times bigger, not only will peace prevail, but so will privacy – a precious commodity not available before at all. No longer will people with personal or intimate questions have to express their needs in front of everyone.
Michael Benson, Beersheba’s Yad Sarah volunteer director, will be thrilled. In the old quarters, Benson theoretically had a tiny office of his own – but when other volunteers needed quiet for telephone calls, or when volunteer lawyers came to meet with advice-seekers, Benson ceded his own office and set out to find somewhere else to sit. With 180 volunteers to oversee and a dozen-plus programs to administer, he admits it wasn’t always easy.

“Sometimes there were so many people in the building there just wasn’t anywhere for me to go,” he recalls. “That’s why now, when people tease me, saying that after the move I won’t know what to do with all that space, I laugh. Believe me, I know exactly what I’m going to do with all that space!” All that space, indeed. The old Yad Sarah, housed in a corrugated metal building near Soroka University Medical Center, occupied 300 cramped square meters. Over time, three caravans were added for additional storage, but still, programs had to be curtailed simply because there was no space to administer them.
The elegant new Yad Sarah building, known as the Jusidman Center, will spread its wings over 3,800 square meters, more than 10 times the elbow room. Now the all-volunteer organization will flow out over three light and airy floors in its expansive new home on Rehov Shaul Hamelech, adjacent to the Beersheba Center for the Blind.
The contrast couldn’t be greater.

Typical of Beersheba’s vintage buildings, the old headquarters sported drab walls, uneven floors with cracked tiles and very few windows. The new Jusidman Center, with vast open spaces filled with sunlight pouring in from windows on all sides, seems like a haven as cream-colored walls, floors and tiles make the expanse seem endless.
That overflowing equipment return area will experience one of the biggest changes. It will now be housed in a room almost big enough to host a soccer match, while conferring an additional benefit: Now, instead of sending damaged equipment to Jerusalem for repair, all that will be done on the spot.
“A large section of the whole first floor will serve as our workshop and all repairs will be made here. We’ll also serve smaller branches in the South. People in outlying areas won’t have to go to Jerusalem any more for specialized equipment.
They can come to Beersheba instead,” Benson notes.
In the new building, it appears that every aspect of Yad Sarah’s function has been accommodated – even a geometrically irregular window at the main entrance reflects the organization’s mission.
“The artistic window is jagged, like a line that’s broken,” Benson says. “Like the line, everyone who comes to Yad Sarah is broken in some way. They need help. That’s why we’re here.”
Walking into the entrance with its soaring ceiling, visitors will approach a curved information desk for directions or general information. Those seeking medical equipment will be directed to the left, where the loan process starts.
“First, they’ll walk through an exhibition hall, a whole room filled with displays of every kind of medical equipment available, from wheelchairs and walkers all the way through our ‘houspital’ – hospital-room-at-home – equipment,” Benson explains. “Volunteers will explain all the different options and help people decide what they need.
“That was one of the first things that struck me when I started working here,” notes Benson, who with all the responsibilities of director is an unpaid volunteer himself.
“I had no idea it was so complicated.
Suppose someone comes in and says they need a wheelchair. It’s not that simple – there are maybe a dozen different kinds of wheelchairs, so the volunteers work to see which is most suited to the patient.
“First, is the person fat or thin? Wheelchairs come in different sizes. Will it be used inside the home or outside, too? The wheels are different. Will the person be in the chair all the time, or getting in and out? The arms are different lengths – some are short, to let the person glide up to a table. Others have longer arms.
“How wide are the doors at home? How long will they be sitting at a time? If it’s for long periods, then we recommend they get a cushion too, to prevent sores. Those are just some of the issues.
“Once the proper equipment is selected, the visitor will move along to the greatly expanded checkout area to complete the paperwork.
“But now we offer much more besides.
We have a large new demonstration kitchen available, so people with certain disabilities can learn how to accomplish basic tasks much more easily.
One example: If you have only one hand, how do you slice a tomato? We show them a board with a nail. Impale the tomato on the nail, and then slice away. There are dozens of such little tricks for all kinds of physical limitations.
Now we’ll be able to demonstrate them all – a big benefit for people who need to adjust to a new physical reality.”
As Benson speaks, it becomes clear that the people who will benefit most from the new Yad Sarah building aren’t the volunteers at all – it’s the people of Beersheba and Israel’s South who are the biggest winners.
National statistics show that at one time or another, one out of every two families come to Yad Sarah for something.
In Beersheba last year, just under 20,000 people passed through that tiny headquarters to borrow a piece of equipment, seek help from a visiting dentist or lawyer, receive visits from outreach workers or participate in some other Yad Sarah program. All were helped by well trained but unpaid community volunteers.
Benson tells a story about meeting with a group of volunteers in Jerusalem along with Yad Sarah’s founder, Uri Lupolianski.
“To get started, he asked each of us to say one good thing about Yad Sarah and one bad thing,” the British-born Benson recalls. “I said something good, then I said, ‘and now I’m going to say something really, really bad about Yad Sarah.’ “The room got awfully quiet. Then I said, ‘Yad Sarah is like a swamp. Once you get in, you can’t get out.’ “Everyone laughed and agreed – that really is what happens. You decide to volunteer for some limited thing, and before you know it, you’ve doing that and several other things besides, putting in much more time than you’d planned.
“Why does that happen? Because Yad Sarah is a place where people are helped.
Everyone who comes has a problem – and as a volunteer, you can help. It makes you feel wonderful. That’s a very powerful thing.”
Buildings aside, the heart of Yad Sarah resides in the volunteers. Every one of them, asked how they’d enjoy working in the spacious new building, responded with some comment on how wonderful it would be, because they’d be able to help so many more people.
Who are these volunteers? “They’re everybody,” Benson says.
“They’re all ages, they’re secular and religious, they come from all ethnic backgrounds, all levels of education and experience, and they speak as many languages as Israel has. Many of them have been dedicated volunteers for decades, like Hannah Horowitz.
“Hannah and her husband both volunteered when they lived in Beersheba.
But as the couple grew older, some of their 11 children wanted them to move to Ofakim, where they could be closer to them and to all the grandchildren. So they moved – but Hannah refused to give up her Yad Sarah work.
“Every week, she rides two buses to get here, works for several hours, then takes two buses back. That’s a Yad Sarah kind of devotion.”
On one recent day in Beersheba, volunteers ranged from 24-year-old Yasmin Simhoni to 90-plus-year-old Eli Goldstein. The Petah Tikva-born Simhoni, a biology student at Ben- Gurion University, is fairly new as a volunteer.
“My job right now is to help the women who give out the medical equipment,” she says. “I work with the computers, too. Why do I do it? I just like being here. It’s good to help other people.
A lot of BGU students come needing equipment, and several also volunteer.
It’s just something I enjoy doing.”
Goldstein is at the other end of the spectrum. A Yad Sarah volunteer for over nine years, he puts in three days a week here, and then volunteers in other organizations on his days off.
Goldstein’s duties include running the medical sales department.
“All the equipment we rent out can be purchased,” he says. “Three months is the normal length of time to borrow something, so if a person needs something longer than that – like a walker – I make the arrangements for them to buy it.”
A genial 74-year-old known to everyone as just Aviezer is nothing short of a one-man mitzva operation. Not only did he establish several of Beersheba’s programs himself, he also volunteers at several other charities, delivering meals to Holocaust survivors, arranging bar mitzva celebrations for orphaned boys, redistributing clothing to the needy and putting together 160 birthday parties – so far – for kids whose birthdays would otherwise be forgotten.
It was Aviezer who created Beersheba’s “Peep-Hole” program at Yad Sarah.
“I noticed one day that many elderly people living alone don’t have peepholes in their front doors,” Aviezer recalls. “When they can’t see who’s at the door, they’re afraid to open it. So I decided I’d install peep-holes for a few people who needed them.
“I went to one of the local hardware suppliers and told him what I needed.
When the dealer heard how many units I wanted to buy, he asked what I was doing. I told him about the problem – and then the dealer insisted that not only would he donate the hardware, but he himself would install them.
“I gave him my list of names, and so far, he’s installed about 40 peep-holes.
He’s gradually working his way through the whole file.”
Another program dear to Aviezer’s heart is the home repair service for the housebound and elderly.
“The original idea was just to make minor repairs in people’s apartments – solving basic electrical problems, putting up a fallen shelf, things like that. To start, I asked one of the municipal social workers for a list of people who needed that sort of help.
“The problem with this kind of program is that it’s such a good deal – even people who have families who could help, or have the ability to pay someone to do the work, were eager to enlist Yad Sarah’s free service; so we quickly learned we had to have a filter, and the social worker seemed to be in the best position to know who really needed help. Now all referrals come through her.”
The program mushroomed. “It was like a dream come true,” Aviezer says.
“Then Teva Tech, part of Ramat Hovav here in the Negev, heard what we were doing and wanted to join us. They’d set their sights much higher. For Holocaust survivors, they’d already completed several A-to-Z apartment redos, which was much more than we at Yad Sarah could have handled on our own. Now Teva Tech works from our lists, too.
“What we do is go to a needy person’s apartment and make a list of everything that needs to be cleaned, repaired or replaced – everything. Then we come back with a team and completely renovate the apartment, whatever it needs – plumbing, electricity, paint, whatever.
We make it fresh, clean and functional.”
Aviezer admits the program results in some emotional scenes. “One apartment was in such a horrible state I can’t even begin to describe it. When we arrived, the elderly man who lived alone just shook his head and said that no, he didn’t want any help. All he wanted to do was die. We went ahead anyway, and when we were all finished – you’d never even recognize the place – the man was just bursting with gratitude. ‘Now all I want to do is live!’ he said.
“The neighbors told us he used to walk around in rags, but afterwards he began to dress properly. Before, his sister refused to visit because it was so awful; now she comes regularly. It changed his whole life. That’s the kind of thing you can’t forget.
“That first visit is always interesting,” Aviezer smiles. “We come in, start making plans and lists, and almost always, the people object. ‘You can’t do this’, they say. ‘I don’t have any money! I can’t pay!’ “So we tell them they don’t need money. They don’t have to pay. It won’t cost them anything. They don’t believe it – not until the job is done, and there’s no bill. Then they believe.”
Others find themselves swept up in the process.
“There was a person living alone, no family, but who’d adopted an autistic boy who’d managed to break just about everything in the house. When the volunteers arrived, the boy said he wanted to help, so we put some overalls on him and found ways to let him help. It was great – he was doing something constructive! “When it was all finished, the volunteers saw that none of the doors had mezuzot, so they bought them. When the boy insisted he wanted to help hang the mezuzot, that was another moment I’ll never forget.”
The only place where Aviezer cries every time, he says, is when he volunteers helping children who have been attacked or abused.
“I’ve been volunteering there for 34 years,” he says. “And every time I go, I cry.”
Why does he do it? Spend such huge amounts of his own time and resources helping others? “It’s my name!” he laughs. Avi means ‘father,’ and ezer means ‘help.’ What else could I do? “Someone once told me I should live to be 120. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I only want to live to 119, because then people will say I died before my time!’” All of these programs grew out of Yad Sarah’s original concept, Benson says.
“If sick people could stay at home instead of being hospitalized, they’d be better off. That started the medical equipment lending program. But then people realized that just having medical equipment wasn’t enough. Sick people needed any number of other things, too.
That’s how all the other programs began.”
The visiting dentist program, for example.
One of Beersheba’s volunteer visiting dentists is “Dr. Hector,” a veteran Argentinean immigrant. As a Yad Sarah volunteer, he spends one afternoon a week visiting homebound people who need dental care.
What work can a visiting dentist do? “We do extractions, we work on dentures and can do some scaling. If someone has a very bad toothache, we provide antibiotics. It’s very satisfying work,” he says.
“Some patients need only simple things, like repairing a denture. But even that helps improve their quality of life.
Being able to chew properly contributes to their overall heath.”
Transportation vans to ferry wheelchair- bound people from one place to another is another offshoot service.
When people are able to remain at home instead of in the hospital, they occasionally need to be taken places. People in wheelchairs don’t fit in regular cars or vans, so Yad Sarah began offering wheelchair transportation.
Last year, almost 6,000 wheelchairbound people in Beersheba were transported in one of Yad Sarah’s buses.
Gilad Kronman is one of the volunteer drivers.
“In Beersheba, we have three buses that are specially equipped with straps and mechanisms to transport people safely in their wheelchairs,” Kronman, an engineer by profession, says. “I drive two regular routes, one on Sunday evening, when I drive five severely handicapped young people to a special school.
“I take the five all at once, all in their wheelchairs. I enjoy it – just being with these kids is a great experience. They’re in their own world, a place inaccessible to us, but when you show them love, you can tell they appreciate it. They can’t express it, but I have no doubt that deep down inside, there is a response from them, some interaction.”
The transportation service isn’t entirely free, but it’s heavily subsidized, Kronman says. It’s available for any wheelchair-bound person who wants to go anywhere, for any reason – not just medical appointments, but also social events like weddings or other family gatherings.
Providing basic legal services is another aspect of Yad Sarah’s outreach.
Volunteer Beersheba lawyer Nathan Berrebi became personally acquainted with Yad Sarah when his grandmother needed an oxygen unit.
“I knew that kind of equipment could be borrowed from Yad Sarah, so I went to the branch to get it – and ended up sitting down with a couple of people. I told them I was a lawyer, and that I’d be happy to provide assistance if there was anything I could do. They took my card, saying they did have lawyers offering legal assistance, and they’d be in touch.
Later, three of them came to my office, and we sat and talked.
“After hearing them describe what they were looking for, I didn’t hesitate.
‘I’m your guy!’ I said. Now I go once a month. There are about six or seven lawyers who volunteer.”
What kinds of legal needs do Yad Sarah clients have? “They aren’t technically clients,” Berrebi says. “They’re visitors who need some kind of legal or even psychological help – sometimes the problem is more of a family issue, and they just need someone to listen and understand. Nothing legal would help.
“But other times, people want a basic will, help getting insurance money, or help in dealing with a landlord-tenant dispute. Most of the time I write letters or contact bureaucrats or agencies on their behalf.
“What’s funny is that if I write a letter to a government agency on my own letterhead, it might take two or three weeks to get a response. If I write the same letter on Yad Sarah letterhead, the answer comes much quicker.
“I think what happens is that when government people see ‘Yad Sarah,’ they instantly know that this is a plea from someone who’s poor, maybe injured, who can’t help themselves. That puts them at the head of the line.”
And if someone comes in with a serious legal problem? “If they need real legal representation, we aren’t the ones who do it. What we do is first aid – but even so, I can’t remember even one person who left me without getting the information he needed. In my private practice I cover most areas of law except criminal – real estate, accidents, torts, insurance. So I’m familiar with most of the issues that come in.”
Have any unusual situations come his way? “One that surprised me,” Berrebi grins.
“A lady came in with her son. From the way they looked, I assumed they were probably quite poor. The lady very quietly asked if I would draw up a will for her, leaving everything to her son. No problem, I said. I assumed she had a small house she lived in, not much more than that.
“I asked for the address, but then she kept giving me more addresses, and still more – by the time she finished, she’d listed about six houses she owned! It was funny – she could have gone to a top lawyer, anywhere at all. But I did her will – it turned out to be three pages, not one, because she had so much property. She was very happy with the whole thing.”
Why would a young lawyer with a busy private practice agree to spend time doing legal work for free? “Volunteering at Yad Sarah gives you a feeling you can’t get any other way: to be able to use your professional skills to help someone else who really needs it.
When I get some government agency to pay an elderly man the money he’s owed, or help a lady resolve a situation with her landlord, that makes me feel just great. God is looking at us, but I’m not doing this for room and board in the next world. I do it because it’s a privilege to be able to help.”
Yehudit Galprin runs one of Yad Sarah’s most creative projects, the ‘Life Story Program.’ “It’s so exciting, I can’t even begin to tell you,” Galprin, who managed the Beersheba Absorption Center for most of her professional life, says.
“Everybody has a story, but some people don’t have anyone to tell it to, any way to preserve it, but it’s still important to them to record what their lives were like.
“So we match people with untold stories with volunteers who listen – not just listen, but listen with their hearts. The listeners record what the person tells them, then the recordings are transcribed.
Eventually the storyteller ends up with an actual little book, the story of his life.”
Matching storytellers with volunteer listeners is the essence of Galprin’s job.
“Right now, we have more people who want to tell their stories than we do listeners,” she says. “We need more volunteers.
But one of the most interesting stories I’ve heard so far is being told by a lady who came to Beersheba about 45 years ago and began working first at Hadassah Hospital, then at Soroka. Her husband was a doctor, she was a nurse – it’s an unbelievable story, and the volunteer who’s listening is a professor of biology at BGU.
“The two are so involved with each other, I just can’t stop smiling.”
Other interesting matches? “We have a wonderful American woman listening to an Ethiopian woman’s story. We have a Beduin telling his story to a religious student; a young female medical doctor listening to an American woman who lives in an oldage home. We have two Romanian women, one telling, the other listening, so those two are very much involved, too. Then there’s a man who spent most of his life in the army, telling his story to a local Beersheba man.
“Every story is beautiful – I can’t wait to hear them all myself. We also have a professional photographer who volunteers to take their portraits for the books, and we’re also including old photos.
“People ask me if the stories are heartbreaking, but I don’t see it that way.
Whenever I see the faces of the people who are telling the stories and the love from the people who are listening, it doesn’t break my heart. On the contrary, my heart is full. I feel such satisfaction.”
Sometimes Yad Sarah fills a mission no one ever anticipated.
“One morning I got a call from the principal of a school,” director Benson recalls. “She told me she had a 14-yearold Ethiopian boy who needed to have eight teeth inserted. It was very expensive work, she admitted, saying she had a cost estimate of about NIS 14,000. Both the boy’s parents and even the boy himself worked, but that amount was far beyond their ability to pay. Could Yad Sarah help? “Sorry as I was, I had to tell her we couldn’t. We help people who are homebound, but even at that, we don’t install new teeth. I suggested she might contact Beit Scandinavia [a senior citizens’ project in Jaffa] – maybe they could help. I gave her the phone number.
“Two days later, I received an urgent phone call from this lady. ‘You won’t believe what happened!’ she said.
“She told me how she’d called Beit Scandinavia, and had been told that NIS 14,000 was well beyond their budget limits, too. ‘So what shall I do?’ she asked the secretary. ‘Why don’t you talk to the director?’ the secretary suggested. ‘Maybe there’s something that can be done.’ “She was put through to the director – and was stunned at the answer. ‘You won’t believe this,’ the director said. ‘But just yesterday we received a very large gift from an American who specified that his donation was to be used to treat the teeth of Ethiopian children. ‘So bring the boy along,’ she told me. ‘And if you have any other Ethiopian children who also need help with their teeth, bring them, too!’” As Yad Sarah moves into its new building, the biggest problem facing Benson is finding enough volunteers to staff the expanded programs as well as all the new ones.
“We need twice as many volunteers as before,” he says. “Now we have the space to do so many more things, so we’re adding new programs, too.
“We’ll have a new rehabilitation center for people recovering from accidents or surgery. We’ll pick them up in our vehicles, bring them in for a morning of exercises and practical help, give them lunch from our big new kitchens, then take them back home. We also hope to open a center for special-needs children, too, depending on donations. But the first goal right now is to find more volunteers for everything.”
Not that Benson is worried. He knows the volunteers will come – he even has proof.
“This gorgeous new building of ours was donated by a number of very generous people,” he notes. “Mr. Daniel Jusidman, certainly, as well as the Ada Fund, the Fund for Development of Services for People with Disabilities, Israel’s National Insurance Institute and many, many other individual donors.
“As I thought about it, it’s wonderful to have this beautiful building paid for by people from abroad, but it seemed to me the people of Beersheba should be able to contribute something as well.
“So I set out counting doors, and found there were 103 doors in the building that needed mezuzot. I started casually spreading the word that Yad Sarah had a mezuza fund. If each mezuza cost NIS 150, I calculated we needed NIS 15,450 for all 103 doors.
“Within days, NIS 18,150 had poured in – all from the people of Beersheba.
Not only that, but there are several local groups and individuals who make very special and unusual mezuzot – most of them had offered to donate one or more, and to sell us others at a discount. Our need was taken care of, just like that.
“That’s why I’m not worried about attracting enough volunteers. The people of Beersheba know what Yad Sarah does. They appreciate what we do. So anytime Yad Sarah asks for help, the community responds. We’ll get our volunteers.

After learning of father’s past as SS officer at age 18, Didi Henke of Germany visits Israel, later moves to Jewish state to dedicate her life to helping Holocaust survivors. Now, some 20 years later, she is honored by Social Affairs Ministry

David Regev, YNet News, January 31, 2010

"Suddenly, at the age of 18, my life was turned upside down. To learn, out of nowhere, that your father was a Nazi officer – it’s hard to describe the shock." The 67-year-old Didi Henke still finds it difficult to speak of the moment she learned that her father was a senior SS officer.

Following the earth-shattering discovery, Henke decided to move to Israel and dedicate her life to the State and the wellbeing of Holocaust survivors.

Henke learned of her father’s past by chance, during her studies at university in Germany. "In one of the courses we were asked to learn about the history of our cities," she recounted.

"I searched information sources in the university’s archives, and all of a sudden, I found out that my father was an SS officer, who, among other things, was in charge of energy in the city. I was shocked. It felt horrible. I went to talk to him, but both he and my mother refused to cooperate."

The fact that her father showed no remorse for his actions led Henke to cut ties with him: "I took him out of my heart and I decided to dedicate the rest of my life to Holocaust survivors, in hopes of rectifying what my father did."

Fell in love with Israel at first sight

Henke made her first visit to Israel in 1978. She fell in love with the country and returned to it 52 times. In 1987, when she retired, she decided to move to the Jewish state. At the time, her parents had already passed away, and her siblings, who remained true to their father’s Nazi upbringing, barely kept in touch.

Since 1990, Henke has been a volunteer at the Yad Sarah organization and has been aiding Holocaust survivors. "Some of them had a hard time with my German accent, but with time, we created good relations, and I even have friends who are Holocaust survivors," she said in the fluent Hebrew she has acquired over the years.

Henke currently lives in Jerusalem. She says life in Israel and her volunteer work give her much joy. "I belong to the second generation of Germans. We should also be held responsible for what happened there," she said.

On Tuesday the Ministry of Social Affairs held a ceremony honoring Henke and 1,500 other foreigners who arrived in Israel this year to carry out volunteer work. The volunteers, many youths coming from Germany, Holland and Italy, have been living in Israel for several months now and have been volunteering in various fields.

Speaking at the ceremony, Welfare and Social Services Minister Yitzhak Herzog said: "At the end of their stay in Israel, the volunteers become loyal ambassadors of the State of Israel."

Press Release, Yad Sarah, August 6, 2009

The war was finally over. Now it was time to begin the daunting task of initiating or continuing rehabilitative services to the numerous injured soldiers and civilians. A team of Israeli experts in rehabilitation services was assembled and sent to the war-torn region. However, driving on the roads was prohibitive because of all the explosive devices that were still in place. A medical evacuation helicopter was commissioned to ferry the Israeli experts to the areas where they were needed to consult with the local health officials.

This scenario could have taken place in northern Israel after the Lebanon War in 2006 or in southern Israel after the Gaza war in 2009. But it didn’t. It took place in Angola in 2002 at the end of the lengthy and bloody civil war.The Angolan Civil War began in Angola after the end of the war for independence from Portugal in 1975. Formally brought to an end in 2002, an estimated 500,000 people were killed in the 27-year war. The war spawned an enormous humanitarian crisis involving large numbers of displaced and injured persons.

Faced with the overwhelming task of caring for the injured, the government of Angola wanted to know which organization in the world was the most experienced in providing rehabilitative services quickly and efficiently. The answer was Yad Sarah in Israel.

Yad Sarah is Israel’s leading humanitarian organization. Based in the capital city of Jerusalem, Yad Sarah was founded in 1976 and today has over 100 branches throughout Israel. It provides a broad spectrum of home care services for the disabled, elderly, infirm, and their families. With 6000 volunteers and an annual budget of approximately $23 million, Yad Sarah is able to save the State of Israel over $400 million annually in hospitalization and medical expenses. Yad Sarah is best known for its loans of medical and rehabilitative equipment along with guidance and exhibition centers which demonstrate the use of the most common devices. For its role in assisting the rehabilitation of injured in developing countries, Yad Sarah was accepted as an NGO at the Department of Public Information of the UN. It was also granted special consultative status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

When the Yad Sarah team arrived in Angola, the numerous landmines weren’t their only problem, there was a significant communication difficulty. The Israelis spoke mostly Hebrew while the Angolan health officials spoke mostly Portuguese. At first, the Israeli embassy had to provide translation services, but in a short time, everyone was speaking the common language of mutual assistance and cooperation and translators were no longer needed. The Israelis established a center for collecting, maintaining, and distributing the various wheelchairs and rehabilitative equipment that were available in Angola. Onsite training was also available. That center is still operational today and another is being planned.

Yad Sarah began its international operations in 1992 with a request from the Joint Distribution Committee to assist the elderly and disabled Jews living in the Former Soviet Union. A lending, guidance, and exhibition center was established in St. Petersburg. Since then, dozens of similar centers have been established throughout the FSU.

The success of the operation in the FSU encouraged the JDC to approach Palestinian medical officials about establishing centers in the areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. By the year 2000, a large lending center was established in Ramallah and it is still operational today. Soon after, Yad Sarah was receiving requests from around the globe: Uzbekistan, Cameroon, South Africa, and South Korea. It was this work, in addition to the operation in Angola, which led to the recognition from the United Nations as well as receipt of the Israel Prize, Israel’s highest honor. Yad Sarah currently has projects with Jordan, India, and a variety of European and African states.

Just last month, elderly Holocaust survivors in Riga, Latvia received home visits from Ilana Acrich and Zehava Dvir, of Yad Sarah’s Exhibition and Guidance Centers, who shared their expertise in rehabilitative services. The focus of the visit was training for health care workers at WIZO-Rachamim. Jewish Health International (JHI) of Atlanta, GA organized the visit.

Yad Sarah’s international operations are a quintessential example of the benefits of mutual cooperation. The host countries benefit from Yad Sarah’s vast knowledge and experience while the Yad Sarah staff benefits from additional training and exposure to multicultural issues. Since Yad Sarah has a limited budget, funding is usually provided by interested third parties which include the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Yad Sarah’s renowned work has been instrumental in improving relations between Israel and developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The tireless director of Yad Sarah’s international department is Meir Handelsman. Mr. Handelsman was born 67 years ago in the British Palestine Mandate to Polish parents who fled from the growing threats of Anti-Semitism in Europe. Fortunately, his parents were able to flee from Europe before doors were closed by the Evian Conference and the British White Paper. Mr. Handelsman was educated in Israel and received advanced degrees from Hebrew University and University of California at Berkely. He spent 32 years with the Israeli Ministry of Health before joining Yad Sarah 11 years ago. Recently he capitulated to his wife’s request, and will be retiring from Yad Sarah in November. However, he plans to continue the Yad Sarah tradition of volunteering on a part-time basis. Once someone gets involved with Yad Sarah, it becomes difficult to leave.

Although Mr. Handelsman will be leaving his post, Yad Sarah hopes to expand its international operations. Dr. Inon Schenker recently joined the staff of international operations to address the problem of funding the growing number of requests being received. More information about Yad Sarah’s international activities can be obtained by contacting Mr. Handelsman by telephone at 972-2-644-4660 or by e-mail at meirh@yadsarah.org.il.

Arts and Crafts group at Yad Sarah provides crucial social and emotional support

Press Release, Yad Sarah, February 8, 2009

(Jerusalem, Israel) For some, it happened in a moment. For others, it progressed over a period of years. All were once active and productive citizens. Today, their deficits in motor and language skills interfere with their ability to function in society. So they all come to Yad Sarah several times per week for a comprehensive, holistic approach to rehabilitation therapy. Besides the standard clinical services such as occupational, physical, and speech therapy, there are additional programs to provide the crucial social and emotional supports. An integral part of this program is the Arts and Crafts workshop. Every Monday morning the participants get three hours of recreation, therapy, and socialization. But that’s not all they get. “Coming to Yad Sarah gives them joy and purpose in life,” says Devorah Zwick, a volunteer at the program.

The group consists of about 15 women with varying degrees of neurological disabilities, brought on by strokes, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or various other disorders. They all have difficulties with fine motor and communication skills. According to speech pathologist Elana Kravitz, who was trained in New York and immigrated to Israel, “Their weaknesses in communication skills may vary from mild difficulties with verbal recall and verbal synthesis to more severe dysarthrias, apraxias, and aphasias.” That is, many have difficulty, producing coherent and intelligible speech, though their cognitive skills are usually age appropriate. Though the women are also receiving clinical services from occupational and speech therapists, the arts and crafts program provides them with additional opportunities to improve visual motor coordination and fine motor skills in a recreational and social setting. The latter also provides significant emotional support and mental health benefits. According to Irit Nahaloni, Director of the Day Rehabilitation Center, “Their participation in community activities is important. Instead of staying home with minimal socialization, the women have become part of an active community. Their ability to produce something that is creative and useful improves their feelings of self-worth. Their participation in community activities helps them realize that they can still be productive and their social life isn’t over yet.”

The instructor for the class is Beverly Marcus, a retired art teacher who immigrated to Israel three years ago from New Jersey. Beverly took a tour of the Yad Sarah facilities and was impressed by the myriad of services provided to the community. At the time, Irit was looking for an experienced art teacher who might be able to provide long term service. It was a match made in Heaven. “I’m very proud to be a part of this community of volunteers that contributes so much to Israeli society. There is immense gratification from the appreciation and progress demonstrated by the participants in the group,” noted Beverly.

Another instructor in the class is Louzia Krishevsky, a young woman who is fulfilling her requirements for national civil service. Louzia noted that there is an emphasis on producing attractive and useful items that can be used in the home or given as gifts to children and grandchildren. These may include items such as trivets, picture frames, embroidery, note holders, and serving trays. “Seeing their creative work put to practical use, helps to promote their self-esteem because they realize that they can still be productive and appreciated,” Louzia observed. Irit, who has been involved with the program since its inception over 15 years ago, added that that some of the future products may be sold in the Yad Sarah gift shop so to give the participants an increased sense of gratification by contributing to Yad Sarah as well. Irit aslos observed that, “The social networks and friendships that the participants have established also provides further encouragement to get out of the home and into social environments that provide even more opportunities to improve their communication, motor skills, and emotional well-being.” Yad Sarah assists in these endeavors as well by providing transportation and mobility services to those that need them.

Devorah Zwick, a volunteer who divides her time between New York and Jerusalem, explained how the projects are completed, “They usually work on two projects in each session because it may take time for glue or paint to dry. Each project can be completed in one or two sessions. The projects use common materials and don’t require sophisticated skills. We provide them with guidance and assistance, according to their individual needs, but we don‘t do the project for them, they do it themselves.” Devorah, who has a background in commercial art and jewelry design, emphasized that she enjoys volunteering in the program because it also provides her with self-satisfaction, “These women really appreciate what we’re doing for them and are grateful for the interactions. They appreciate the patience and understanding that we extend to them, that they may not get elsewhere. I enjoy interacting with them as well. Since their cognitive abilities are basically intact, they’re eager to tell their stories, and I enjoy listening to them. Despite their disabilities, they have a lot to offer. We all benefit, it’s fun and stimulating.” Irit added, “This program has been active for a long time. The longevity of the program, the devotion of the numerous volunteers that have been involved, and the persistence of the participants, attests to its success. We’re very proud of it.” Though the participants may not be able to speak well, the expression on their faces is enough to show that they agree.

Music Program for the Blind Provides Inspiration and Gratification

Yad Sarah volunteers bring hope to others and inspiration to themselves

 Press Release, Yad Sarah, February 2, 2009

View video on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rObUl4KGXA

(Jerusalem, Israel – February 2, 2009) Take three young music students from Israel’s famed High School for Arts and Sciences. Combine them with seven elderly blind persons. Add one dedicated volunteer van driver. Warm gently, and you get a beautiful harmony that stimulates the senses and stirs the emotions. For Michal Drori, the modest young woman at Yad Sarah who created this recipe, it’s just another one of the many projects that she is involved with.

For the past six months, Michal Drori, a student of music therapy, has served as the music coordinator for the Department of Home and Community Services at Yad Sarah. One day she received a surprise phone call from her counterpart at the very selective High School of Arts and Sciences. Could Yad Sarah use volunteer musicians who want to perform community service? Michal grabbed the opportunity and got right to work. She thought of Esther, an elderly blind woman who was once a teacher of the blind, loves music, and has a piano in her home. But why stop there? Michal searched the Yad Sarah files and found a small social network of blind persons who enjoy music. A phone call to Esther, and yes, she would be happy to host the group in her home. All that was left was to find a driver who could bring the group together. Someone mentioned Meir Keller. Without hesitation, he volunteered for the job.

Meir Keller is an angel from Heaven on a mission. Every Tuesday afternoon, he drives to Yad Sarah after his regular work hours to pick up one of Yad Sarah’s customized vans. He then drives around Jerusalem during the crowded rush hour to pick up six elderly, blind individuals. When King David established the city of Jerusalem over 3000 years ago, handicap access wasn’t taken into consideration. Jerusalem is a city of hills, steps, and narrow, winding walkways. It is difficult to navigate for even the most experienced blind persons. So Meir has to compensate. For each individual that he picks up, he has to park the van, and patiently guide the person up and down the stairs, over the uneven pavement, and into the van.

Finally, we get to Esther’s house. The three young musicians are waiting for us: a pianist, a guitarist, and a vocalist. They’re equipped with their music sheets and lyrics. Meir arranges the chairs and distributes the refreshments. The musicians ask for requests. Knowing that musical tastes vary, they come prepared with a little of the old, a little of the new, and some classical selections. It starts with a bit of chatter which soon breaks into a kumsitz, with music, singing, and clapping. A little while later, Esther’s daughter, a member of a choral group, arrives and joins with the vocalist. Each musical selection is introduced to the group. There is a lively discussion about the musical selections, the artists, and the composers. This is a group that knows their music. Though the level of participation varies, no one seems bored. It is a lively, joyous environment.

Over an hour later, the musicians begin to pack their materials. But the evening isn’t over yet. Curious about the musicians and the visiting reporter who is busy taking pictures, a lively discussion follows. Where do you come from? What brings you here? Relationships are developed and strengthened.

At the end of the evening, everyone has benefited. Seven blind individuals, who would have sat home alone listening to the radio, enjoyed an evening of camaraderie and live music. Esther’s daughter observed her mother laughing, singing, and talking. The three young, gifted musicians developed a greater appreciation for the special talents that God gave them and were eager to put them to good use. Meir Keller returned home with the gratification that he achieved his commitment to community service that is a hallmark of Jewish values. And one volunteer reporter from New York experienced the altruism and inner strengths of Israelis that has enabled them to survive and prosper under the most challenging circumstances.

Source: Yad Sarah

Yad Sarah staff and volunteers struggle to reestablish normal routines

Press Release, Yad Sarah, January 21, 2009

It became a common occurrence. You hear the Red Alert warning siren announcing that a rocket has just been fired. You have fifteen seconds to run and seek shelter in a safer environment. If you can do that, then you’re one of the lucky ones. But what if you can’t? What if you’re too ill, or too old, or too young, or recuperating from surgery, or confined to a wheelchair, or injured? Then the routines of daily living that have been merely obstacles or challenges in the past have now become threatening, impossible, and intolerable. So what do you do? You call Yad Sarah. If you are unable to use a telephone, then you press the button on your emergency alarm system.

Yad Sarah is one of Israel’s largest non-profit social service agencies. Its primary focus is to provide mobility services and assistance with activities of daily living. So if it has become a challenge to move around the house, maintain personal hygiene and nutrition, or even to just go to sleep, then you call Yad Sarah. Their extensive network of service centers staffed mainly by dedicated volunteers, provides an assortment of assistive devices and supportive services. Those that need a customized wheelchair, or just a special pillow, or perhaps only a little experienced advice, are frequent callers to Yad Sarah. If they are unable to manipulate a telephone, then they can get an emergency communication system. A press of a button reaches a trained operator at the Jerusalem control center.

Ahuva Nyman opted to do national civil service in lieu of the required military service. It wasn’t an easy way out. Ahuva was assigned to the emergency communication system at Yad Sarah’s main building in Jerusalem. At a young age, Ahuva was trained to be part emergency medical technician, part social worker, and part psychologist, all rolled into one. The emergency control center is staffed 24/7 to service the needs of the 18,000 clients who have been equipped with the specialized communication system. A press of a button on a wireless device worn by the client, activates a two-way audio system. Ahuva is fluent in both Hebrew and English. When she receives a signal, her communication with the client, or lack of communication, will determine whether she should call an ambulance, a local service center, or just lend an ear for some friendly advice or support. During the Gaza war, when the rockets kept falling, the calls were almost incessant. “People didn’t want to go out, they were scared, they didn’t know what to do,” observed Ahuva. Often Ahuva and the other operators had to call Kulanu B’yachad, an umbrella group of over 40 organizations that helped provide transportation, shelter, food, volunteer escorts, hygienic needs, and other supportive services. When the operators weren’t answering calls, they initiated calls to the clients to ensure that they were safe and reasonably comfortable. Ahuva is glad that a cease-fire is in effect. “Operations are getting back to the usual,” she noted.

When Shlomit Schweitzer was asked where she works, she responded, “All over.” Where is your office located? “In my car.” Shlomit is a social worker for the southern region of Yad Sarah, which includes the entire area from Rechovot to Eilat. During the war, Shlomit was part of a network of staff and volunteers that visited residents with special needs, provided transportation services, mobility services, medical equipment, food, and hygienic needs. About 70 people required specialized transportation services to get to a safer environment. About 100 extra emergency alarm units were distributed without cost to the clients. Volunteers visited homes and shelters regularly to determine the needs. This was all accomplished by a total staff of about 30 people. So the workload, the time devoted, and the stress, were enormous. “It’s not finished yet,” lamented Shlomit, “people are still afraid to go back, they don’t believe that it’s over.” Shlomit and the rest of the staff are still busy transporting southern residents back to their homes and getting them the medical equipment and assistive devices that they need.

One of Shlomit’s contacts at the Yad Sarah’s main building in Jerusalem is Shani Rosenfeld. An occupational therapist who immigrated from the United States, Shani is one of the directors of Yad Sarah’s Exhibition and Guidance Center which advises clients on the use of over 250 types of equipment that Yad Sarah either provides or obtains when needed. During the war, she received calls from all around the country from people concerned about their family and friends living in the South. Often she had to provide duplicate equipment for those that were temporarily located to a safer environment with family or friends. For those that had to go to the cramped and deficient shelters, Shani had to arrange for special hygienic or nutritional needs. Sometimes she just had to provide sleeping or comfort aids to those having difficulty adjusting to life in the cramped shelters or coping with incontinence. Shani is still busy helping people return to their homes and adapting to a different environment. She tries to ease their discomforts and help them adjust gradually. She has to provide assurances to clients, family, and friends that readjustments take time so they don’t feel anxious and guilty if the adjustments aren’t immediate.

Needless to say, the Gaza war has put a strain on Yad Sarah’s budget and facilities. Already financially burdened by the costs of expanding and renovating the main building in Jerusalem, Yad Sarah had the additional burden of providing specialized transportation, duplicate equipment, novel equipment for shelters, and replacement equipment. But the staff of Yad Sarah seems undaunted by the upcoming challenges. After all, meeting and coping with challenges is what they are all about.

Press Release, Yad Sarah, January 14, 2009

(Jerusalem, Israel- January 14, 2009) Since the onset of the conflict in Gaza three weeks ago, the international media has been emphasizing the humanitarian challenges that have been developing in Gaza, but little is known about the needs of the million residents of southern Israel who have been under constant attack from the rocket barrages emanating from Gaza. As a result, there are widespread international efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the Arab residents in Gaza who are innocent victims of the conflict, but none for the innocent victims in Israel. Receiving little assistance from international relief organizations, Israelis realized that they must fend for themselves and band together to provide assistance for the beleaguered citizens of the South. Within days following the onset of the conflict, over 40 Israeli organizations united to form an umbrella group called All Together Now, to integrate humanitarian services for the civilian victims in southern Israel.

All Together Now, or Kulanu B’Yachad in Hebrew, is located in Jerusalem in offices provided by Yad Sarah, a large non-profit social service organization serving all of Israel. It is staffed for 18 hours per day, by about 25 dedicated volunteers. The center is closed Friday evening and Saturday for religious observance. The three coordinators, Avital Sela, Ashira Landau, and Naama Cohen are there for most of the time. Ms. Landau noted that most of the volunteers are young women who are doing their required national civil service but they are putting in time at the center in addition to their required time for national service. Students and senior citizens are also volunteering. When asked how many hours she puts in, Landau responded, “I’m here everyday from 7 am to 1 am, except Saturday”

All Together Now provides assistance in five general categories: housing, transportation, food, household items, and recreational activities for children. The volunteers receive calls from people needing assistance and people offering assistance. The coordinators collect the phone messages and then meet to match the providers with the recipients. If a needed service has not been offered then the coordinators will call suitable providers to obtain the needed services. In addition, almost 2000 volunteers have been sent to southern towns to assist with shelters that house about 30 people each, mostly children.

The office receives about 1000 calls per day, all from within Israel. The calls come primarily from the seven towns that are receiving the brunt of the rocket barrage, and the numerous Israeli citizens, businesses, and organizations that are eager to provide assistance. Routine life in the southern towns has ceased to exist. Children are unable to go to school while their parents are unable to work. Comfortable homes have been abandoned for the safety of cramped, concrete shelters. On one day last week, there were 400 calls from people willing to provide housing for the southern residents and 500 calls involving assistance for children living in shelters or requiring escorts. The remaining calls involved basic household needs, recreational activities for children, and transportation services.

Several days ago, Rabbi Michael Aronov, director of a Hesder yeshiva, called that he can put up some families this weekend because the students will be going home. The same day, a refugee from Gush Katif, whose family is still living in a temporary trailer, called that the Bar Mitzvah for his son was cancelled this week because of the incessant barrage of rockets. Landau immediately called Aronov who said that he could house 13 families and provide a synagogue and catering facility for 80 people. This was exactly what was needed. Landau observed that, “Miracles like this happen everyday.”

A small hotel in Eilat provided free rooms for a family of five that included two children with cerebral palsy, and charged only about $35 per day to feed the entire family. An assisted living center provided a room for a person with a disability who required handicap access. In one day, six tons of fruit were donated by a distributor in Nahariya and a full truckload of sanitary supplies were donated by a large manufacturer. Recreational activities were provided for over 100 children and free admissions to museums were offered. Financial assistance was also provided for many who needed it.

Landau emphasized that much more still needs to be done. There is still a dire need for financial assistance, housing, food, materials, and volunteers. Those wishing to donate their time, money, services, or materials should call the center in Jerusalem at 02-644-4828. Additional information can be obtained by calling Community Relations at Yad Sarah, 02-644-4429. Callers from outside of Israel should use the appropriate prefixes. Donations can be made easily and quickly by phone directly to an account at Bank Hapoalim.

At a recent inspirational lecture given for the southern refugees, Rabbi Yigal Kaminetsky observed that the Hebrew words for “war” and “alloy” are similar. In times of war, Israelis have shown that they can forget their differences and meld together for a common cause. Landau noted that All Together Now is an excellent example of Israeli unity and hopes that it will “continue to unite the country and serve as a model for future endeavors in peacetime.”

Source: Yad Sarah Community Relations