Rosh Hashanah Appeal

For an elderly person like 74-year-old Luisa, who lives alone on the outskirts of Zaporozhye in Ukraine in an unheated, decaying apartment, the winter is a terrifying time. Broken doors and windows let in cold winds that bring the temperature down to -20 degrees, the plaster is falling off the walls and there is no gas or running water. She has an outdoor wooden toilet that is falling apart. Limited state support and a meagre pension mean that Luisa, like so many others, is regularly forced to choose between eating properly, staying warm or buying medicine. There is no way she can pay for renovations she needs to keep her safe and healthy this winter.

Luisa is just one of thousands that need help from World Jewish Relief this Rosh Hashanah. Children are also at risk, with damp and cold causing chronic illnesses. Victoria and Marina Podgursky, who are two and four years old, live in a house that is falling apart so that the roof lets in the rain and the cracked walls let in the wind. The vital funds raised through WJR’s Rosh Hashanah appeal will help people like Luisa, Victoria and Marina, ensuring that Jewish communities across Ukraine can remain safe and protected in their own homes this winter.

WJR’s innovative new home repairs programme has been designed to help communities in Ukraine survive the freezing weather, but it will also contribute to lifting people out of a cycle of poverty that is exacerbated by ill health and prohibitively expensive medical treatment.

By donating generously to WJR this Rosh Hashanah you will give vulnerable people, particularly the elderly and young children, the gift of a safe and warm home this year.

This Rosh Hashanah, you can also buy a gift to make a difference on our gifts website, Wjrapped Up.

Rather than taking flowers or chocolates to friends and family this Yom Tov, you can send a gift of a monthly food package to a family in Ukraine or provide an anti-fungal remedy for damp in a Ukrainian home. £40 will pay for repair of electrics to make the home safe and £100 will pay for the removal of a dangerous heater to alleviate the risk of carbon-dioxide poisoning.