(Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Krivoi Rog, Donetsk, and Kyiv) Report of a ...

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The organization has a small budget, the largest segment of which is
provided by Rabbi Kaminezki. In the first three months of its existence, the
group held five meetings, some of which related to Jewish holidays. Ahavat
Israel has produced informational brochures for members about Jewish customs,
Jewish holidays, and other Jewish matters. They have already secured
a commitment for four deaf Jewish young adults to join a Hillel Taglit
(birthright Israel) group in the summer of 2011; the group will be accompanied
by Chana Yehudit Shirova, a sign
language interpreter (whose
mother is deaf).
Ahavat Israel activists include (left to
right; Esther Mizina, an assistant;
Rimma Margolina, volunteer director;
Alla Brovenko, participant; and
Chana Yehudit Shirova, sign language
interpreter. Ms. Brovenko and
Ms. Shirova are mother and daughter.
Photo: the writer.
According to participants, almost all deaf and non-speaking adults work outside
their homes, most women having been trained in city schools to be
seamstresses and most men are qualified for various factory positions. The
young people among them would like to use Ahavat Israel as a lobbying
organization to advocate for local para-Olympic competition in football
(soccer), basketball, swimming, chess, and other sports for deaf people.
Ahavat Israel activists acknowledged that the Joint Distribution Committee
once sponsored a group for hearing-impaired Jews in the city, but said that it
was closed some years ago. It is very important, they observed, that hearingimpaired
Jews have their own organization for purposes of socializing
and mutual support.
17. The Beit Baruch Assisted Living Facility for elderly Jews opened in 2002, the
first of only two dedicated housing facilities for Jewish seniors in all of the post-Soviet
states. 27 Beit Baruch provides accommodations, meals, medical care, and various
social activities to its residents. Some reside in single rooms, others in doubles with a
roommate. Each room has its own private bathroom. The facility is located in a
relatively quiet outlying district of Dnipropetrovsk on the site of a former preschool. The
original building was completely razed and then replaced by a clean modern structure.
Although the official capacity of Beit Baruch is 94, geriatric specialists from Boston
recommend that the total number of residents not exceed 75 to 80. The census at the
time of the writer’s visit was only 55, all of whom were between the ages of 78 and 97.
27 The second such facility is located in Kyiv. See pages 109, 113-114.