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Volunteering is a spiritual basis of Jewish mutual aid. The
more developed are community members' feelings of love and responsibility
for each other, the stronger and solider are the Jews. We are proud of
having such People. Their holiday, "Volunteer's Day" was celebrated
on October 6 in the community of Almaty city.
Since the early morning the silence of "Daulet"
educational and health complex in Zailiysky Alatau was broken by a merry
laughter, excited voices, and Jewish melodies. Crimson color of dried
apricot trees and green of fir-trees mixed with the smell of tart mountain
wind repeating the thanks to volunteers, that were uttered by the head
of the volunteer program Galina Onichko. How many cheerful sparkling
eyes were there! Who can believe that Abraham Michailovich Finkel,
the volunteer of the Republican Jewish Library, was 92 years old. That
restless man in his prime comes to Hesed every day to help in brining
newspaper filings in order. And what about Ideya Josephovna Panova?
There is hardly a client of the "Meals" program who remembers
that she is a volunteer. The clients used to her help so much, that they
consider her to be an employee. The list of such people is very long.
We are proud of every our volunteer, we remember and care about everybody!!!
The celebration of "Volunteer's Day" followed its
course. Svetlana Nezhinskaya and Tatyana Levenberg told guests
about the recent Jewish holidays - Rosh-ha-Shannah, Yom-Kippur, Sukkot,
and Simchat Torah. And again a fish's head, honey, apples, pomegranate,
lulav, and etrog rose before the guests' eyes. "Nehama" ensemble
sang volunteers' favorite songs: "Golden Jerusalem", "Hava
Nagila", and "Seven Forty". The free-will assistants were
given colorful testimonial diplomas. Everybody was glad with the meeting
and the warm autumn day, and gaily took part in games and quizzes.
Even during the celebration the volunteers of Hesed "Polina"
remained a team. They felt queerly when divided into teams and competed
in the knowledge of Jewish Tradition and history. They became a family
long ago - a big, solid, united family. They supplement each other like
pomegranate kernels, though every volunteer is an individual, and they
always say "WE" when speaking about their work in Hesed.
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The basis of Jewish mutual aid |
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Abraham Michailovich Finkel and Galina Onichko |
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