By: Maxine Carlill 

The delightful festival of Hanukkah takes place for eight days during December, with candles glowing on windowsills or even outdoors.  

Donuts called “sufganiyot” are cooked in oil – a fun way to remember “the miracle of the oil”. Following the Maccabean defeat of the Seleucid Greeks, a day’s worth of oil in the Menorah lasted for the eight days needed to rededicate the Temple.   

A central aspect of Hanukkah is celebrating this remarkable defeat of an evil tyrant which had oppressed the Jewish faith. ‘The few over the many’ is a phrase that describes this victory, with the “few” including the God of Israel. 

After two years of the current war, ICEJ Homecare has learned much about the bravery of the weak and vulnerable as we assist elderly Israeli immigrants needing our care.   

In 1990, Natasha* made Aliyah from the Soviet Union with her mother, husband and son. They travelled by boat from communist Leningrad to Helsinki and then on to Israel by plane. Natasha completed her education in Israel amid many struggles and earned a doctorate in Russian literature, finding work as a teacher. Recently, she reflected on the war in Gaza with Homecare nurse Corrie van Maanen. 

“The beginning was the hardest, the unknown, not feeling safe and great fear”, she recalled. 

She recounted that back in Russia, threats of pogroms against Jews were resurfacing in the 1980s. So, Natasha and her family immigrated to Israel. But the images of Hamas attacks on October 7 triggered a terrible fear, especially as her husband had to go to work, leaving her, their only son and her very elderly mother alone. Their home was close to Arab towns. Then the next day, her son was called to the Israeli army.   

The day after, she wrote to her students to check if they were all safe. However, one student soon discovered her sister had been taken hostage into Gaza. Natasha did all she could to alert the world to the plight of the hostage sister on social media. It spread like a ripple in water. After more than a year, the girl was set free. 

“The whole day the telephone rang even though it was on a Shabbat.  I was busy thanking all the people on my social media groups”, she explained.   

Although not religious herself, Natasha is aware of the power of prayer – of feeling relief, joy and thankfulness to God. 

Natasha also opened her home to an evacuated young woman from Ashkelon, and together they started buying items for IDF soldiers. 

“It helped me to reach out to others, whether it was writing on social media or buying things for the soldiers”, she said. “As long as I could do something for the situation we are in, I felt less fear, less stress.” 

For many elderly Holocaust survivors, October 7 and the ensuing war meant reliving the horrific darkness of World War II. Some overcame the trauma by simply shutting off the news. However, one elderly lady obsessed with watching the news and depression soon followed. But Corrie challenged this dear observant Jewish woman to read the Torah, Psalms and Prophets after every hour of watching news. 

“I don’t need the news so much anymore, as the Torah is teaching me about the times we are living in”, she later told Corrie. 

Other Homecare patients struggle knowing their children or grandchildren are in the IDF defending the country. One lady, a Holocaust survivor, is very fragile due to age and health issues.   

“One time when I visited her, she was in tears”, Corrie recounted. “The lady said, ‘My grandson doesn’t want to tell me where he is in the army, to protect his babushka (grandmother).’ But one time he came home and told her about an accident and the miraculous way the God of Israel saved his life and those of his fellow soldiers. She told me, ‘I cry when I think of it, and when I tell others, I can’t stop crying at how God saved his life.’”  

Some of these dear Russian-speaking Jews still have family caught in the war in Ukraine, and at times they are at the end of their strength. Homecare’s weekly visits bring hope, often just by being there, listening, and encouraging them. Like the candles of Hanukkah, faith overcomes darkness.  

Thank you for being part of these difficult two years for those under our care. With your help, Homecare has comforted many elderly Jews in Israel.    

Please give today at:  help.icej.org/homecare