By: Laurina Driesse

At age 76, Ruchlya Perlmuter arrived in Israel towards the end of 2022 after some harrowing months in war-torn Ukraine. At first, she was reluctant to leave and start life over in another country, but when her city came under heavy Russian shelling it became increasingly difficult for the elderly Jewish lady to get needed medical care – especially insulin to manage her diabetes. At that point she knew she would have to go, but it still was not easily done!

As the number of Ukrainian war refugees has risen over the past 18 months, the ICEJ has been committed to helping uprooted Jewish families make Aliyah to Israel as swiftly as possible. With assistance by many along the way, Ruchlya’s long journey began with a special ambulance out of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine to a nearby former Soviet republic. There, she needed to update documents to enable her to travel further. This process took more than a month, but finally she was able to fly to Israel accompanied by a medical doctor on an ICEJ-sponsored flight.

Once in Israel, she initially stayed in an absorption center until she received priority treatment that allowed her to jump to the front of a waiting list for a small one-room apartment in Beersheva.

All alone in Israel and with only one suitcase of personal belongings, she moved into a one-room unfurnished apartment and faced the challenge of making it her new home. More than once, she thought back to her beautiful apartment in Donetsk, where she left everything behind with no hope of ever recovering any of it.

Earlier this year, Nicole Yoder, the ICEJ’s Vice President for Aid and Aliyah, and other members of our staff visited Ruchyla to see how she was doing.

“The challenges this courageous woman faces every day were immediately evident when she received a phone call from the doctor and couldn’t understand what he was saying”, recounted Nicole. “Fortunately, because the call came during our visit, there was someone nearby to translate and all was quickly organized. It’s obvious, though, that she has many questions and with thousands of immigrants flooding in, personal help isn’t always readily available.”

Ruchlya noted that everything is new to her. She has to learn new ways to get around town, where to buy what she needs, and so much more.

“I have to think how to spend my money”, Ruchyla explained. “Do I need an air conditioner for the summer? I could only bring one bag of my own belongings and half of that was medication. So, I needed to buy everything new in Israel.”

Hearing her talk about her concerns, Nicole and the team understood that the purchase of an air conditioner was a big worry for Ruchlya, who did not know how she was going to manage in the sweltering desert heat of Beersheva. So, our team went into action to find her one!

While her apartment is small, Ruchyla takes much pride in it, making sure that it is clean with everything in its place. Now that she is settling in, Nicole asked about her dreams for the future? Ruchlya shared that she wants to learn as much as she can about Israel.

“I’ve always been Jewish, but now I want to understand what it means to be a Jew living in my own homeland of Israel”, she said.

Part of that process means learning the Hebrew language to be able to connect with others, form friendships, and fully integrate into Israeli society. Daily tasks can be so challenging here without Hebrew. Her advanced age is another hurdle to overcome, as even attending an online class is difficult and the recent surge in immigrants has created a shortage of physical ulpan language classes in Beersheva.

Over a cup of tea, Ruchyla also shared about her family’s history.

“There was always antisemitism around us. Having both a first and last Jewish name, I suffered greatly. But even when I had the opportunity to change my name at 16 years old, I chose not to. I’ve always proudly worn the Star of David. I’m Jewish”, recalled Ruchyla.

Nicole encouraged her to “keep the legacy of your family and people close to your heart. You are a brave woman – choosing to come on Aliyah and make this your home without looking back!”

“You are right”, she quickly replied. “But without the help of ICEJ and the Jewish Agency, it would not have been possible. Thank you!”

The need to control her insulin levels and blood sugar through diet and medication kept Ruchlya confined close to her city for 47 years. In Israel, she’s discovered a new sense of freedom as advanced ways to control her blood sugar levels are now more widely available to her. Suddenly, a whole new world of possibilities has opened, allowing her to dream of travel abroad to visit family and friends.

A few weeks after our visit, the air conditioner arrived and Ruchlya wrote us a beautiful thank you letter:

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Jewish Agency and the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, in the person of Nicole, for their valuable assistance in going to Israel and for their support in my arrival in Israel. I am a 76-year-old who got used to being completely alone in my hometown of Donetsk. If I didn’t have this help both morally and materially, including the purchase of an air conditioner that is so necessary here, I certainly would not have been able to deal with all the difficulties that befell me during the war and on the way from there to Israel. It was only thanks to these organisations and most importantly the aforementioned people that I was able to finally arrive in Israel, and now I am starting to be integrated into it. There are probably no words to express my gratitude. I can only say ‘thank you’ 1000 times.”

As so clearly can be seen here, Aliyah is about much more than the cost of a flight, it also encompasses helping new arrivals as they integrate into Israeli society. Thank you for partnering with the ICEJ in our Aliyah and Integration efforts. Your support is making a huge difference in the lives of many new Jewish immigrants to Israel.

Donate today at: give.icej.org/aliyah