Mitzvah helps a Shoah survivor

As Jews, all of us have suffered in some ways as it relates to the Holocaust. Many of us have relatives that are survivors and others would like to help survivors, but are not sure how.

HAFTR student and Five Towns resident Elana Milberg figured out a way. As part of her Bat Mitzvah project, Elana coordinated a Basketball-A-Thon last Sunday in the HAFTR Gym on Frost Lane, assisted by some of her siblings (HAFTR alum Ori and student Rani). With help from the HAFTR and Camp Lavi families, $1,000 was raised. 

The survivor mitzvah project provides direct financial aid to elderly Holocaust survivors in remote areas of Eastern Europe and Ukraine. They are in desperate need of food, medicine, suitable shelter, and loving kindness. Most are sole survivors of families murdered by the Nazis, many are the last Jews in their town or village, some are survivors of the killing fields, some fought with the Russians or as Partisans in the forests of Belarus, and some were slaves in the Gulag long after the war ended. All are elderly, alone and isolated, they do not receive WWII reparation funds from Germany.

Elana’s project raised money for Mariya (her Yiddish name is Manya), a child during the Holocaust. Her family (except for her mother and siblings) were killed, her grandparents burned alive. She lives alone in Belarus in one small room. She has a lot of health problems due to starvation and lack of medical care throughout her life. Currently she is in need of funds for operations on both of her eyes as she is going blind.

To learn more about Mariya, link to a performance in which Valerie Harper reads at the Simon Wiesenthal Center: bit.ly/1RRXo2U, or visit SurvivorMitzvah.org. To contribute to Elana’s project, email her at BBALLelana@gmail.com.