Virtual Excursion on Jewish Odessa - Modern Jewish Objects

Modern Jewish Objects

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JDC Office

JDC Office

Social Services

Gmilus Hesed is a welfare Jewish organization created in February 1994 by the Jewish Community of Odessa, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Cultural Society of Odessa, with the generous support of the Baltimore Jewish Community. The center functions to assist the disabled, solitary and needy Jews of Odessa. Since the center was opened, more than 2,600 Jews have applied for assistance and were registered in the center's data base of the needy clients.

Gmilus Hesed operations are undertaken by 10 staff workers, some 100 volunteers and 56 home care workers. The following programs are ongoing:

Home Care Services include regular visits to the homes of the elderly, assistance in cleaning of the apartment and cooking.
Moked Lakashish (service for the elderly) provides all kinds of services to senior citizens in order to improve their living conditions: small repairs of electric equipment, plumbing, furniture, minor renovation of apartments, fixing locks, fixing hand - rails for invalids, barber and hairdresser services and distribution of the hearing-aids.
Medical consultations, service and urgent aid are provided by the team of 24 fully qualified volunteers, including professors and medical doctors.
Loan of medical equipment enables selection and loan of medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, hand-rails, mattresses, etc. to those who need it.
The Club (Moadon) is one of the most important services of Gmilus Hesed: a meeting place for the elderly. The club invites stimulating speakers to give lectures to the members, organizes various clubs and hobby groups and celebrates Jewish holidays in a community setting.
Warm House Program - In this program people meet twice a week for three hours in private apartments of the Jewish eldely in the community. They socialize, discuss Jewish topics, books and press.
Sunday meals program. Every Sunday, 50 needy Jews have a free lunch in the Or Sameach School canteen. Lunch is followed by discussions on various topics.
Meals-On- Wheels Program - This program, launched in February 1996, covers 30 solitary and homebound elderly.
Handicapped from Childhood Program where 71 families with handicapped members, who received the lowest state pensions, are supplied with food packages.

Culture

The Odessa Jewish Cultural Society was founded in March 1989. At the end of 1991, the city executive committee allocated to the OJCS the former synagogue building at 46a Malaya Arnautskaya st. After major repairs financed by the JDC and private donations, the society is successfully running:

The Migdal Education and Arts Center, founded in 1993. The center operates on the "Matnas" principle, running a large number of informal Jewish educational activities. It is attended by students between the ages of 5 and 25, as well as their parents and grandparents.
The Association of Former Jewish Victims of the Ghetto and Nazi Camps, which protects the rights of former Ghetto prisoners, conducts research and commemoration activities on the Holocaust and provides assistance to needy Association members. The Association also works with Yad Vashem Memorial in Israel.
The Mame Loshn Magazine, the only Yiddish language periodical published in Ukraine and the CIS. This is a quarterly publication printed in Yiddish, Russian and Hebrew.
The Drama Workshop Theater, headed on a voluntary basis by Meritorious Artist of Ukraine Valery Bassel. During the three years of its existence, the theater, made up of 14 amateur and professional actors, has staged the performances of "Havel Havelim" based on I. Babel's novel, and Eternal Checkmate based on a novel by I. Meras
The "Di Yiddishe Leed", the Jewish song workshop, headed by Odessa Conservatory graduate and former Ghetto victim Ida Nudel.

The Odessa Municipal Jewish Library was founded in December 1994. Its stock consists of books and periodicals in Hebrew, Yiddish, English, Ukrainian, and Russian on Jewish and general subjects, and contains over 15,000 titles. The main core of the books on Jewish subjects is made up of the full JDC library and books donated by the Baltimore Jewish Community, as well as by residents of the city. The library functions as a community center, and runs clubs, programs, workshops for the community. Besides supplying financial aid, JDC provides the library with methodological and professional help. The library is active in many areas of communal life, including projects, run in conjunction with Gmilus Hesed Welfare Center.

Schools

Schools

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