Project Rescue

I want to live in Israel” – it has been my strong desire and dream! I am happy that my dream has now come true!   I lived in Kharkiv; I liked my city. I grew up there, and studied there. I got a law degree, planned to build a career, and thought about starting my own family. But the war intervened in my plans!  As soon as the capture of our city began, Russian troops with tanks and Grads (rocket launchers) appeared on the streets, and planes began to fly in the sky dropping missiles on us. I left Kharkiv. I managed to go to Germany, and lived there as a refugee. A year passed in a European country, and then another year and I felt that this was not my place at all! I increasingly began to remember a short trip to Israel, which left such a pleasant mark on my heart. I went to Israel on a tour under the Taglit program from the Jewish Agency. Although I had enough of everything: enough money for living, I was in a safe place, I made friends, but my heart refused to live in Europe. Suddenly a real desire to go to Israel and a dream appeared - to live there!   My father is staying in Ukraine and he doesn’t want to go anywhere yet, and I’m worried about him. But I hope that he will join me in Israel soon! Finally, I went to the consulate to get the right to live in Israel. To my surprise, I received a list of missing documents needed to get a visa. Of course, I was very upset because I could not come to Ukraine to get everything I needed. But, to my great happiness, I was advised to go to Ezra! I did so, and Ezra made sure that I could bring the consul everything I needed and get a visa as a potential citizen of Israel!  I plan to focus all my efforts on learning Hebrew! I want to confirm my diploma and work in my specialty. I am thinking about creating a family.  Ezra helped me get the necessary documents from the archives, and this was very important for me! Simply invaluable help! They also helped me get a police clearance certificate and sent it to Germany, where I lived. Without this, I would not have been able to pass the consular check either!  I am grateful for your work! It is simply priceless! You help make the dream of Jews who want to live in their own country come true! Thank you for your work! **Bridges for Peace partners with Ezra, providing financial support for the processes that open the doors for Jewish immigrants to “make Aliyah” – to come home to Israel. Upon arrival, BFP works to connect with the new Olim (Aliyah immigrants) to bless them gifts that help to settle into their new Israel home.

It is very difficult to live in war, not knowing what is next for you in this country. I want to live in security, to have a future! I am 24 years old, single, lived in Kiev and worked as a kindergarten teacher. I lived on my own, apart from my parents, with my cats. Only cats always understand me, they are attentive listeners and I feel that they pity and sympathize when I am in pain and fear. I have been especially scared since full-scale war broke out. Everything around me has changed, all hopes for the future have collapsed, it has become very difficult to live on. So, I decided to make a change!  It took me almost seven months to get my documents ready for the consular check. I had to make requests to archives, and ask my relatives for documents.  It was difficult and time-consuming, but I still managed to gather the necessary documents! During this time, I experienced events when Russian troops tried to seize Kyiv, then they were kicked out of the territory, and we breathed a sigh of relief. Then we were bombed, trying to destroy the infrastructure. We sat without electricity, sometimes without heat in winter. It is very difficult to work with children in such difficult conditions. Sometimes we did not go out to work at all, as there was no permission because of the danger. And when we are in kindergarten, if the air-raid alarm is sounded, the children have to be collected and taken to the shelter.  Whether they are sleeping, eating or walking. The enemy can strike at any time. Our children don't deserve to live in all this! Their childhood is simply being stolen from them!  I have a younger brother, and both he and my father can't go abroad because they are of conscription age. My mother cannot leave her boys and she decided to stay with them in Ukraine. I, on the other hand, am glad to be the first one to get out of here.  It is hard to part with family members, knowing the conditions under which they have to survive. I am going with my cats to a new country, to a new life.  I have no relatives or friends there, but there is hope. I don't fully know what awaits me there, but I know that my future is in Israel!    I plan to learn the language. I want to work with children. I want to meet my love and start a family. I want to live a happy life.  Ezra gave me a lot of advice when I was collecting documents for the consular check. They helped me to get the documents from the archives. I was also taken to Vinnitsa and then on to Moldova for consular verification.  Their help, both financial and moral, is very valuable and important to me! They gave me hope, inspired and supported me! Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart!   

Svitlana and Yuri K. Our children have been living in Israel for over 5 years, but my husband and I did not want to leave yet. But when the war in Ukraine dragged on and things got really bad here, we finally decided to leave everything and join our children. We were quite sure that we would pass the consular check without any problems, but when we came to the consulate, we were very upset because we received a large list of documents that the consul demanded to bring. Of course, our hands dropped, because we did not know where to look for all this! At some point, we even decided that Israel needs young people, and we are no longer promising, so they do not want to take us. Somewhere in our souls there was a breakdown, but praise God, our friends advised us to contact Ezra! After speaking with the Ezra representative, we perked up again and realized that there is hope! And this is not a refusal, but just a temporary difficulty. They helped us find the documents that the consul demanded and accompanied us on the way to Israel until the flight! Ezra also prayed for us and God performed a miracle! My husband is still of draft age, but he has a disability. Because of it, my husband should have been removed from military registration. But the Recruitment Center refused to do this, so he could not leave the country. For us, this was an insoluble situation, but after our need was put to the prayer list and they began to pray for it, the incredible miracle happened! When my husband again applied for removal from registration, he was released from service without any problems! Finally, we will be close to our children again! We plan to learn the language and work. I worked in a kindergarten with children for 20 years, I want to continue working there in this direction. The help from Ezra was simply priceless! Firstly, Ezra representatives supported us morally in everything and did not allow us to give up in the face of difficulties! They found documents for us, paid for police clearance certificates, provided financial assistance. They transported us to a consular check and delivered us to Vinnitsa before we were taken on to Kishinev and flying to Israel.

  I am 86 years old. I was born and raised in Russia, in Ural. I studied at the institute there and after graduating, I worked in the Kherson region in Ukraine, in the city of Tsyuryupinsk, now Oleshki. This is where I met my husband. We both worked at a paper mill. We got married and had three children.   Years passed and the children grew up. Two of them repatriated to Israel, but the youngest daughter and her family stayed in Kherson. Then my husband died, and I lived alone in Oleshki.  The full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine was a real shock for all of us. I couldn't believe that reality! Our region was very quickly occupied. Russian troops entered our city. Military terror and looting began. I wasn’t afraid for my life because I’m already too old. I was alone in my house, and I forced my daughter and her family to go abroad. They managed to leave Kherson despite the shelling. I refused to leave with them despite all my children trying to persuade me because I wanted to be where my husband was buried.   I didn’t know then that the hardest time was yet to come! There was a flood due to the blowing up of the Kakhovka dam by Russian troops. The water rose rapidly, and volunteers took me by boat to a safe place. My house, all the things in it, my husband’s grave and everything that I was so attached to was underwater!  But I was alive! Others were not. It is difficult to convey the horror of everything that was happening!   Everything that was dear to me remained there. Memories, my whole life, the house that my husband and I built with our own hands and where our children grew up. I lost everything in a moment! It's very hard.   As a result, I ended up in Kyiv with my friends. I could hardly move as my legs had stopped obeying me. In order to leave for Israel, I needed help. The youngest daughter came to accompany and help me get to Israel. I am going to my children who have been very worried about me all this time. Because of my stubbornness, I did not go earlier, causing them a lot of trouble. But now I had to leave everything in the past and go to my new home. The children want to take care of me, and I am grateful to them for that.   Ezra helped me with consultations. They provided me with financial assistance and advice, and gave me contacts of organizations helping in Israel. Before flying to Israel, my daughter and I were taken to Vinnitsa, from where we went to Kishinev and then to Israel. Many thanks and deep gratitude for your support and help. I was broken mentally and physically after the stress I experienced, and you gave me a helping hand in difficult times when I needed it so much! Thank you very much!

Israel is the country for Jews. My daughter’s future is in this country. The time has come for us to return home. When I was at the consulate before the war, I was told that there were not enough documents to open a visa, that more evidence of my Jewish roots was needed. Therefore, despite my desire to go to Israel, I put this question off, because I did not want to look for the documents. But then the war began, and our Kharkiv was under fire, and my family was in danger. Praise the Almighty, we met you on our way, and you helped us find what was missing. This process, including trips to consular checks, took my family almost three years. Now we are going to the country of our dreams! We were given consultations in the process of collecting documents, and some of them were obtained for us. You paid for travel to consular checks and provided financial assistance. We were supported morally during this entire period of searching for documents, and this made life easier in military Kharkiv. Our hope did not fade. You also helped us get to Vinnitsa before the flight, and from there we went to Moldova and Israel. May the Almighty send you much joy, good health, happiness and His shalom! You have done so much good for my family, and I wish you good in your life! Thank you so much for your help!

I want to give a future to my son, Matvei. I dream of a better life for myself and for my family! For me, moving to Israel is a chance for a new life, a different future. I also take care of my mother and stepfather. They are both disabled, so I take care of them the best I can. When full-scale war came to our country, life became completely unbearable. Our city was surrounded and constantly under fire. I was afraid for my son, for my parents and for my life. As soon as the opportunity arose, I began to collect documents for a consular check for repatriation to Israel. My mother is Jewish, and I was sure that everything would be quick and easy. Unfortunately, it did not work out quickly and everything turned out to be quite difficult! And then I was advised to contact you for help. I greatly regretted that I did not know about you before! If I had found you earlier, I would have avoided such problems! You told me where to get the necessary documents, and provided all the necessary assistance. Without you, we would not have been able to leave at all! We were consulted on the documents, you provided financial assistance to take the necessary things for the consul from the registry office and helped us to translate my parent’s documents into Hebrew. I just don’t have enough words to express my gratitude and appreciation! I know for sure that without your moral and financial help, my son and I would not have been able to leave for Israel. As it turned out, in our case, desire is not enough. We needed finances, time and patience to pass these tests! You supported, helped and gave hope.

In 2022, when the war came, I, my wife, her mother and grandmother left for Western Ukraine. I was called up and taken to the front, and my wife, Nika, went to Poland with her mother and grandmother. My wife and family repatriated from Poland to Israel, and I was at the front. I was injured and was treated for a long time. It took a lot of time to pass a medical examination in order to be commissioned out of the army. The greatest help was provided at the stage when my wife and her family tried to pass a consular check in Poland. There were not enough documents, and you helped to collect everything necessary. Some documents had to be taken from the archives, and you helped us get one from Russia! That was just an incredible miracle! Thanks to this, I was able to join the family in Israel! I am infinitely grateful that you exist! Thanks to you, now we, a family, three generations, can live in Israel! If you hadn't taken the necessary documents for us, we wouldn't have left! Thank you for the financial support! You are incredible! We will remember and pray for you!

I have always wanted to go to Israel. In 2002, I even had a permanent residency visa opened, but circumstances were not in my favor at the time. My granddaughter and daughter have visited this beautiful country several times, but it just so happens that I will only be able to go to Israel now and not under the best of circumstances. It's simple, I'm leaving because of the war. Kharkiv is a city on the border with Russia, the situation is extremely difficult and dangerous, and I held on as long as I could, but now I don't have the strength anymore. I took an evacuation bus to Kishinev, where I was placed in a hotel with food and a great attitude. But my first visit to the Israeli consulate overshadowed my expectation of a quick departure. I needed additional documents. I am flying to Israel, the country of my dreams, where I will work, teach children the beautiful things - music, vocals, give all my experience and strength, look for stars who will glorify their homeland. And my daughter and granddaughter are sure to come to Israel soon.  I am worried about them staying in Ukraine for now. When I needed a missing document, I went to Ezra for help and they sent me the necessary document within one day. I was very surprised that it could be done so quickly and completely free of charge. Thank you very much. A big thank you for your work, here in the hotel in Kishinev, I have spoken to many people you have helped and these are amazing stories.

I am going to Israel to study.  This is my old and cherished dream! I dreamt of going to Israel to study in a teenage program when I was 14 but my parents didn’t want to let me go there at that age.  Now I am 18 and I can realize my dream.  My parents are still worried about how I can cope without their help, but I firmly believe that I can.  Israel is where my place is!!  My parents are not yet ready to make aliyah and that’s a little sad – I will miss them.  I think that over time they will change their minds! I studied at a private, specialized school in Zhitomir for gifted children. They predicted a great future for me.  I could have entered the best University in Ukraine, but I did not want to.  I am grateful that I come from a Jewish family and have the right to make aliyah. My dream is to become an inventor.  I want to explore the world.  I am fascinated by new achievements in science. I love to study computer technology and studying in Israel is a chance to reach new levels of knowledge! I don’t know yet what scientific field I will work in but over time I will choose a direction. First, I want to master Hebrew then go to university. Ezra helped me with advice when I was gathering documents for the consular check, and they paid for my passport and necessary certificates. On departure day they brought me to the airport.  Their help was extremely necessary and important to me. Thanks to Ezra I can make my dreams come true and the future has become real for me! Thank you very much from my heart!