Immigrant Welcome Gifts

Larisa, with her husband Gennadi are from Belarus and Elena with her 14 year old daughter Alexandra, is from Ukraine. The two families both made Aliyah in December 2024. The two families also both ended up living in Rishon Le Zion, a city in Israel, located south of Tel Aviv, both facing adjustment to live their new lives together with their loved ones. As newcomers to Israel, they share similar challenges and naturally got to know each other more especially during the very difficult time with the recent war. When Larisa and Elena heard about the gift that Bridges for Peace (BFP) provides, they planned to come together to the Assistance Center in Jerusalem to receive the welcome gift.  Both ladies were sharing how the recent days, uncertainty of not knowing what to expect, had an effect on them. They were so delighted and grateful when they saw what the gift was about and expressed it verbally.  Larissa said it is of very high quality and that all of it is a necessity for her and her husband. Elena said that she is excited to take it home and hear what her daughter was going to say.  She also said that they are starting from scratch and that the gift is very valued.  They said that BFP and its people strengthen their hope that they and their families will finally be able to live a better life in peace. What a blessing it is to be a part of blessing the Jewish people that “come back to their homeland”.

Elazar Barnatan made Aliyah from Argentina on July 22 this year. He wrote the following: I want to sincerely thank Bridges for Peace for the tremendous help they’ve given me. As a new Oleh, it is not easy to start a new life from scratch, with a new language and so many challenges. The welcome basket you gave me was not only a great material help, but also a gesture that made me feel supported and valued. Thanks to your support, I feel supported and motivated to find my way on this earth. I can’t thank you enough. God bless!

Letter of Simi. What an absolute honor, privilege and humbling experience meeting you all today! Thank you thank you thank you! Words are not enough to express the feeling I had today, hands full of beautiful gifts and my heart filled with your love and generosity! Taking the leap to move to Israel has come with many challenges of course, but really many, many blessings and I am so thankful to Bridges for Peace! For your smiling faces and shining hearts of truth!  I came home today and made my bed with my very own blanket. That feeling is very humbling and really warms my heart. Thank YOU! I have been using a borrowed blanket. Until now I figured what’s the big deal. But today when I felt like this blanket was mine, there was a shift in my feeling. This gift really makes me feel at home in my home.  The pots and pans, the silverware and the bamboo utensils are above and beyond!! They feel smooth and they’re just lovely. Thank you. Thank you for the Tanach! Really every detail of this package hits home. I look at these gifts and my heart swells. Meeting each of you today has made a big imprint on my heart and that’s what I feel when I see these items. They’ve already made my home feel more like home, like these are mine, not borrowed, and belong here. Thank you for all your kindness, sharing hearts and stories and generosity! That was such a highlight of my day and week and now the imprinted feeling of love when I use these items will keep that going. Still feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and humility to have met and been on the receiving end of your  kindness. Thanks again and again :):):):)  With much love and gratitude!   Simi T  (USA)

Bridges for Peace volunteers went to Nahariya to meet with a group of new immigrants who made Aliyah, and we gave them welcome gifts. The gifts consist of a kitchen set, utensils, cutlery set, blankets and the Tanakh Bible (Genesis – Malachi) in the Hebrew language. As in our past experiences, it was wonderful to see faces brightening-up with big smiles. The young lady in the picture on the right, was overwhelmed and excited as she was waiting, watching the people in front of her getting their gifts. When it was her time to receive her gift she conveyed her gratitude: “On behalf of all the new immigrants who have recently made Aliyah, I would like to express my great gratitude to Bridges for Peace for their concern and assistance to make our time of adjustment easier by assisting us with practical items for our everyday life. Thank you for finding the means and time to come to help us, new immigrants, at such a difficult time for Israel. Having arrived from my country of origin not so long ago, I am very touched by the care and attention that I and all the immigrants receive here. Thank you”.

April was a special month!  We welcomed new Immigrants on three separate occasions at the Bridges for Peace Assistance Center with a kitchen set, cutlery set, utensils, a Hebrew Bible and blankets. These immigrants made Aliyah from over 15 different countries, the majority of which were in Europe. This was the first time to have so many new immigrants from so many different countries in Europe at one event. As the BFP volunteers attended to them, spontaneous conversations followed and many of the immigrants expressed their surprise as they did not know what to expect or had different expectations of what they would encounter.  It was also significant to serve a number of new immigrants that came from South Africa and their surprised reaction to get to know that there are also volunteers from South Africa that serve at BFP.   This lady could not believe what she saw, looking at the pots and pans and cutlery set.  It was exactly what she hoped to have.  Her husband looked at her in amazement, grateful and happy for and with his wife.

In 2023, we (me, Inna Gudik and my son Dmitry) began collecting documents for repatriation to Israel. In June 2024, we submitted an application and in November we were invited to be checked by the consul in Moscow. We managed to get visas to Israel the first time. We repatriated through my grandfather Yankel Meirovich Uskach, born in 1911, his father Uskach Meir Khatskelevich, born in 1881, and his mother Golda Leibovna Barkagan, born in 1883, residents of B. Seideminukhi, Kherson region. My son passed the Unified State Exam early in March 2025 and on March 31 we were already in Jerusalem. Why we chose this city: 1) I found relatives (fourth cousin) who live here; 2) We wanted to go to a big city (we are from Novosibirsk); 3) my son wanted to live in this city. I am an economist by education, I worked at Sberbank from the age of 17, got married, had two children (a son and a daughter), then got divorced and raised the children alone. My children belong to the 4th generation, so I was able to come only with my son until he was 18, since my daughter is already 23 years old and remained in the country of origin. At the moment, my son and I are going to Ulpan. In September my son will go to pre-military training, so that he can then go to the army to obtain citizenship. I plan to go to work in the near future. This is our story. Thank you very much for your help, we really needed the things we received. This is a huge help and support for new immigrants. Thank you again and I hope for further cooperation with your foundation! Sincerely,  Inna Gudik!

Lea expressed with a note of thanks what the Welcome Gift for new immigrants meant to her and her husband, Raphael. Shalom!   The gifts are incredibly nice and helpful. Thank you!  Having such a bunch of things to do, it’s very warm — to feel support and the indifference here. It gives us energy to continue this way :) About us: my husband is from Belarus and I am from Russia, we have been married almost five years. We are both Jewish and both always knew that it is an important part of our self-identity, so we believe that Israel is the best place for Jewish people, despite all the wars around us.  My husband is a designer and now he is studying Hebrew every day to be able to come back to his profession. I am an analyst and a project manager. It sounds pretty contradictory but here in Israel we feel at home finally. Thank you for your support! If you can tell us more about your people it will be very interesting for us also! Shabbat Shalom and best regards,   Lea For us here in Jerusalem at the Bridges For Peace Assistance Center, it remains a huge blessing to serve new immigrants with this precious gift. To see not only their appreciation, but their surprise in realizing they are cared for and supported in their time of adjustment here in Israel.  It is with hearts full of gratitude that we say thank you to all the sponsors who so faithfully sow into the BFP ministry and the recipients of their giving.

The Sokolovskiy family Shalom! We are Konstantin, Elena and our one-year-old son Vova, and are new immigrants. We have been living in Karmiel for almost three months. Our story of aliyah began in 2021 with a sad event: Konstantin’s father died of COVID. He was the one who always dreamed that his children would move to Israel. Fulfilling his will, Konstantin began collecting documents for repatriation in the archives of Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania. In 2022, when we had already prepared all the necessary documents, the war between Russia and Ukraine began, and we had to leave our usual life and move to Azerbaijan. It was there that the long-awaited meeting with the consul took place, and we eventually received visas for repatriates. In addition, the curators from the Ministry of Absorption were always in touch and did everything possible to make us feel at home from the first minutes of arrival in Israel. Probably the most touching moment was when we saw the “Welcome home” sign at the airport. Now we are gradually improving our lives, learning Hebrew and thinking about work plans. Before moving, Konstantin worked in IT consulting, and now he is looking for a job in the IT field. Vova celebrated his first birthday in Karmiel, and not so long ago, he was accepted into a kindergarten. We are the happy parents of a happy child! We want to thank you, Bridges for Peace. Your organization is doing wonderful work to help us as new immigrants during our time of getting settled in Israel. Despite the war, we really feel at home for the first time in a long time.

My name is Elena. My husband, Yuriy, and I with our daughter, Olessia, and son, Yaroslav, came to Israel from Ukraine. Before aliyah [immigration to Israel], we had a good life in Ukraine. I had a job as a chief accountant, Yuriy had his own carpentry business and was also engaged in bookkeeping. We had to leave everything because of the war and normal life stopped. Experiences, stress, and hopelessness began to influence our daily routine. This horror cannot be described in words. And every day the same question: why all the killing… is there a future for us with our children? Therefore, we decided to repatriate to Israel, realizing that our children will be safer here than in Ukraine. We have to start all over again. The period of adaptation continues and life is full of challenges. We as a family want to thank you and your organization for your wonderful gift and your support. It is very much comforting to know that there are people like you who care.

Our names are Oleksii and Maryna. We made aliyah [immigrated to Israel] with our two children, Victoria, 10 years old, and Markus, 6 years old, from Kyiv. While in Ukraine, both of us worked in the tourism business, and we would love to continue to do so in Israel as our dream is to open a tourism business. We made the decision to move to Israel for a better future for our children. We want them to grow up in a free and independent country with a good education. We are very grateful to Bridges for Peace as we do not have any relatives in Israel and value your assistance very much! Cooking is important as our children are still growing and the pots and pans are necessary and timely. The same for the warm blankets for all of us and the school kits for Victoria and Markus. We are determined to master the Hebrew language, but in this initial time of getting to know the language, we treasure the Bible in Russian. We want to thank you again for your cherished assistance and giving us hope of settling well in our new homeland. Oleksii and Maryna with Victoria and Markus

Our family, consisting of me - Kirill, my wife Maria, and our 1.5-year-old son Maxim, our joy, made aliyah [immigrated to Israel] just over a month ago in February, from Moscow. Our journey to get to Israel turned out to be complicated. However, finally, we are at the point of starting a new life in this beautiful country, now our homeland. We were surrounded with care and attention on our arrival, and it is the same with your organization! We are stunned by this warm welcome. Although we came from a rather expensive city, Moscow, we were surprised by the local prices. The family budget began to crack, and your help for us is one of those straws that do not allow the “broom” to break. We are grateful for your help and your concern! It still amazes me that there are people with such openness to new immigrants. Once again, thank you very much for your help to our family! We are glad for “every shekel,” especially in such a difficult time when there is no constant work, and I am responsible for my wife and child!