[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Another gem of the Jewish Chesed Center in Moscow: professional and dedicated nursing care for the elderly and lonely Jews, including many Holocaust survivors.

It was a small, yet impressive ceremony on Rosh Chodesh Nissan which marked the opening of the Nursing Center. To date, it is the largest center of its kind in all of Russia, which provides dedicated and professional nursing care to about two thousand elderly Jews for free.

Some of the patients are Jewish war veterans who fought in the Red Army against the Nazis. Many of them are holocaust survivors who lived through the horrors and ghettos during the war.

The new center was established with the help and support of friends of the Chesed Center, who are devotedly involved in all aspects of the volunteer work.

The mezuzah on the main entrance of the Shaarey Tzedek Jewish Chesed Center was affixed by Chief Rabbi of Russia, Rabbi Berl Lazar, whose constant support and assistance to the Center are felt on a daily basis.

Rabbi Alexander Boroda, President of FEOR, and Mr. David Aminoff and Mr. Nathan Lichtenfield, friends of the center, were honored with cutting of the ribbon.

After saying lechaim, guests were invited to tour the center and see from up close the work of dozens of district directors as they supervise close to 300 therapists.

With the support of the Joint Distribution Committee in Russia, directed by Mr. Alex Nadan, everything is done with utmost dedication and respect.

The establishment of the wide-ranging center allows us to employ the most professional manpower, resulting in an increase and an improvement in the quality of the patients’ care. All of this is in keeping with the Torah’s directive, “Stand up in the presence of the aged. Show respect to the elderly”. A phrase, which is inscribed under the Center’s logo, and is the right and duty of all who are engaged in this most sacred task.

Photos by JDN