Eduard and Tetiana Zh from Dnipro
Our children and grandchildren left for Israel before the war that engulfed all of Ukraine. We had no great desire to leave Ukraine, despite the fact that the children insisted that we come to them immediately. It was so hard to part with most of our lives that had been spent here.
My wife and I weighed the pros and cons of repatriation to Israel for a long time. There were many doubts and fears. A very weighty argument in favor of staying in Ukraine is that our age limits us in many ways. We will not be able to work like young people, it will be difficult for us to adapt to new living conditions. But this same argument also came to the side of moving to Israel. After all, the years are passing, our health is deteriorating and it is very scary to be left here alone, without children. Having thought it over thoroughly, we decided to go to the children while it is not too late, and we still have enough strength.
When the children left for Israel, Ezra helped them, so we turned to Ezra first of all. They also helped us, and we successfully passed the consular interview and received visas on the first try. Of course, we were happy to receive the go-ahead for repatriation, in the evening we contacted the children, told them the good news, and sent them a photo of our visas. And the children, having carefully examined our visas, discovered that there was a mistake in the surname. This fact greatly upset us, because at that moment my wife and I did not know what to do. Of course, the first thing we did was call Ezra. Ezra employees consulted with the consul regarding our case. After that, we were given the answer that we could go safely, they would let us through and everything would be fine. Everything happened exactly like that! We safely arrived in Israel, are settling in here, and Ezra became our guardian angels, providers and comforters!
It is clear that it is hard to part with Ukraine, with your apartment. But staying here is becoming increasingly scary. The front line is mercilessly approaching the City of Dnipro, the shelling of the city is becoming more frequent and harsher. Therefore, we need to go!
Ezra was a great help! Ezra sent all our children and grandchildren to Israel - they helped them collect all the necessary documents. When we were planning to go to the consular check, it was already much easier! But they told us in detail what else we needed to take with us. They helped us get police clearance certificates and paid these expenses. They brought us to the consular check and put us up in a hotel so that we could get to the consular check in the morning. And after the check, they took us back to Dnipro. They provided us with financial assistance. They also took us to Vinnitsa before flying to Israel. We called Ezra on any question that interested us and each time they consulted us, helped us, participated in all issues related to our repatriation to Israel.
The fact that your organization exists is simply a miracle! You do incredible things for Jews! My wife and I felt amazing care, love, warmth and support on our way to Israel. Thank you for this work that you do for us!