“Yad LaKashish is simply amazing. For people like me, to have a job gives us a reason to get out of the house and do something with our lives, it is so important."

Miriam, 82, says her earliest memory is of her mom grabbing her hand and running with her to a train. At the end of the Second World War, Miriam was just 8 years old. Following the war, Miriam, her mother and grandmother arrived in Belarus with almost nothing. Her mother suffered from a heart condition and was unable to find work so the family lived in an empty basement of a building which had no floors or electricity.

Despite the many hardships she faced, Miriam excelled in school. She graduated 2nd in her class which granted her acceptance to college even though most Jewish women were turned away. She studied chemistry and agriculture before working as a chemistry teacher for 38 years.

In 1991, Miriam made Aliyah with her husband and two children. Though it was difficult to integrate and find work, she and found a job working at a Jerusalem school where she worked for 10 years. She joined Yad LaKashish in 2013 and today she works in our Bookbindery fixing books and painting greeting cards. Miriam is grateful for both the financial benefits and the community she gains at Yad LaKashish.