Ezrat Achim’s Wartime Initiative That Became a Community Mission
Waiting on edge for that siren to blare, huddling in the safe room with our families, hearing those
distant – or not-so-distant – booms… It’s been an emotionally-intense few weeks for us all.
Now imagine what it was like for someone who didn’t have family members to support them through
the ordeal. Someone whose infirmity or limited mobility made reaching shelter in time such a
frightening challenge that they lived in a constant state of helpless anxiety – or simply hunkered down in
their safe room for a week and a half.
There are hundreds of elderly residents of our city who live alone, with no family nearby to care for
them. On an ordinary day, it’s a lonely life to lead; in wartime, it can be life-threatening. That’s why, as
soon as the Iranian missiles began to rain down, Rabbi Avraham Kop, head of Ezrat Achim, immediately
thought of these lonely seniors.
“Many of our elderly residents are childless and homebound. We weren’t sure if there was anyone
looking after them,” he says. Was there someone checking that their safe rooms were in working order
and accessible? Making sure they had enough food and medications? Available to respond to any
medical needs?
“In an emergency situation like this, every second counts,” says Rabbi Kop. “We knew that if we didn’t
call them, there might not be anyone else who would.”
So, over the course of the first few days of the war, the Ezrat Achim staff, working in partnership with
the Beit Shemesh Welfare and Social Services Departments, reached out to over 700 elderly residents.
The response was overwhelming. The elderly were extremely eager to be paired with a local family who
would check in with them regularly.
Then, the war ended – and something remarkable happened. The majority of seniors in the program
begged for it to continue. By the same token, many of the volunteers wanted to keep up the
relationship. What had been intended as an emergency initiative to provide specific practical assistance
ended up uncovering a much larger need.
As a result, Ezrat Achim has embarked on a wide-scale “Adopt-a-Senior” campaign, to provide seniors
living alone with the ongoing support and companionship of an “adoptive” family. For the elderly, it’s a
literal lifeline. And for the volunteers? It’s about fifteen minutes a week.
“You can’t imagine the impact of one weekly phone conversation,” says Rabbi Kop, who is personally
overseeing the initiative. “It can save an elderly person’s life – literally. For some seniors in Beit
Shemesh, you might be the only person they speak to all week. Yes, there are people living in our city
who are that lonely.”
Rabbi Kop has high praise for the partnership with Beit Shemesh’s municipal government and Welfare
Department, led by council member Rabbi Shlomo Brilliant. "When we saw the way the Welfare
Department stepped up with such incredible enthusiasm – how they brought such care and humanity to
this work – we knew this initiative would be a success. It transformed from being our own project to
becoming the entire city’s mission of compassion.”
Now that life has thankfully settled back into normal routine, Ezrat Achim is working to build the Adopt-
a-Senior program into a permanent part of its organizational activities. To that end, they’re reaching
out to Beit Shemesh residents to be paired with an elderly member of our community.
"I’m asking everyone in Beit Shemesh to pick up the phone and call 1800-999-000," says Rabbi Kop. "It’s
not a big time commitment – just a phone call every few days, maybe a visit every couple of weeks if you
can manage it. It’s such a small thing to give, but it makes all the difference in the world. Nobody should
have to face life alone."
