Life Stories

Looking at the Levyants you can tell that creative talent runs in the family.
Evgeny, the head of the family, is the author of an innovative pedagogical technique and numerous articles about the educational system in Belarus. Julia, his wife, is a Math teacher. They have two beautiful daughters: Anya and Galina. The girls have remarkable musical abilities which reconnected the family with their Jewish roots, history, and culture.
It all started four years ago, when a five-year-old Galina went to JCC Emunah’s vocal studio and Anya joined “Neposedy” dance ensemble. A year later Galina won her first award when her wonderful, ringing voice and artistic expression impressed the jury of the Galaxy of Talents festival. As time goes by, Galina keeps winning awards and has a great potential and desire to develop her vocal abilities.

Elizaveta Carp (b.1958) lives in Minsk. During the Second World War her parents were evacuated. Her grandfather died in the war while the other family members, like the overwhelming majority of Belarusian Jews, were tortured to death in the Minsk Ghetto.

Elizaveta finished secondary school and got a job as a factory worker. Now she is officially classed as disabled. She has had two strokes resulting in mobility loss and speech impairment. She also suffers from ischemia and diabetes which caused her leg amputation last year.

Elizaveta never got married and has no kids. Her sister Sofia is the only relative she can turn to for help and emotional support. Sofia never lets her sister down no matter how challenging the situation is. Right now she has arranged for Elizaveta to move in with her despite having declining health, poor living conditions and a physically challenged daughter to look after.

Charity and generosity, altruism and mutual aid, unselfishness and solidarity – these words describe the essence of the mission of the Hesed-Rakhamim Welfare Organization. Thoughts lead to words. Words lead to actions. Actions speak louder than words. Hesed employees strive to work according to high standards of Jewish morality trying to make this world a better place to live in.
Asya Levkova was born in 1952 just after the Second World War. Life just started to get better after the years of hardship. When the war started, Raisa, Asya’s mother was evacuated to the Urals while her father Lev joined the army. Later the family re-united in Minsk. The parents found work at a local plant and did their best to raise their two children (Asya’s brother Gennady was born in 1960). Asya finished school and started to work as a receptionist at a hospital.

Do not trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. And when it does, it often hits you hard and unexpectedly, just like it happened to the Shershevsky family. Their happy life changed dramatically on receiving a sad piece of news: their younger daughter Masha, aged 12 had been diagnosed with diabetes.
Masha is a very cheerful and sociable girl. Theater, painting and origami fascinate her. She tends to conceal her disease and often feels sick at school as she is too shy to eat when required. Masha’s mother had to take up a teaching job at the same school to be by the girl’s side and land her a hand with the challenging situation. Masha’s parents do their best to take proper care of her as besides diabetes the girl is also vulnerable to infections, has frequent colds, thyroid problems, and scoliosis. The father of the family started to work flextime as a photographer at a local educational center to look after Masha who needs regular injections of insulin.