many of the elderly fought for Israel's independence in the years following 1948. To them a great debt is due. They deserve our help.

or a new bed, at least that.

This is a serious and ongoing problem. Israel's elderly are suffering. They need attention all year round and not just now because of the weather!

poorly built, poor designed, not fit for an advanced society. I have yet to see a window in Israel that has been properly installed. No insulation to speak of. You live in stone boxes. In the winter it is damp and brutal for elderly people. In effect you are living outdoors. I live in a frozen country,(today its a balmy -12c) but once I am indoors, there are no drafts. Thus I can heat the place with a candle.

form under the skin so the person is more resistant to the cold. Venezuela sells heating oil cheap to the Kennedy family of Massachusetts' charity energy company for the elderly and poor. Go to the President of Venezuela and ask for a similar deal for Israel's poor and elderly. Get a Kennedy to ask for you. There are hearts in the world, believe it or not.

The winter here is never really harsh, even in Jerusalem. If you dress warmly, a little heating is enough to survive the coldest spells. The rest of the year is easy. P.S I am over 70 y.o and do as I said above and seem to manage quite well.

Unfortunately there are some elderly people that are not in the same healthy state as you are: Just breathing cold air all the time is already bad for them. Oh and by the way, why do we have to get dressed as if we live outside when we are at home? Sorry but it should not be this way, even if you are used to this mediocrity.

I am 67 and all years in Israel (over 45) I have not had heating (or aircon). Put those warm old sweaters on, put a blanket over your knees when sitting down, and you'll be quite comfortable. True, there are some with respiratory problems in cold dry climate, but note I said dry.

My health is not all that great, have had heart attack, bypass surgery and am pre diabetic. But I dont go on about it. By the way I dont think I am coping with "mediocrity" and see no point in wallowing in self pity.

How's about taking some of that free electricity from electric company employees and donating it instead to the elderly poor and those families with small children that are poor as well. Electric companies don't need 100% free electricity which is often abused instead give them a discount if you must(this isnt even done in any other country mind you) and give the rest of the power to the elderly poor and poor families for the winter! As for #6 most of us do wear sweaters around the house as well, but one should not have to wear jackets and scarves ,mittens indoors and have drafty apts with holes or mold growing, not in any decent society .

With all due respect you came to Israel at the age of 71, that means after the pension age. You dont have children. I cannot understand how you thought you would manage here without having paid into a pension fund all your working life. Presumably you also did not serve in the Israeli army. Never the less you do recieve financial aide from the government and for this you should be grateful as your are recieving without having given anything.It may sound a bit tough but my mother taught me early on the meaning of "you made your bed ,and now you must lie in it".

and rarely turn on heat more than three times in winter. The coldest I've been here while outdoors has never been as cold as in my tile floored concrete ice cube of a flat in Beer-Sheva during winter. #6 is right. While flat buildings are naturally built to favor blocking summer heat, many - particularly older - buildings in Israel are shoddily insulated.

What you say is true, but not an excuse or reason to allow an aged person to suffer. Our society should not act in this way. Also you do not know from where and under what circumstances he came here. Perhaps he came from a country that had no such thing as a national pension fund, perhaps he came from a country which has a pension fund but which is only payable to residents in that country and when you leave you forfeit the pension. Israel, for instance, is one such country. I am Israeli, I am 74 years of age, I worked all my life and am fully paid up to National Insurance, from 1958 to the day I reached pensionable age, if I leave Israel to live abroad for longer than three months my pension is stopped. This is not acceptable and perhaps this man is in the same position. Whatever the situation,we must look after him. This is our duty.

as a human being and as a Jew.