Rabbi Lazer Lazaroff in front of MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Much More Than Southern Hospitality

The Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, is a complex of 47 institutions, including world-renowned hospitals and medical schools, that provides excellent health care to people from all walks of life. Patients, including many Yidden, come from all over the world - New York, South America, sometimes even Eretz Yisrael - to benefit from its world-class care.

To help the center’s Jewish patients, Rabbi and Mrs. Eliezer (“Lazer”) Lazaroff have established the Aishel House, a full-service hachnasas orchim house. Their selfless devotion to the needs of their fellow Jews has had a tremendous impact on the lives of many people facing difficult medical ordeals. We spoke with Rabbi and Mrs. Lazaroff about their avodas hakodesh.

The Lazaroffs moved to the Southgate area of Houston, near the Texas Medical Center, in 1982 in order to maintain a Chabad House for Rice University. They soon noticed a tremendous need for special services for Jewish patients at the medical center.

Mrs. Rochel Lazaroff recalls, “I recognized the needs, but I did not feel capable of tackling them. Then I gave birth to a baby girl who was not well, and we became recipients of long-term medical care. My husband turned to me and remarked, ‘Hands-on training?’ We realized what it was like to be on the receiving end, and six weeks later I was baking challos to send to the hospitals.” Aishel House was born.

In 1995, the Lazaroffs rented their first hospitality apartment with the help of the Mayer, Mueller, and Mesch families in Lakewood. The apartment is in the same building as a small shul that the Lazaroffs maintain for the many Jews who come to town. As it turned out, some people stayed for weeks, or even months, in the apartment, and there was a long waiting list. The Lazaroffs knew more had to be done.

In 2003, they were able to purchase a small apartment complex with 18 units, right next to the shul, and set to work renovating and furnishing the apartments. Last year they expanded even further and purchased a quadruplex; as the tenants of this building are moving out, the apartments will become available for Aishel’s use. There are now 25 units potentially available; currently, 15 are in use, and there is always a waiting list.

The apartments are comfortably and tastefully furnished, and are stocked with towels, soap, shampoo, and paper goods. Often, people who receive gifts that they cannot use donate them to Aishel.

Aishel is much more than a place to stay, however. The Lazaroffs provide every service they can to the patients and their families, who know they can call 24 hours a day if they need anything - or if they just need to talk. Rabbi Lazaroff, who has formal training in clinical pastoral work, visits the patients and assesses their needs.

When a family first arrives in Houston, one of Aishel’s 150 volunteers meets them at the airport and takes them to their apartment. Aishel provides them with food; Mrs. Lazaroff spends hours every week cooking wholesome meals for many of those who are in the hospital and their families. Although the apartment have kitchens, family members are often in the hospital all day and do not have the physical or emotional strength to shop and cook.

At the beginning of each week, she creates a meal plan according to those who are in need, taking care to create dishes that are attractive and delicious, and that take into account special needs and tastes. However, there are always last-minute requests, and she is more than happy to accommodate, using the many quick and easy recipes in her repertoire - and adding her ready smile to each one.

“Someone came in the other day and asked for an omelet for breakfast. I realized that I had to act as if I had nothing else to do besides make this woman eggs for breakfast, even though I really did, so that she would feel comfortable asking me to do it. If I act like it’s a burden, people are less likely to ask for help.”

Mrs. Lazaroff juggles these chassadim with caring for her large family. She hires some help to cut vegetables and clean up the kitchen, but never to care for her children. On Shabbos, the Lazaroffs may send food to eight families, and another four may join them at their Shabbos table.

The Lazaroffs’ small shul, known as Chabad of the Texas Medical Center, provides a minyan for those in the hospital. On a typical Shabbos, there may be 25 to 30 people, including patients, students from the university, doctors, and others who live in the area.

Aishel serves to unify the city’s Jews; its pool of 150 volunteers are drawn from all groups in the community. When Mrs. Lazaroff receives a food request, she will send out a quick e-mail, searching for a volunteer who is available to take the food to the hospital. “The volunteers are incredible,” she says. “Many of them do not understand the idea of a mitzvah, yet their neshamos push them to come. They deliver meals, pick up people from the airport, and shop for the patients and their families.”

Recently, a new project was started where local day-school students assist Mrs. Lazaroff in preparing soup and bread to distribute to the patients in the hospital.

“This means more people in the house and more mess in the kitchen, but it is a wonderful opportunity to give these students enthusiasm for mitzvos - and some hands-on training in kashrus,” she explains.

Yidden from all walks of life come to Aishel. From Satmar chassidim to the not-yet-frum, everyone finds a warm welcome. The Lazaroffs use this exposure as an opportunity for kiruv. “People see our home and see how we live. They are going through a hard time; they are looking for some sort of siman. They see that frum people helped, and many take it as a sign to become frum.”

“At Aishel, frum and non-frum alike come, stay, and interact,” says Rabbi Lazaroff. “We have incredible stories - stories of those who lit Shabbos candles for the first time while at Aishel, then went home and began keeping more and more mitzvos. Many began learning Torah. We have forged some very close relationships and feel as though our family has extended all over the world. In fact, next week I am traveling to New York to attend a family chasunah of someone who was a patient here.”

One recipient of Aishel’s care remarked, “It is a miracle to find  a house within walking distance of these massive city buildings. ... When I think of the Aishel house, I think of a little house of warmth in the middle of a cold crisis.”

“While my [close relative] was heading to MD Anderson for medical treatment, I got a phone call asking me what kind of bread he prefers, whole wheat, spelt... I could not believe it. Rochel wanted to get the exact right kind of bread into the apartment before my [relative] arrived,” said Mrs. R. Deitsch of Crown Heights.

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