The ad that Dina, an elderly woman resident of Jerusalem, posted on the streets of the city, greatly disturbed Attorney Seto Boianjo Mazza.
Since that was the case, she also shared it on her Twitter account and wrote: "It killed me that she offers to pay for company. Loneliness is a serious illness, it has a cure that doesn't even cost money - if you know elderly people in Jerusalem, let's connect them and do them good for their souls.".
The ad, which was pasted on walls on the streets of Jerusalem, read: "An older, independent woman is interested in meeting friends in the morning for 3 days a week or alternatively, meeting a woman for a fee.".
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In a conversation with Haredim 10, attorney Boyanjo Mazza says: "I saw the ad - and I shared. When I read this ad, I was really shocked. The coronavirus pandemic has intensified the loneliness of older people and this needs to be addressed.
"There are local councils in the country that are concerned about the issue of older people and their loneliness, in day clubs and gather them and do activities...
"It was very sad to know that there is a woman, and there are other people, who, because of their age, are not connected to social networks. There is a lonely woman who has to post an ad with her phone number and look for friends and offer to pay for them to sit with her. It's an elementary thing. It was sad that she has to offer to pay for it.
""We as a society need to flog ourselves that there is a woman offering money, who has reached a situation where she has not found a solution, and has no other option but to go out and ask for help. The solution is to make a plan at the municipal level, to address the phenomenon, to maintain contact with the elderly. Especially during the Corona period, when they were home alone for a year and a half, a considerable time. People also got rid of loneliness.
"To the credit of the government now that they are not going straight to a lockdown, because a lockdown, apart from the economic and educational issues, we also need to put an emphasis on the at-risk population, which we are forcing to sit at home alone. It is not right to go into a lockdown, because we are forcing them to be lonely.".
In a conversation with Dina, the woman who posted the ad, she tells Haredim 10 what led her to do so.
""I'm looking for a girlfriend, simply a girlfriend. I offered to pay because it was important to me - I'm checking out options. A lot of people have contacted me, and also club girls. They're calling, a lot of people are calling and offering themselves, because it was advertised online...
"The coronavirus put us all in a difficult bubble. After the coronavirus passed a little, I took advantage of the opportunity and wrote the ad.".
