Shira (fictitious name) saw the opportunity and took advantage of the situation and fled captivity together with her 8 children. The move came after 17 years of marriage, a life of fear, shame and threats. Shira’s husband is an Arab, serving a prison sentence in an Israeli jail for his criminal activities. His brother is under house arrest and yet another brother was persuaded to remain silent, creating the window of opportunity that granted Shira and her children freedom.
Shira was living as an Islamic wife in every sense of the word, raising her children in the Old City of Yerushalayim, in the so-called Muslim Quarter. With the assistance of Yad L’Achim, all this changed earlier in the week.
The following report is a synopsis of the detailed account publicized by the daily Ma’ariv.
Shira today is 40. She was born and raised in the Golan Heights, to a Shomer Shabbos family. At age 20 she decided to stop keeping Shabbos and had a falling-out with her parents, prompting her to leave home. She met an Arab man and fell in love, deciding to move in with him, living in the Old City of Yerushalayim. Since that time, she gave birth to eight children, who were raised as Muslims, and by her account, they endured a live of violence from their father – abandoning any trace of their Jewish roots.
A number of months ago, Yisrael Levinson, from Yad L’Achim, got in touch with Shira and offered her to return to her former Jewish life. Yisrael explains “I sent her a woman who had the very same experience, to show her one can rehabilitate one’s life. She was convinced,” Levinson was quoted by Ma’ariv as saying.
The rescue mission began at about 3:30PM, with ten members of Yad L’Achim gathering near Jaffa Gate to the Old City. They were preparing for the operation, to enter the building where Shira would be waiting with one of her children. Shira had packed a limited number of small boxes, which now represented all her personal passions which she would be taking with her on her journey back to her former Jewish life. Baruch Hashem, the volunteers were successful in their mission and Shira and her eight children were extricated from their life of Islamic servitude.
Mom and her children were taken to a secret location and they are now in the early stages of their new life. According to Yisrael, Shira will now learn to live independently, and this will be accomplished with the assistance of Anat, who will escort her through the process, showering them all with love and concern.
The children by the way do not speak Hebrew, and the boys did not have a bris. “Nothing remains of their Yiddishkeit except their neshama,” explained Levinson.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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18 Responses
Thank G-D their lives have been saved and they can live as Jews!!
BORUCH HASHEM!!!!!
None like Yad LeAchim!!!
Keep up your great work- Yad L’achim.
What a big z’chus!
Thank G-d that 9 have come back to the fold.
You need a driver’s license to drive, a doctorate degree to practise the science of medicines, but absolutely no certification for parenting.
Perhaps this is a wakeup call to communities and mosdos to CONSTANTLY offer parenting classes from infancy through adulthood. With proper parenting and guidance through difficult periods of children’s lives we can only become BETTER parents.
wow- that’s wild. so cool that we have an organization to help this woman.
A major yasher koach to Yad L’Achim for all of their incredible work.
Chas Vsholom I dont want to spoil the moment here but there will be LOTS of work necessary on the kids who have been indoctrinated (sic?) with Yishmaeli shtussim. I am worried about them as well as what they could carry out as “revenge” for having been taken from their father.
May Hashem protect them and their family,and ALL Yidden who are in captivity and all those assisting them!
Baruch Hashem!!!
Every Jew should know that no matter whereever they are, no matter what situation they are in, all they have to say is “Hashem I want out!!”.
This is wonderful news.
#7 –
Is there anything too difficult for Hashem???
you can leave “fell in love ” from the story as the gemaraq says vezirmas sussim zirmosom
Here is a video of the operation.
http://www.col.org.il/show_news.rtx?artID=39683
perhaps Yad LeAchim can help the poor girl from KY that was just written about
to # 7 but they have yiddishe hearts
Since they were living in the old city, why couldn’t they just pick themselves up & leave? Why did they need ten representatives for the rescue mission?
Awesome!
there are quite a few of such rescue operations that was done by yad l’achim…could make excellent suspence stories
I wonder what the children feel about it. Hope they’ll stay loyal to yiddishkeit.
sorry. wonder HOW they feel about it