In the early moments of the summer of 2008, exactly six years ago, it seemed that this was a difficult story with no solution: the remote location of the mother and her children, in distant Tanzania, combined with the insistence of the Muslim father who made it clear: The children did not leave here | The sophisticated operation that was concocted, in one piece with a Chabad emissary on the island, led to the long-awaited landing of the mother and three sons in Israel, against all odds | This week, the eldest son entered the mitzvot = and the exciting closing of the circle enveloped everyone
A heroic, complex and complicated operation that began six years ago has reached an exciting milestone in recent days, with the active participation of veterans and activists from the Yad L'Achim activist organization, the chief groomsmen at the celebration.
In the summer of 2000, they arrived at the rescue department to assimilate into the organization the intricate details of a difficult-to-trace affair.
At issue was the fate of a Jewish mother of three Jews, the daughter of an Israeli family that had immigrated to Tanzania decades earlier for financial reasons. The mother, L., had risen to a senior management position at a job on the island and at a certain point, under the cover of the painful severance of any connection to Israeli religion and tradition, she married a local Muslim citizen of Indian origin.
The suffering she experienced began shortly after her marriage. L. bore the burden of earning a living and all expenses alone while enduring daily humiliations and threats. Over the years, she had three children and the shared suffering, for her and the young children, only grew.
Shortly after Passover of 1950, L's mother passed away. The will she left to her children was one: You must do everything to rescue my daughter L from her life of suffering, separate her from her cruel husband, and bring her and her children to the Land of Israel.
The road to freedom was not easy. When she told him that she wanted to fly with the children to Israel to participate in the pilgrimage to their grandmother's grave, on the thirtieth anniversary of her death, the Muslim father announced that only she was allowed to board the plane and visit their mother's grave, and that the children would remain in Tanzania.
His dark senses told him that even if L. planned to escape for her life and get rid of his terror, she would not do so as long as the children remained in his custody. This was the point at which L.'s brothers and sisters brought Yad La'Ahim into the picture.
Yad L'Achim quickly learned the details of the case and instructed L. on how to proceed, doing so with one piece of advice and in close cooperation with the Chabad emissary in Tanzania, Rabbi Shneur Shmuelevich. J. was given legal documents that supposedly indicated that in order for her to benefit from the estate left by her late mother, she must physically appear in Israel with her three children, despite the fact that they would have to travel thousands of kilometers to do so.
The stubborn Muslim swallowed the python, and from there the way was paved for the mother and children to escape safely to Israel.
Upon their landing in Israel, L. and her children were greeted by a reinforced team of Yad L'Achim staff at Netivot House, the reception hall at Ben Gurion Airport. The team included: English-speaking social workers as well as dedicated and skilled tutors who also spoke the only language spoken by the mother and children.
While Yad L'Achim's legal staff closely monitor the bureaucratic procedures with the Ministry of the Interior and ensure that the mother and children receive Israeli citizenship, as well as that sole custody of them is granted to their mother, those responsible for this in the department put the children through all the necessary processes in accordance with the requirements of halakhic law, including the blood donation ceremony.
This week, six years after the complex operation, while the mentors and staff of Yad L'Achim, under the skillful direction of veteran volunteer Oshrat Bargo, continue to accompany the mother and children - celebrating the Bar Mitzvah of their eldest son - in Ramat Gan.
The look on the Bar Mitzvah groom's face did not betray the hardships he had experienced so far. In an emotional and clear voice, he delivered the Bar Mitzvah sermon, and all those present expressed their excitement at his entry into the bosom of Torah and mitzvot.
Yad L'Achim made it clear that this was not the end of the family's close support at every step and in every way. Rabbi Shmuel Lipshitz, one of the organization's leaders, said this week that the unique human story of L. and her three loved ones, led by the bar mitzvah groom, is "proof of the eternal truth embodied in our motto: We do not give up on any Jew.".
In the pictures:
Who chose us from all the peoples. Rabbi Baruch Yacobovich, the mentor of Yad Laachim, with the Bar Mitzvah boy on his way to the Torah.
And he gave us his teachings. The Bar Mitzvah groom carries the Torah scroll, flanked by Rabbi Shneur Shmuelevich, Chabad emissary in Tanzania, and Rabbi Yoav Ze'ev Robinson, director of the Assimilation Department at Yad La'achim.'
