The event we're about to describe took place just recently in a central square in one of Israel's mixed Jewish-Arab cities. At the end of a tearful meeting, a Jewish grandmother handed her grandson hand-made matzos to take back with him to his home in Gaza. This astounding story is one that Yad L'Achim has been following for months, but could only now release to the public, within the limits of security considerations.
The story goes back 40 years. Sarah (a pseudonym) was a young Jewish girl in Ashkelon who met and married an Arab from Gaza and moved with him back to the enclave. Over the next 10 years they had a number of children before moving to Jaffa, in southern Tel Aviv.
Within a few months, the Arab husband decided to return to Gaza, but since Sarah refused to go along with him, he arranged for her to travel abroad for a few days. During her absence, he told their young children that their Jewish mother had died suddenly and they needed to return to Gaza.
Sarah returned to an empty house and was at a loss as to what to do. She did everything to find her children, but came up empty-handed. Then, in the 2005 Disengagement, Israel transferred control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority and she lost all hope of finding her children.
Two years ago, Sara turned to the Admor Hamekubal Harav David Abuchatzeira, shlita, of Nahariya for his blessing in finding her children. In what can only be described as a miracle, Yad L'Achim staffers showed up at her door a short while later with information on the whereabouts of her family. Her eldest daughter had married a local Arab and given birth to five children of her own, while all the others were still single.
Behind the Arab father's back, Yad L'Achim succeeded in contacting the children via internet, and bringing them together with their mother. Sarah and her children were able to catch up on all that had happened to them since they were forcibly separated, and share details about their lives today. Meanwhile, Yad L'Achim took advantage of the opportunity to teach the children the basics of Judaism.
Just before Pesach there was a moving closing of the circle when one of Sarah's grandchildren came to Israel for medical treatment. Yad Lachim, which keeps track of what's happening with the family, took advantage of the opportunity to arrange a meeting between Sarah and her grandson in the central square of a mixed city. At the end of the emotional meeting, Sarah handed her grandson a sealed box of hand-made shmura matzos to take back to Gaza.
The grandson succeeded in getting the matzos through the Gaza border crossing and, to the joy of all involved, distributing them among all of Sarah's children and grandchildren before the seder night.
Yad L'Achim says it will continue to work with the family until this long, sad story reaches a happy end, with G-d's help.
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Next year free people – Sarah meets with her Jewish grandson and gives him matzos to take back to Gaza.