By COLlive reporter
When T. was called to the Torah this past week for his Bar Mitzvah, and read his brachos with tear-filled eyes, the entire Shul was moved. The fact that he had no father at his side indicated that this was an exceptional story, but only a few participants knew just how exceptional.
The boy’s mother, Bella, is a Jewish woman who moved to Israel from Ukraine at the start of the 90s and married an Arab from the Shomron. At first, they lived in his home, in a hostile Arab village, but after she converted to Islam, they moved to a Jewish community, near the home of her mother.
As is often the case with such marriages, Bella was subjected to serious violence and kept locked up in her home for long periods. The fact that she barely spoke any Hebrew and had very few social contacts in her neighborhood, worked to her disadvantage, and the beatings continued for years.
But then something happened. A new neighbor moved into her building, noticed that something was off with Bella and decided to get involved. Gently, and with help of a Russian speaker, she pieced together the story and reported the situation to the Yad L’Achim organization.
The organization quickly contacted Bella and offered assistance, but she was afraid of her violent husband and was distrustful of strangers. A year ago, when her husband was arrested by the Palestinian Authority for criminal behavior and sent to prison, Bella felt safe enough to open a new page in her life.
Throughout the divorce proceedings in the Sharia court, she had the constant support of a social worker provided by Yad L’Achim, which also assigned mentors to the children to familiarize them with their Judaism and help them adjust socially.
This past week, after many months of preparation, Bella’s first-born son T. celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in the Chabad House of Bnei Ayish, a town located near Ashdod and Gedera. Leading the ceremony was the Shliach Rabbi Aharon Karniel. While the crowd was small, barely a minyan, the joy was great.
At the festive meal that followed, Bella’s mother, the grandmother of the Bar Mitzvah boy, spoke of how she and her family had kept their Judaism in the Soviet Union despite the persecution and hardships.
“My daughter suffered until recently from violence because she was Jewish, but like back then, despite it all, we continue on, and keep our Judaism with pride.”
