Potentials are Rescue Missions
Potentials are … rescue missions. Auntie C. is my husband’s mother’s sister. Her life, as well as my husband’s mother’s life, was shaped by a rescue mission. She was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Jewish mother of 14 and an older Jewish father. Mimi, my husband’s mother, was born 2 years later. Unfortunately, the parents divorced soon after and the father left, leaving this young mom and 2 girls in a very vulnerable situation. The mother remarried an Arab Christian man who did not like having the Jewish girls and they were put in a Christian convent. The mother had a brother named Uncle Abud who was living in Egypt and when he heard that his nieces were in a convent, he drove to Lebanon, hid them in the trunk of his car and drove them over the border into Israel. Uncle Abud put the girls on a kibbutz (a communal living situation) and the girls were raised without their parents there. C. and Mimi grew up, fought for the freedom of Israel, married and raised families. Uncle Abud’s caring and daring rescue mission allowed the girls to experience the full potential of a life lived in their heritage which they shared with their children. And my husband is extra grateful because in his youth he got to visit Auntie C. in Israel for summers and eat lots of chocolate spread on white bread for breakfast 🙂 We love Auntie C!
12th day of the Jewish month of Teves – the month of Potentials