Boy Rescued from Arab Village Celebrates Bar Mitzvah at Kosel

The boy’s mother moved to an Arab village two decades ago, after converting to Islam. Her abusive husband forbade her from contacting any of the other women in the village, or even from stepping foot outside her home. A short while ago, she found the courage to contact Yad L’Achim and begged to be rescued.

In a complex operation, whose details can’t yet be publicized, Yad L’Achim rescued the woman and her three children and brought them to a safe house in Eretz Yisrael that it had equipped with everything they needed to live. With the help of Yad L’Achim’s legal staff, she filed a complaint with the police against her violent husband and petitioned the rabbinical court to overturn her conversion to Islam.

Thanks to these efforts, she received exclusive custody of the children.

Yad L’Achim assigned a social worker to the family, who formed a tight bond with the mother. At the same time, mentors were provided for the children to help them take their first steps back toward Judaism.

Yad L’Achim helps rescue hundreds of Jewish women and children from Arab Villages each year. Every Jewish child rescued is in essence the rescue of many future generations of Jews as well. The bar-mitzvah celebration is especially appropriate as it took place near the Yom Tov of Pesach is approaching. At a time when we celebrate our freedom as a nation, the rescuing of a Jewish child and his celebration of this important Jewish milestone is most appropriate

The Bar Mitzvah last week was a milestone for the family.

On the way to the Kosel, the social worker asked the asked the boy if, a year ago, he would have believed he would be celebrating his Bar Mitzvah.

“I would have asked you, ‘What’s a Bar Mitzvah?’ My father forbade my mother from talking to us about these things and I didn’t even know I was a Jew.”

{Matzav.com Israel}