Friday, February 20, 2009

Yemenite Jews escape to Israel

Yemenite family to Israel in secret operation -Abe Selig

[T]he Ben-Yisrael family [are] the latest immigrants from the Yemenite community of Raida - a town fraught with tension between its Jewish and Muslim residents. [T]he Ben-Yisraels arrived in a special operation, shrouded in secrecy, organized by the Jewish Agency and Yemenite Jewish Federation of America.

As they stepped into the [airport's] arrivals hall, the Ben-Yisraels looked as if they had walked through a time warp. "Thank God, I'm happy to be here," said family patriarch Sa'id Ben-Yisrael [pictured above with his sons], clad in a felt yarmulke and long black side curls as he stood in front of his wife and seven children [some below/right].

Greeted by a Yemenite rabbi who lives in Israel, Ben-Yisrael recited the "Sheheheyanu" prayer, which is said upon arriving at a particularly festive or joyous occasion. The crowd of reporters and cameramen who swarmed around the family as they entered the arrival terminal answered "Amen!"

Several weeks ago, Islamic extremists threw a hand grenade into the Ben-Yisraels' courtyard.
[Jerusalem Post]
*

No comments: