The Shuk in Jerusalem
Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …
Greetings dear brothers and sisters,
May each of you be finding His joy and His peace in the midst of whatever you are walking through. (Thinking of the scripture to “Count it all joy…”) May The Lord be blessed and glorified in and through you, and may you be blessed and encouraged today.
I was hoping to write sooner then this concerning a Holocaust survivor named Ruth who is in her 90s. I wrote to you a number of years ago about a unique problem that some here. I first ran across it when it so suddenly afflicted another of our survivor patients. It seems that there is a syndrome among this dear group.
So many of them who survived such terrible things during the World War II were able to make their way to Israel afterward and amazingly begin new and very productive lives. So many who had lost everyone married, started families, and went on to leave a legacy that is a true wonder. But a hidden horror lurked unknown inside them until they began to reach an advanced age. Many of them who seemed to be fine and had much to show for their productive lives, very suddenly were plunged back into the horrors that lived in the recesses of their minds.
I once wrote to you about this when Kala came to the Doctor’s office looking unusually tired and stressed. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “All of Noah’s family visited me all night…his parents, aunts and uncles, children…”
But you see, they had all been slain in the Holocaust camps. I was horrified as I watched this lovely, well-respected dentist retreat into a closet of horrors. That was when I found out more about the nature of the Holocaust. Some horrors results lie dormant for a lifetime.
Now Ruth is suffering and I ask for prayer for her. Her story is different.
Whereas Kala and Noah believed in God, I have actually asked for prayer for her husband, Ya’akov. He is the survivor who is so bitter toward God and claims, not to be an atheist, but to be a “hater of God” and a mocker as well. “Where was HE during the holocaust?” he spit at me.
Yet I hear his crying heart. I do not know the ways of God well enough to say more, but I do know HIM well enough to know that He is big and merciful enough to do more then I could imagine.
Ya’akov’s wife Ruth has been special to me over the years. There was just something about her. When we went through our breast cancers together (even meeting at the hospital), I was able to encourage her and was endeared to her.
She has recently become severely clinically depressed. I did my best to reach out to her but did not realize that she is also suffering from the “Holocaust syndrome.”
On Friday, I asked about her and Ya’akov told me that she is just inconsolable. “She tells him again and again ‘I am ALONE! I have NO one! They are all murdered!” he said. “And she also visits with them all night.”
Ya’akov tells her, “Ruth! You have me! You have the children and grandchildren. WE ARE YOUR FAMILY.”
But she just weeps and says, “No, you are not my REAL family!” And that breaks his heart as well. He is 94.
I did not know their story as well as others (because of his bitterness) but he told me a few things. When she was young, she was on a train with her entire family, heading to the gas chambers. As the train rounded a corner at high speed, she alone jumped out, surviving somehow. The rest of her family perished. Eventually she was taken in by a Polish Christian family who then cared for her. Undoubtedly she has heard of Him. I would like to send her a copy of the Gospel of John in Hebrew. Will you pray that this is done and received as well? How deeply she needs His Love and healing and freedom and PEACE!
People seem more edgy again as we come down to the last 10 days of Ramadan. Perhaps you heard of the major Islamic state attack in Sinai, the area relinquished to Egypt when the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt was signed. The area is a hotbed of terrorism and extremism and now ISIS is working at staking a claim there, just as it has been doing on our northern border and in Gaza. At the beginning of Ramadan there was a spate of 6 terror attacks, two resulting in Israeli deaths, and although that appears to have quieted down, people are alert. Particularly since our schools are now out for summer vacation and our children are longing for fun.
This morning I heard a HUGE ruckus outside. The air was FILLED with the voices of children. I went to the merepeset (balcony) and looked over at perhaps 150 or more little ones, probably 6 and 7 year olds. They skipped along behind leaders, and followed by security guards there to protect them. They look so bright and sweet, all in little hats and backpacks with water bottles. The girls all pinky and the boys all…well…boys.
The “day-camp” program here is very different then it was back in the states. Called khoog (the “kh” is like the sound you would make when you say an “h” and clear your throat at the same time. It used to be represented by “ch” but is too easily confused with the “ch” combination in English).
These programs are often subsidized and can be really wonderful. They are very creative and active and it was so much fun to see this gaggle of little ones bursting with joy, expecting to have fun. It was a great opportunity to pray for them, an illustrated prayer request of sorts.
I had more to share but my husband has just called and said that he would be coming home early. He is a barber/hairdresser and we have just entered the 3 weeks of mourning leading up to tisha b’av’ (the 9th of the month of Av on the Hebrew calendar). These are the days on which both the first and second temples were destroyed and many catastrophic events befell the tribes of Israel, both historically and in modern times. It is the custom of some not to have their hair cut during this period. Thus, I will go and prepare for my husband’s earlier then usual arrival.
God bless you. Thank you for prayers. May His body continue to be built into His temple and may He be glorified.
Lovingly,
your sis J
Larry Who 