Three weeks ago, in the local Shul in one of the communities in South America, congregants rubbed their eyes in amazement at what they saw: A woman in Muslim clothing, dressed in a gallabiya and with her face covered by a veil. She stood before the members of the community, who were engrossed in the Daf Yomi (daily portion of the Talmud) and burst into tears. “I'm Jewish! Save me- I'm in danger”.
The agitated woman told the congregants that she had been married for 10 years to a South American Muslim and had converted to Islam and had three children. After a difficult struggle she had succeeded in divorcing her husband but still lived within the Muslim community. In the last few weeks, she said, some local Muslims had begun to spread rumors that she is an Israeli secret agent, and as a result she had suffered from persecution and harassment
The security officer of the Jewish community interrogated the woman about her story and after getting satisfactory answers from her, he updated the Rabbi of the community who contacted Yad Le'Achim's hotline in Israel. The members of the rescue department of that organization checked up on the woman's story and when they found it to be authentic, they organized a rescue operation. The woman and her three children were taken to the airport and flown to Israel, where they were lodged in a safe house.
The mother of the family who had at last returned to her people, had begun to get closer to Judaism while Yad Le'achim made contact with her biological family, who had cut off ties with her after she married a Muslim. The family were obviously very excited to hear about the positive change in their daughter's lifestyle and they will reestablish their ties with her in the near future.
