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| LifeTakes |

Links in a Chain

Pretty amazing for someone who’d once thought she wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise

The mohel returned with my bechor,

now proudly bearing his name. Overwhelmed with the excitement of this new link in a chain that spans generations, I barely noticed the two strangers who entered the room. But when I looked up, I discovered that those strangers were not strangers at all, but links we’d thought had been obliterated 70 years before.

Years earlier, after convincing our parents to send her back to Israel for shanah bet, my younger sister Chani stepped onto the Neve Yerushalayim campus overwhelmed. She knew no one and discovered she was one of the youngest women there. Hesitantly, she ascended to her apartment to meet her roommates.

Chani opened the door and was met with a big smile and a warm greeting. Elana, a Canadian originally from the former Soviet Union, and Chani became fast friends. It wasn’t long before the two girls began to joke that they were family.

Our Bubbe passed away in October of that year. She left behind eight grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and another on the way; I was due to give birth within a few months. Pretty amazing for someone who’d once thought she wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise.

Excerpted from Mishpacha Magazine. To view full version, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE or LOG IN.

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