From Kinot to Tikun, A Message of Hope
The second part of Let’s Connect’s From Galus to Geula series moved from one woman’s personal journey toward Judaism to the extraordinary journey of a Jewish family from Yemen to Eretz Yisrael.
Penina Lewis shared the story of her parents and the Yemenite Jewish community from which they came, bringing a piece of Jewish history into the room through the experiences of one family.
Penina began with her father’s childhood in Yemen. Orphaned at only six years old, he faced the threat of the Orphans’ Decree, under which orphaned Jewish children could be taken and raised as Muslims. His relatives arranged for him to escape under cover of darkness. Hidden in wooden crates carried by donkeys, he traveled with other orphaned boys toward Aden.
His story would eventually lead to Israel, but arrival in the Jewish homeland did not mean that hardship was over. Penina spoke about her family’s experiences after immigration, including the devastating disappearance of two siblings during the period of the ma'abarot.
Yet the story Penina told was not defined only by loss.
Again and again, she returned to the emunah and bitachon that shaped her parents’ lives. Her father held closely to the words, הַבּוֹטֵחַ בַּה׳ חֶסֶד יְסוֹבְבֶנּוּ, the one who trusts in Hashem is surrounded by kindness.
That faith did not erase what they had endured. It determined how they continued to live.
During the Three Weeks, when we think about exile, destruction, longing, and ultimate redemption, their story gave those ideas a human face. Generations of Jews carried their faith through displacement, danger, and uncertainty while continuing to build families and Jewish lives.
The evening became more than a history lesson. It was a reminder that the story of galus and geula is also the accumulated story of Jewish families whose faith allowed them to carry something forward.
