Message from the Publisher

Although WhatsApp groups and messages can sometimes be a nuisance, there are materials sent in these groups that touch the heart.  Every once in a while, there is a story or a shiur that hits the spot.  On Sunday morning I opened such a message.  It was about a lady named Irena Sendler, a gentile who risking her own life to save over 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto. How many of us can reach this stage?  How many of us can do something easier, where it does not involve the risk of losing one’s life?

This message brought to mind a very real situation that occurred here in Forest Hills 34 years ago. Many Bukharians truly didn’t have anything when they came to this country; much of their life savings were seized by the communist Russians and all they left with were suitcases of clothing and some flatware and other necessary items shipped in wooden crates, which arrived half-broken.  Most of us started from scratch. We did not have money, let alone good credit to be able to rent an apartment.  Many of the apartments we lived in were sublet by relatives or acquaintances who had immigrated previously.

One such case was a family of five who lived in an apartment on 62^nd Road in Forest Hills.  They lived in their sublet apartment for several years, paying their rent like clockwork every first of the month; they never missed or were late with a payment. After a while, the family got comfortable, and instead of paying with a money order as they always did, paid with a personal check.  When the management office noticed a different name on the check, they began to research and started a claim on this family.  They told them that they are living illegally because the lease was not in their name.  The management company then began legal proceedings to evict this family.  Being that they had recently come from the former Soviet Union, the family did not know the laws and did not have the money for legal representation.  They came to court when they were asked, and after several appearances they were given six months to leave the apartment.  

For months they tried to find an apartment, but to no avail.  With lack of financial backing and no credit history, it was impossible to find a suitable place to live.  The six months came very quickly.  They didn’t think that the law would be so cruel as to throw them out onto the street, but their relatives told them that it is; the marshal will come and padlock the door and no one would be able to enter the apartment for any reason.  The family took this very seriously and emptied the apartment of all the furniture and personal belongings.  Luckily, they had relatives who took in a sofa here and some suitcases there.  The belongings of the family were now scattered amongst several apartments.  Now the hard part was figuring out where they were going to sleep.  It is not like us Bukharians to have a family go to a shelter, but on the other hand it is difficult to give a family of five room and board for who knows how long.  The mother did not want to be separated from her kids and husband between several apartments.

At this point, the mother wandered into the street and began to cry with her 11-year-old son next to her.  Tears streamed down her face; there didn’t seem to be any solution to this problem.  Suddenly, an elderly lady came out of a building across the street and noticed this mother crying. She approached the teary-eyed woman and asked why she was crying.  The mother felt uncomfortable and replied, “Nothing, everything is okay.”  The elderly lady didn’t take that as an answer, though; she persisted to find out what was wrong.  At that point the mother told her that she was to be thrown out of her apartment tomorrow and had no place to go.  The elderly lady took out a set of keys and asked, “Is that the only problem?” She placed the set of keys in the hand of the crying mother and told her that she resides on the seventh floor and that the apartment is all hers now. With that, the elderly lady left.

The mother was left holding the keys; she did not know what was going on.  With no choice but to take the woman’s offer, she told her son to find out what the apartment number was.  The boy ran after the lady and found out the unit number.  The mother took her son and went to the seventh floor of the building across the street.  They opened the door to the unit and found a one-bedroom apartment fully furnished, in which this elderly lady had been residing.  With no choice at hand, the family of five moved into the apartment that evening.  They were all waiting for the arrival of the elderly lady. Later that night, the woman came home to find five individuals she had never seen in her life living in her apartment. She was very pleasant and made this family very comfortable, as if they were her own family.  They ended up living in her apartment for about three months, after which they found a suitable apartment to move into.  

The lady’s name is Zina Aulova; she is currently almost 100 years old, Hashem should give her a long and healthy life.  The mother in the story has two sons who live in Forest Hills, a daughter who lives in Israel, and another son who passed away this past week in Vienna, Austria.  She has grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they should all be well and healthy.  The 11-year-old boy who ran after the keys was none other than myself.  For decades I could not understand how a person could subdue his/her inclination to be left in peace, alone, not bothered, and to allow five strangers into her domain and make them feel as if they were always a part of her.  I still cannot fathom it. 

Although they are rare, individuals like Zina Aulova and Irena Sendler exist. We must learn from these people, to at least treat our own family members, extended or close, in the way that these strangers treated people with whom they were completely unacquainted.  Hashem should bless this woman who has shown me that there are walking angels amongst us. 

Until next time.

 

By Avraham Yakubov