Do we ever fully appreciate the immigrant experience of so many who have come before us?
Once these rescue flights arrived on the American shore, any yeshivah that had dormitories took some of the boys.
The girls were another story. Cleveland took ten girls, and we were asked to host some of them. I still remember exactly how I felt when we said “Yes,” so please don’t pass out any gold stars. I did this for selfish reasons: I wanted someone to take in my children if I was ever in that situation. And that’s how Anhira and Farah, ages 19 and 20, landed at our house.
Anhira’s brother was one of the group of young boys to whom Telshe Yeshivah in Wickliffe had opened their doors. Farah had traveled with her sister, who was placed with another family.
The girls were originally from Tehran. In American terms, that’s midtown Manhattan. Arriving at the airport in Cleveland, Ohio, must have felt like the boondocks. Cleveland Heights? Think rural country, where they roll up the sidewalks at 7 p.m. — on a busy night.
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