A Modern-day Miracle
Posted by: Denelle
Not all miracles come in the form of renewed eye-sight, restoration of withered limbs or people being raised from the dead.
Sometimes they come as a result of modern technology and a little bit of human effort. Case in point: a brother and sister who were reunited this week - Hilda Shlick, 75 and Simon Glasberg, 81 - hadn't seen each other in 65 years, each thinking the other had perished during the Holocaust.
After speaking with their grandmother and learning her maiden name, Shlick's grandsons (both in their 20s) decided to search the database of Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust Memorial - to see if they could locate any information about her family.
One additional sibling (Mark) is still alive but could not travel to Israel for the reunion due to health conditions. Even more remarkable is the fact that Mark's son Irving lives in Israel, less than a half an hour away from his newly discovered family.
Now that's a story that should encourage us all to believe in miracles.
Not all miracles come in the form of renewed eye-sight, restoration of withered limbs or people being raised from the dead.
Sometimes they come as a result of modern technology and a little bit of human effort. Case in point: a brother and sister who were reunited this week - Hilda Shlick, 75 and Simon Glasberg, 81 - hadn't seen each other in 65 years, each thinking the other had perished during the Holocaust.
"After 65 years, I have found the sister who I love," Simon Glasberg said Monday
in heavily accented English, his eyes filling with tears. "I can't stop kissing her."
After speaking with their grandmother and learning her maiden name, Shlick's grandsons (both in their 20s) decided to search the database of Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust Memorial - to see if they could locate any information about her family.
Scanning the database, the grandsons, both in their 20s, discovered an entry erroneously stating their grandmother had perished half a century earlier. That entry led them to other surviving relatives, who eventually brought about the siblings' emotional reunion Friday.
The last time the two saw each other was in 1941, when the Glasberg family of Chernowitz, Romania, was separated after the Nazis invaded. Hilda, then 10, escaped to Uzbekistan with her older sister Bertha. The rest of the family -- parents Henia and Benzion, and brothers Simon, Mark, Karol and Eddie -- stayed in Romania, finding refuge in a basement. The fate of one sister, Pepi, remains unknown.
One additional sibling (Mark) is still alive but could not travel to Israel for the reunion due to health conditions. Even more remarkable is the fact that Mark's son Irving lives in Israel, less than a half an hour away from his newly discovered family.
The new extended family will share the Jewish New Year together this weekend,
catching up on a half-century of history.
Now that's a story that should encourage us all to believe in miracles.
