Wings of Refuge (16 page)

“Oh, Jake, honey . . . I understand how you might have been attracted to . . . her. Can you ever forgive me? I’m so sorry. I . . . I never meant to fall in love with Ben.” She slipped her arm through Ben’s and leaned against his shoulder. He closed his eyes in joy.

Hannah’s gaze never left Jake’s face, waiting . . . for what? Tears? A burst of anger? Maybe a fistfight? But after another eternity of waiting, his face slowly split into a grin. He began to laugh as he had the day they were lost on the mountain. No one joined him. Ben looked very pale.

“This is absolutely unbelievable!” Jake said at last. “I’ve been eating my heart out for the last five months—worried about the way I hurt Devorah, upset about losing my best friend, heartsick with love for you, Hannah . . . and it was all for nothing!”

Heartsick with love.

Hannah didn’t need to hear more. Her chair toppled as she scrambled to her feet.

“Watch, Devorah. I’ll show you exactly what I did.” She threw her arms around Jake’s neck and kissed him on the lips, right in the middle of the fish restaurant on the main street of Tiberias, in broad daylight.

Four months later she became Mrs. Jacob Rahov.

CHAPTER 7

WEST JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—MAY 16, 1967

T
urn off the radio, Hannah,” Jake said quietly. “We’ve heard enough bad news for one night.”

He sat cross-legged on the floor of their apartment with two-year-old Rachel on his lap, their dark, perfect heads bent over a picture book. They looked so beautiful together, so content, that a shudder rocked through Hannah as she thought of the radio announcer’s words.

“I’ll turn it off in a minute. I want to hear what the United Nations plans to do.”

“We’ll know soon enough. Please, Hannah.” She switched it off. The sound of Jake’s calm voice replaced the crackling static and urgent bulletins as he pointed to objects in the book and asked, “What’s that, Rachel?”

“Kitty,” she replied.

“Very good. And what are those?”

“Birdies!” The birds were her favorites. She and Jake walked to the park every day to feed them. But Hannah knew that if the United Nations gave in to Egypt’s threats, if they withdrew their peace-keeping forces from the Sinai three days from now, there would be no more walks to the park. There would be war.

“Jake . . . I’m scared.”

“Come here, love.” He reached for her hand and pulled her down to the floor beside him.

“I know what you’re going to tell me,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “I need to trust in God’s unfailing love.” Jake had reminded her of those words often since Rachel’s birth two years ago. Hannah had wanted to clutch her beautiful newborn tightly, protect her from every threat, never let her out of her sight.

“Her life is a gift from God,” Jake told her. “Whatever happens, we can trust Him with it because His love reaches to the heavens, His faithfulness to the skies. And that’s a very long way.”

Hannah had learned the morning prayers from Jake. They recited them together before they began each day: “‘How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.’” But it hadn’t been easy for Hannah to lay aside her stubborn self-sufficiency and surrender control to God. It had taken six years of marriage for her to get over her fear of losing Jake each time he left for work or when he went away for his yearly military exercises with the reserves. This current crisis reminded her of the fragility of everything she cherished.

“It’s a lot easier to trust God in peacetime,” she told him. “But if there is going to be a war . . . Jake, we’re surrounded by enemies who are committed to our destruction. I don’t think Nasser is just mouthing vague threats this time. He intends to destroy Israel. I’ve never had to take refuge beneath God’s wings when there were bombs falling all around me.”

“We still have today,” Jake told her. His eyes were very green. “We have Rachel and we have each other. Let’s not spoil today by worrying about what might happen tomorrow.”

He turned the page of the book and calmly continued reading to Rachel. As Hannah watched them, she saw her daughter’s dependence and trust in her father as she rested securely in his arms. She must do the same, resting in her heavenly Father as He turned over each new page in her life.

But three days later, Hannah huddled on the sofa beside Jake, listening in stunned disbelief to the news. The UN peacekeeping forces had yielded to Egypt’s demands, evacuating the positions they had held in the Sinai since 1956. Prime Minister Levi Eshkol called it an act of war. Jake seemed as worried as she was.

“It’s only a matter of time now,” he said, “before Egypt blocks all shipping to Eilat and we lose our only southern port.”

Hannah gazed around their tiny spartan apartment, wondering what shortages the blockade would bring, what new ways she would have to find to adapt. On a bookshelf across the room, shards of ancient pottery and jar handles were piled around wedding photographs and Rachel’s baby pictures, as if offering evidence of Israel’s endless cycle of destruction and rebirth.

“Why are people so bent on destroying us?” she asked. “In every generation there has been someone who tries to start a crusade or an inquisition or a pogrom to wipe out the Jewish people. Why us?”

“Because we bear witness to the Holy One’s plan to redeem mankind. In fact, His redemption will come from our race, from Abraham’s seed. If Satan can destroy us, he thinks he can destroy all memory of God and keep mankind under the curse. But Satan’s plans won’t succeed.”

“Do you think there will be a war?” she asked quietly. “Tell me the truth, Jake. Don’t say I’m borrowing tomorrow’s worry.” He reached over her shoulder to turn off the radio before taking her in his arms.

“Yes. I do. But I also believe that what our enemies intend for evil, God is going to turn to our good.”

“Our
good
? How?”

“The Holocaust wiped out six million of us, but God used their sacrifice to reestablish us in this land. Our enemies declared war the day we declared independence, but God used it to increase Israel’s territory. Who knows what good will come from this?”

“If we live through it,” Hannah mumbled.

The following day, Jake’s reserve unit was mobilized. He was ordered to report to the area of the Golan Heights to defend Israel’s border against Syria. No one needed to remind Hannah that Syria’s troops were backed by the powerful Soviet Union. As she lay on their bed watching Jake put on his uniform and lace up his boots, she broke down and wept.

“Hannah . . . don’t. Please don’t.” He lay down beside her again and held her close. “The woman I fell in love with was strong and fearless. She strode up mountains without a map or a compass and ate her lunch in dry riverbeds without a care in the world. What happened to her?”

“She fell in love with you. We became one like Scripture says, and now that we’re being torn apart, it’s the worst pain I’ve ever known.”

“I know, love. I know. Just pretend that I’m leaving for reserve exercises and that I’ll be home in a couple of weeks.”

“I can’t, Jake. I know exactly where you’re going.”

“Listen, every time one of us walks out that door, we have no guarantee that we’ll ever see each other again. Life isn’t forever, Hannah. But our love is, and so is God’s love.” He kissed her and wiped away her tears. “‘He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep,’” he recited. “I don’t know what God is doing, but I know we can trust Him.” He kissed her again, then stood. “Come to the window. I’ll wave to you.”

He crossed to the crib where Rachel was napping and bent to kiss her forehead. Hannah stood and took her husband in her arms one last time. She felt the strength of his embrace and clung to him with all her might. Love and fear choked off everything she wanted to say.

“I’ll see you,” Jake whispered. Then he pried her loose and quickly picked up his kit bag, walking away so she wouldn’t see his tears.

She had felt them, though, gently falling into her hair. As soon as the front door closed, she ran to the living room window and pulled back the curtain. Jake emerged from the apartment building a few minutes later. He looked up at the window and waved. Then he rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Hannah wondered if she would ever see him again.

WEST JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—MAY 30, 1967

H
annah knocked on the door of Ben and Devorah’s apartment and waited. Ben’s five-year-old son opened it. “It’s Auntie Hannah!” he shouted.

“Hi, Itzak. Where’s your mama?” Hannah asked.

“In the kitchen. Can Rachel play?”

“Of course.” Hannah set Rachel on the floor where Itzak and three-year-old Samuel were playing with a ball and a set of toy bowling pins. She followed the sound of a scratchy radio broadcast into the kitchen. Ben and Jake had been gone for ten days. Hannah had promised to look after Devorah, who was eight months pregnant. She found her sitting at the kitchen table in tears. Hannah switched off the radio.

“No, Hannah, wait—”

“That’s what Jake always does when the news starts to upset me. He drove me crazy at first, but I’m beginning to think he’s right.”

“But I want to hear the news.”

“Sweetie, it’s not just news. Those commentators can’t shut up, and all their ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ might never even happen.”

She crossed to the sink and poured Devorah a glass of water. In spite of Devorah’s condition, her kitchen shone—no dirty dishes piled on the counters, no sticky spots of spilled juice on the floor, no mysterious smells drifting from her tiny refrigerator each time she opened the door. Unlike Hannah’s apartment, which resembled an archaeological ruin most of the time, Devorah’s was always neat and clean. Hannah often wondered if Jake regretted his choice of a wife.

“Here,” she said, handing the glass to Devorah, “you need this to replenish all the water that’s leaking from your eyes.” Devorah didn’t return her smile.

“Did you hear the latest?” Devorah asked. “Egypt has signed a defense pact with Jordan. They were enemies a couple of months ago, and now they’re suddenly friends, pledging to help each other destroy us.”

Hannah hadn’t heard, and the news shook her. The border between Israel and Jordan ran right through the middle of Jerusalem, just a few miles to the east of them. But she waved the news away as if swatting a fly, feigning indifference as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Oh, so what! Egypt signed one with Syria, too. It doesn’t mean a thing. Those fools break their word easier than you can break an egg.”

Devorah managed a weak smile. “Maybe you’re right about the radio, Hannah. They keep saying that Iraq is going to send troops to help Egypt, too. And they keep bringing up that speech Nasser gave a few days ago.”

“You mean the one where he said, ‘Our basic objective will be to destroy Israel’? That’s not news. That’s been his objective for years. The man is a broken record.” But when Hannah had first heard the speech four days ago and learned that Egyptian armored units had crossed the Suez with 100,000 troops and taken positions in the Sinai, she had covered her face and wept. Images of the Holocaust circled her mind and settled on her heart like birds of prey waiting to snatch her peace. The only way to keep them at bay was to keep moving, keep working, keep praying.

“Have you heard from Ben?” she asked.

“Yes. He told me to brace myself for war.” Devorah rose and set the empty glass in the sink, then stood near the living room doorway watching the children play, gently massaging her ponderous belly as she spoke. “Ben says once the war starts, Israel has no alternative but to win. He says if we lose, they’ll kill every last one of us.”

Hannah knew Ben was right, but she said, “He’s wrong. The British and the Americans will never let it come to that.”

“Well, so far the Americans haven’t done a thing to help. Their promise of a multinational navy to break the Egyptian blockade was an empty one. Israel will be forced to fight alone.”

“Devorah, listen. I came to ask a favor.” Hannah needed to steer Devorah’s mind away from her fear before they both crashed into despair. “Would you be willing to watch Rachel for a few hours every day so I can go to work? I know it’s difficult in your condition with two kids of your own to watch, but nearly every man in Israel is mobilized for war, and if the women don’t take over their jobs, everything is going to come to a screeching halt around here.”

Devorah’s shoulders straightened, and she seemed to grow stronger before Hannah’s eyes as she was offered a useful alternative to sitting and waiting. “Of course, Hannah. I’d be glad to. Where are you going to work?”

“They’re converting some of the hotels into emergency first-aid stations. Since I trained as a medic, I thought I would volunteer. I tried taking Rachel with me when a bunch of us cleaned out the basement of our apartment building to make an air raid shelter, and she was constantly underfoot. A couple of days ago I took her with me to help fill sandbags, and I’m still cleaning sand out of her hair.” She laughed, but Devorah didn’t.

“They made a shelter in this building, too,” she said. “It’s supposed to be a good, sturdy one. Rachel will be safe here, Hannah. And I’m all packed and ready to go down whenever we need to.” She pointed to a small overnight bag by the back door. Hannah had a similar one ready beside hers.

Hannah feared the bombing raids the most. The Egyptians had a huge airforce that could be airborne and dropping bombs on Israel almost before the warning sirens had a chance to go off. Because her nation was so small, civilians were certain to be in the way of enemy targets and would likely be spending a great deal of time in air raid shelters. Hannah tried not to think about what would happen if Devorah couldn’t make it downstairs in time with three small children in tow.

Rachel toddled into the kitchen with a smile on her face and a plastic bowling pin in her fist. “Wha’s dat?” she asked. Hannah pictured Jake, paging through books for hours on end, asking
“What’s that, Rachel?”
Would their daughter even remember her father if anything happened to him?