Savta in Jerusalem

Becoming savta, grandmother for me was a very moving experience in the city that the Lord Himself calls His city. In this city the God of Israel, Adonai, has showed His Glory and lived in the midst of His beloved people Israel. The Jews in all times have longed so much to be in Jerusalem while living among the nations, but most of the time they were never able to enter the city about they were dreaming about.

Here in Jerusalem our youngest daughter got her son and they gave him the name: Rafael Nave. A healthy boy with a friendly open face that looks into the world with longing and hope. May the Lord bless him and may this young boy to be, serve Him with his whole heart.

As believers we always have this hope when we look at our children and raise them with the knowledge of the Lord. If we see their faces shine when we talk about the Lord and sing about Him and when we see a longing on their shiny faces when we worship the Lord, we feel that hope in ourselves that they will continue to serve the Lord later in their lives.

Rafael is named after his grandfather from fathers side who passed away at the age of 66. Rafael means: the Lord heals and Nave means: oasis. What a beautiful name that fits our family history so well. The family of our son in law came in the beginning of the last century to Israel from the Georgia. Also a grandmother came from Egypt. The name Rafael can also be found in the family tree of my husband, who is descendant from a family where both the family from mother’s side and father’s side were murdered in Auschwitz and Sobibor during the Holocaust. It is for us a great miracle that our family now has this grandson born in Jerusalem. Baruch Hashem!

The longing for the city of the great King and life has triumphed! We cannot comprehend what this means in the heavenly realms. Our hearts just can rejoice over this. It is a victory! Pesach is almost here and we are remembering and celebrating the great deliverance and victory that the God of Israel has given to His people Israel out of the cruel hands of Pharao: cruel slavery and murdering our people. Also we in our lives need deliverance and salvation. We also need to experience the exodus from Egypt as if we ourselves were there and we were slaves.

Adonai will set us free!
Happy Pesach!