By the time they arrived back at the kibbutz, it was too late to have dinner with the rest of the group. The sun had already set and as they entered the compound they could hear singing.

  “Let’s go into the kitchen and get something to eat,” he said.

  She nodded. “I had a nice day, Dovid.”

  “Me too.” He took her hand and they walked side by side through the main building of the kibbutz.

  CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE

  By the end of August, the days were scorching hot. Eidel’s clothes stuck to her body. She was wet with sweat as she worked in the kitchen.

  She was cutting green peppers when Dovid came running in. “Make room on the table; someone got hurt in the field. I have to help him,” he said.

  A man came walking through the door, his face white as plaster. His hair stuck to his face with sweat. Blood covered the front of his shirt and dirty pants.

  “Sit here,” Dovid commanded, taking charge immediately. “Someone get me a pot with clean warm water, a bunch of rags, a bottle of whiskey, a needle and thread and some matches.”

  “What happened?” Eidel asked. All of the blood made her stomach queasy.

  “He cut off the tip of his finger. I’m going to sew it back on.”

  “Oh,” she said, swaying. “I think I am going to go in the other room, Dovid.”

  He took a moment and looked up at Eidel. Then he turned to one of the women who was standing and watching. “Take my wife into the other room. Get her a wet towel and wash her face and the back of her neck while I take care of this man.”

  The woman did not question him. In fact, no one did. Dovid saved a man’s finger that day, and from then on everyone wanted him to stay. It was important to have a doctor readily available on the kibbutz. And even though Dovid was not a doctor with a medical degree, he had enough experience to be very useful to the members of the kibbutz.

  They all knew that he and Eidel were waiting for their visas, however, they tried desperately to convince him to stay. The women tried to include Eidel in their conversations but it was no use. When the visas came through in mid-September, Eidel was ecstatic. It wasn’t Israel so much that she wanted to leave, it was life on a kibbutz. And although Dovid didn’t want to go, he put Eidel’s happiness first and arranged for them to sail out before the month’s end.

  Dovid’s friends at the kibbutz gave him the names and possible locations of people they could contact once they arrived in the U.S. It seemed that the majority were located in a city called Chicago, somewhere in Illinois.

  “Here, take this, look up Hyme Strassberg. I met him in the DP camp before I came to Israel. He was going to Chicago. Maybe he can help you find a place to stay or a job,” someone said.

  “My sister’s brother-in-law is in Chicago. Here is his name and address,” someone else said, handing Dovid a piece of paper.

  “Listen, I knew this guy who was going to Chicago…”

  Dovid took it as a sign. So many of his friends had mentioned Chicago. He doubted he would be able to find any of the contacts that had been mentioned to him. It was hard to find people; they moved around a lot. When they had first applied for their visas he thought that they might settle in New York. But everyone had said that Chicago was less crowded and it would be easier to find a job there. He discussed the situation with Eidel and she agreed that they should head to Chicago.

  Before they left, Dovid took Eidel to Bethlehem. He knew she would never ask him to take her there but he also knew how much she would want to see it. She wept as they walked through the city. He didn’t know what to say, so he stayed silent. Instead, he just squeezed her hand, hoping that she knew he understood how difficult it was for her to change everything in her life. He didn’t know how to find the words to tell her that he respected her love of Jesus and her religious background. He wished he could feel at ease in saying “You don’t have to give all of this up for me,” but the truth was that he was much more comfortable with her as a Jew than as a Catholic. It was selfish. He knew it, but he couldn’t help himself. Dovid did his best, but he was not perfect.

  CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO

  It was a breezy autumn day when the Levis boarded the ship to America. Dovid turned to look back at the mountains. He wondered if he would ever see his beloved homeland again. The year or so that Dovid and Eidel had spent in Israel had been one of the most precious periods of Dovid’s life, although he would never tell Eidel because he didn’t want her to feel guilty about the move to America. He would always miss the wild and independent land of his people.

  As he stood on the deck and looked out, he wanted to make a mental photograph of all he was leaving behind.

  “Land of Abraham, Land of David, and of Solomon the Wise,” he thought. “Land of my people.”

  The ship stirred and rocked. Eidel came up to him and slid her arm through his.

  “Well, we are on our way,” he said smiling at her.

  “Yes,” she nodded. “We are. I can’t believe that we are going to America, Dovi. When I was a child, America was a country that people talked about like it was as close to Heaven as a person could get.”

  He nodded and patted her hand. She was excited even though the night before they left she had expressed that she was worried about getting seasick again. “It’s not as hot outside right now as it was when we sailed to Israel. You won’t get sick this time,” Dovid assured her.

  He gazed into her eyes. It was easy to see that she was happy, and he was glad that she was. Then he turned his head and glanced back again one more time at the mountains.

  How majestic they are, he thought, and he remembered the battle at Masada. He also recalled how God had used Moses to part the Red Sea so that his brother, Aaron, could lead the Jewish people to the promised land. Such a rich history this land of Israel held. For him, it had been an experience that brought him back to his roots, back to his people. And he was grateful to have spent the time in this magical, wonderful land.

  The ship began to sail out of the harbor. Dovid put his arm around his wife as a soft breeze danced through her lovely golden hair.

  “And so, my love, we begin another chapter of our lives. I am excited for the new adventure,” he said. And even though he would miss the glory of Israel, he was eager to see what lie ahead in America.

  Coming Soon: Book Three in the “I Am Proud To Be A Jew” series:

  New Life, New Land

  Book One in the “I Am Proud To Be A Jew” series

  And, Who is the Real Mother

  A young Jewish child is smuggled out of the Warsaw ghetto. She is sent to live with a dear friend of her mother's, Helen Dobinsky. Helen is a Catholic woman living in Warsaw, who is willing to risk the safety of her own family in order to provide a home for this precious little girl. However, no one must find out that the Dobinski family is harboring a Jewish child or they could face severe punishment, even death. Keeping such a dangerous secret is treacherous like walking a tightrope. There are spies everywhere, and it is impossible to know who can be trusted.

  Just how much fear and pain will one woman endure in order to save the life of an innocent child who is not her blood? And so, we must ask the question: “Who is the real mother? Is it the mother who gave birth to the child, or the mother who risked everything to raise her?”

  Book Two in the “I Am Proud To Be a Jew” series

  Secrets Revealed

  Secrets Revealed

  Hitler has surrendered. The Nazi flags, which once hung throughout the city, striking terror in the hearts of Polish citizens, have been torn down. It seems that Warsaw should be rejoicing in its new-found freedom. But Warsaw is not free. Instead it is occupied by the Soviet Union, held tightly in Stalin’s iron grip. Communist soldiers, in uniform, now control the city. Where once people feared the dreaded swastika, now they tremble at the sight of the hammer and sickle. It is a treacherous time. And, in the midst of all of this danger, Ela Dobinski, a girl with a secret that could change her life, is coming of age.

  Coming soon: New Life, New, Land ( book three in the I am Proud to be a Jew series)

  MORE BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

  Michal’s Destiny

  Book one in the Michal’s Destiny series

  Siberia, 1919.

  In a Jewish settlement a young woman is about to embark upon her destiny. Her father has arranged a marriage for her and she must comply with his wishes. She has never seen her future husband and she knows nothing about him. Michal’s destiny lies in the hands of fate. On the night of her wedding she is terrified, but her mother assures her that she will be alright. Her mother explains that it is her duty to be a good wife, to give her husband children and always to obey him. However, although her mother and her mother’s mother before her had lived this way, this was not to be Michal’s destiny. Terrible circumstances would force Michal to leave her home and travel to the city of Berlin during the Weimar period, where she would see and experience things she could never have imagined. Having been a sheltered religious girl, she found herself lost and afraid, trying to survive in a world filled with contrasts. Weimar Berlin was a time in history when art and culture were exploding, but it was also a period of depravity and perversions. Fourteen tumultuous years passed before the tides began to turn for the young girl who had stood under the canopy and said “I do” to a perfect stranger. Michal was finally beginning to establish her life However, the year was 1933, and Michal was still living in Berlin. Little did she know that Adolf Hitler was about to be appointed Chancellor of Germany, and that would change everything forever.

  A Family Shattered

  Book two in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  Taavi Margolis is arrested on Kristallnacht when he races out of his apartment to protect his daughter’s fiancée, Benny, who is being attacked and killed by a gang of Nazi thugs as they pillage and destroy the streets of a little Jewish neighborhood in Berlin. Taavi’s wife, Michal and their two daughters stare in horror through the window as Benny is savagely murdered. Then, they watch helplessly as the gang turns their attention to Taavi. They beat him with clubs until he is on his knees and bleeding on the pavement. When the police arrive, instead of arresting the perpetrators, they force Taavi into the back of a black automobile and take him away. Michal, pulls her daughters close to her. No one speaks but all three of them have the same unspoken questions. Will they ever see their beloved husband and Papa again? They realize, after tonight, the Anti-Semitism that is growing like a cancer all around them can no longer be ignored. Their future is uncertain. What will become of this family, what will become of the Jews? This is the story of the struggle of one Jewish family, to survive against the unfathomable threat of the Third Reich

  Watch Over My Child

  Book Three in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  After her parents are arrested by the Nazi’s, twelve-year-old Gilde Margolis is sent away from her home, her sister, and everyone she knows and loves. Alone and afraid, Gilde boards a train through the Kinder-transport bound for Britain where she will stay with strangers, in London. Over the next seven years as Gilde is coming of age, the Nazi’s will grow in power and London will be thrust into a brutal war against Hitler. Severe rationing will be imposed upon the British, while air raids will instill terror, and bombs will all but destroy the city. Against all odds, and with no knowledge of what has happened to her family in Germany, Gilde will still keep a tiny flicker of hope buried deep in her heart, that someday she will be reunited with her loved ones.

  Another Breath, Another Sunrise

  Book Four. The Final Book in the Michal’s Destiny Series

  1945. The Nazi’s surrendered. Hitler was dead. But, the Third Reich had already left a bloody footprint on the soul of the world.

  The Margoils family and their friends Lotti and Lev Glassman were torn apart by Hitler’s hatred of the Jewish people. Now that the Reich has fallen, the survivors of the Margolis and Glassman family’s find themselves searching to reconnect with those they love.

  Lotti Strombeck Glassman, was a German woman, living in Berlin. She had been a good friend to the Margolis family. Lotti had been married to Lev, a Jewish man, who was taken away by the Gestapo and never seen again. In 1945 the curtain came down on Hitler. Meanwhile, Stalin was pushing his army towards Germany’s capital city. They were an angry mob of Russian soldiers who were on their way to punish the Aryan race. They would take out all of their hatred for the Third Reich on the terrified women left behind in Berlin.

  Alina Margolis escaped to America with her lover at the beginning of the war. Although she was not in Germany, she did not have an easy life. Alina struggled to make her way in a foreign land that did not welcome Jews or Jews of German decent.

  At ten years old Gilde Margolis , along with a group of other children boarded a train out of Germany. They were headed for Britain on the Kindertransport. Alone and frightened, Gilde left everyone and everything she knew behind. But she was taken in by a family in London. However, London was in the throes of war. Bombs rained down on the city. Food, clothing, even bath water was rationed. As air raid sirens blared and buildings were turned to rubble, Gilde Margolis came of age. She learned to love, to sacrifice, but most of all to survive.

  This is a story of ordinary people whose lives were shattered by the terrifying ambitions of Adolf Hitler… a mad man.

  All My Love, Detrick

  Book One in the All My Love,

  Detrick Series

  Detrick, a German boy, was born with every quality that the Nazis considered superior. This would ensure his future as a leader of Adolf Hitler’s coveted Aryan race. But on his seventh birthday, an unexpected event changed the course of his destiny forever. As the Nazis rose to power, Detrick was swept into a life filled with secrets, enemies, betrayals, alliances, and danger at every turn. However, in spite of the horrors and the terror surrounding him, Detrick would find a single flicker of light. He would discover the greatest gift of all, the gift of everlasting love.

  You Are My Sunshine

  Book two of the “All My Love, Detrick” series

  Munich, Germany, 1941

  A golden child is genetically engineered in the Nazi's home for the Lebensborn. She is the daughter of a pure German mother and a member of Hitler’s SS elite. With those bloodlines, she is expected to become a perfect specimen of Hitler’s master race. But, as Germany begins to lose the war and the Third Reich begins to crumble, the plans for the children of the Lebensborn must drastically change. Alliances will be broken. Love and trust will be destroyed in an instant, secrets will rise to the surface, and people will prove that they are not as they seem. In a time when the dark evil forces of the Third Reich hung like a black umbrella of doom over Europe, a little girl will be forced into a world spiraling out of control, a world where the very people sworn to protect her cannot be trusted.

  The Promised Land:

  From Nazi Germany to Israel

  Book Three in the All My Love, Detrick Series

  The Holocaust robbed Zofia Weiss of all she holds dear. The Secret State Police have confiscated her home, killed her friends, and imprisoned the man she loves. After searching through displaced persons camps and finding nothing, Zofia is sure that her lover is dead. With only her life, a dream, and a terrifying secret, Zofia illegally boards The Exodus, bound for Eretz Israel.

  Along with a group of emaciated Jewish survivors, Zofia sets out to find the Promised Land. Despite the renewed sense of hope, Zofia lives in constant fear, since the one person who knows her dark secret is a sadistic SS officer with the power to ruin her life and the life of an innocent Lebensborn child.

  When the Nuremberg trials convict the SS officer of crimes against humanity, Zofia believes she is finally safe and does her best to raise the beautiful girl entrusted to her care. As the child becomes a woman in her own right, can she find true love and belonging in a post-war society, or will the secrets of her heritage tear apart the only family she’s ever known?

  To Be an Israeli

  Book Four in the All My Love,

  Detrick Series

  Elan Amsel understands what it means to be an Israeli. He’s sacrificed the woman he loved, his marriage, and his life for Israel. When Israel went to war and Elan was summoned in the middle of the night, he did not hesitate to defend his country. Even though his wife had warned him that he would pay a terrible price for his decision. Elan is not a perfect man by any means. He can be cruel. He can be stubborn and self-righteous. But he is brave, and he loves more deeply than he will ever admit. This is his story.

  However, it is not only his story; it is also an account of the lives of the women who loved him. Katja, the girl he cherished but could never marry, would haunt him forever. Janice, the spoiled American he wed to fill a void, would keep a secret from him that would one day shatter him. And…Nina, the beautiful Mossad agent Elan longed to protect, but knew that he could not.

  To Be an Israeli spans from the beginning of the Six-Day War in 1967 through 1986 when a group of American tourists are on their way to visit their Jewish homeland.

  This book is a saga of a people who to this day live under the constant threat of war and terrorism. It is the story of a nation built on the blood of her people, a people who understand that if Israel is to survive they must put Israel first. These are the Israelis.

  Forever My Homeland

  The Final Book in the All My Love,

  Detrick Series

  A group of Americans go on a tour of Israel with their synagogue. One of them has a secret.

 

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