PEBBLES OF THE PAST

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What memories do you treasure? What challenges do you have to meet your dreams? What will you gain, what will you lose? What is one item you would take with you if you had to leave your home?  
 

NOTE: In Yemen in the 1940s many Jewish families wanted to leave Yemen. There was famine, and families like the Levi family always longed for the Land of Israel, where their ancestors had once lived, where they hoped their lives would be safer, where there would be schools, jobs and enough food, and where they could live freely as Jews. First, they had to reach Aden, a port city almost 300 kilometers away though the desert. Years after they arrived in British-occupied Palestine, now Israel, the Levis were united with the rest of their beloved family during Operation Magic Carpet. Their family from Yemen was taken to Israel on an airplane, which they had never seen before. There have been wars and conflict in Israel, and life hasn’t always been safe there, but they have built a good life and continue to work for and hope for peace. 
In the beginning of this story, in Yemen the children call their mother and father using Arabic words, Uma and Baba, but they use the Hebrew words, Ima and Abba, when the Levi family arrives in pre-state Israel. The language used by Jews in Yemen was a Judeo-Arabic language, a combination of both Hebrew and Arabic. Today there are no Jews left in Yemen. Since 1948, the land of their dreams is called Israel. Jews in Israel mainly speak Hebrew. Many people there speak Arabic.