Sid: I’m speaking to a Jewish woman that’s red hot for the Messiah; she lives in Jerusalem, Israel. One of the things that I find fascinating about any Israeli, especially a sabra that’s a native born Israeli is the history. Each Jew that comes comes from a different part of the world and when you look at their history and the the history of their family in Israel you get the history literally of what God is doing on the face of this earth. Because if you understand the Jew it has to just cause your faith to move miles in your belief in the authenticity of the scriptures. I have Batya Segal on the telephone and Batya I wonder if you would tell me a bit of your family history; I think the Mishpochah would find it fascinating.
Batya: Shalom Sid. Yeah I am exciting to share about what you know the family background I’m coming from. My parents actually came from Yemen about 10 years before Israel became a state.
Sid: For those that aren’t familiar where is Yemen located.
Batya: It’s in the peninsula in down south from Israel and every time it’s referred in the Bible to the south it refers to Yemen. And so it is a I would say about 3 or 4 days on a ship to come to Israel; or to come to Israel or to Palestine then. That’s how long it took my father to come in late 1930’s. He came to land with a great desire to know he may be meeting the Messiah here; because he heard the days of redemption are coming near and the Messiah is probably coming to soon because the land of Israel is about to be created and to be born again.
Sid: That had to be such a… I can just picture Jewish people in Yemen speaking to one another “This is the time for the Messiah.”
Batya: Amen, that’s exactly what happened. Many of them were very excited because they heard the news about Jewish State about to be reborn. And then of course looking at the scriptures they knew that when the State of Israel would be reborn then the Messiah is going to come back and none of them wanted to miss that great opportunity to meet the Messiah. So a lot of them just left everything behind or gathered whatever they could and made all of the efforts to come through a lot of hardships. Thank God my father did not have to walk through the desert but there were many many thousands of them that actually fled out of Yemen and they walked through the deserts. Many of them would die; many of them left children behind in the desert because they were suffering from lack of food, lack of water but they were determined and come and meet the Messiah here in the land of Israel.
Sid: And so you father was in Israel in the 1948 War of Independence.
Batya: Yeah, he actually fought in Jerusalem in the south side of Jerusalem; it was the right by the border of Bethlehem. He in fact had 2 little children, my older sister and my little brother left at home with my mother and their house was bombed and he had to look for another house after the war and he found a house in Jerusalem. It was a house that was deserted it was a whole community that actually left their homes with their furniture, with their clothes in their cabinet thinking that their going go away for just a few days and their going to come back to their homes but they never came back. So actually it was God’s provision for many of the people that suffered for lack of housing and so God just made a provision in that way. I’m very thankful for God to bless my parents.
Sid: Well in 1950 there was something that many people got excited about all over the world; it was called Operation Magic Carpet in which your heritage, Yemenite Jews, came to Israel, but why was it so unique?
Batya: Because most of them really the only comfort they had or the only lifestyle was very simple and basic and they’d never seen airplanes, I don’t think they even saw cars let alone airplanes. So for them knowing the scriptures they believed in every verse that is in the scripture and where it talks about “I will bring you on eagles wings” when they saw the airplanes it looked like to them like eagles wings or magic carpet they call it too. But they really was so excited about it because to them it was like the scriptures becoming true right in front of their own eyes. And so that prophesy has been fulfilled and so that’s why I think if I’m not wrong it was about 50,000 people that were… I think Ben Gurion brought them in on Operation Magic Carpet in the 1950’s.
Sid: Tell me what your home was like as a child; what did it mean to you it’s so different here in America for Jewish people. I mean when I was younger all families were together; today families are separated all over the place. But I think your family must have been all together especially Yemenite Jews.
Batya: Yeah, what’s so special and unique about them is the say they live their lifestyle is very much you know around the community around the synagogue. People alway support one another; people are comforting one another. If they need help in any way they will come and share whatever they even if it’s very little they will share it. And that’s what I like about the Yemenite community they’re always trying to uplift one another to get together to support one another. A very loving and warm community I would say that it’s rare to see it in other communities; it’s really something that’s very unique for that special Yemenite, for lack of better words really community.
Sid: It’s community but it’s also very spiritual and religious.
Batya: Yeah. I would say that but also I think the main thing about the Yemenite is always when they come together the Bible is the center. They always chant the verses from the Bible; they always read the Bible together. It’s like for them the main entertainment it’s not telling jokes, you know what I mean, it’s not like a western society you would see but it’s actually something that would bring you back to God’s word. And so that’s why I think it’s so strongly planted in their hearts in many of the Yeminites I would say all generations.
Sid: Now as you were finishing up elementary school in June of 1967 something historic happened. What’s your recollection?
Batya: Yeah, it was in 1967 in June and the war just broke and I was in school at that moment and we heard the bombings and we heard the sirens and we were a little bit scared but we ran into the shelter. Then later on I had to go home when it was a little bit of not so many….
Sid: I’ll tell you what I’m speaking of what happened to Jerusalem in Jewish hands for the first time lets go to your CD “God Through the Gates” On the Walls of Jerusalem.
