"Look! We've arrived at Jaffa!" R' Yona called, looking up at
the blue skies and then at the foaming waters below and the
stretch of sand in the distance. "See the yellow sands of
holy Eretz Yisroel there on the horizon?" He stared dreamily
and murmured, "Is this possible? Can I really be in the very
same place where Yona was cast into the water and a huge fish
swallowed him?"
His son, R' Dovid, had come to stand by his father's side and
the women and children had likewise gathered around him. R'
Yona cleared his voice and exclaimed excitedly, "Do you know
that Yona Hanovi was my ancestor?" He turned to the children
and said, "Remember the story of Yona which we read in the
haftora of Yom Kippur? He refused to warn the people
of Nineveh of their upcoming destruction. He ran away by boat
and when a storm arose because of him, the sailors had to
throw him in the sea. He was swallowed up by a big fish and
after he prayed to Hashem, the fish spit him onto the beach.
Unto this very beach! Can you imagine? Here stood my great
ancestor whom I am named after, thanking Hashem for saving
him!" There were tears of excitement in R' Yona's eyes. The
ship neared the beach and an anchor was thrown. Small boats
came up to ferry them to shore. People grabbed their
belongings, gathered their children, and headed down the
ladder, hoping to reach the coast as soon as possible.
R' Yona and his family were finally settled in benches in the
small boat. They were told to sit still so as not to rock it
but suddenly it veered dangerously to one side and R' Yona
disappeared into the water! A moment later, he pulled himself
out of the water and climbed back into the boat.
"What happened?" asked R' Dovid in surprise.
"I wanted to feel what it was like being submerged completely
in the water. I wanted to experience what it was like without
air, just like my ancestor..."
The boat moved forward and before long, had deposited them on
shore. Once more, R' Yona surprised them. He crouched down
and tears flowing from his eyes, kissed the golden sand, then
recited the blessing "Shehechiyonu." The family
followed suit.
The women then hastily prepared a meal and it was time to
move on towards Jerusalem. A caravan of camels approached
them and with the help of a Jewish interpreter, they were
soon on the road. The women and children sat in baskets upon
their bundles of clothes, R' Dovid sat upon a mule and R'
Yona walked on foot. "How can I ride?" he said. "When I have
the privilege of walking upon the holy earth, I should
ride?"
The women and children were soon fast asleep. The day wore on
and as the sun moved westward, a pleasant breeze sprang up.
The scenery of golden sand changed to rocky hills and then
mountains. From a distance they saw Arabs who began throwing
stones as soon as they came close enough. Luckily, they were
not hit, but the children cried in fear.
They spent three days en route before they spied
Jerusalem.
*
Flashback
It was 1848. The Jews of Zaritza, Russia, gathered at the
home of R' Yona, the dayan, to wish him and his father
a safe journey. They were heading south to the town of
Kherson at the mouth of the Dnieper River where they would
not be threatened by the ubiquitous army conscription. Being
an engineer by profession, he hoped to find work there.
Kherson was an isolated place; it had no schools, no
religious community. R' Yona decided to settle his wife and
children in rented quarters in Kaminka until he felt the
situation had improved while he and his three sons, R' Dovid,
R' Moishe Leib and Beinish, still single, prepared their home
in Kherson.
News came of a plague that had struck Kaminka. Beinish
volunteered to go and see how the family was faring but he
never returned. R' Yona decided to pack some belongings and
go; he arrived to find the house full of dead bodies. He
moved from one to the other, shedding tears as he went. He
knew the danger of even touching them and was wondering what
to do.
Suddenly he heard the cry of a child. Was he imagining
things? He began searching until, between a closet and a
wall, he found the baby, Yaakov Mann, Moishe Leib's two-year-
old son, licking some seeds. He hastily wrapped up the child
with his tallis and walked to the market place. It was
hard to find food, but somehow, he managed to feed the child.
From a piece of material he made some clothes for the child.
He placed the child in the care of one of the survivors, and
tended to the burial of the women and children.
Back in Kherson, he placed little Yaakov Mann in the capable
hands of Henne Leah Ulshvang, a young lady who tended to the
child with love and pity. It was inevitable that R' Moishe
Leib would marry her eventually.
R' Dovid, too, married a fine woman, and so did R' Yona.
Kherson was being built and R' Yona, a capable engineer, was
employed by the Russian government to build a huge bridge
across the Dnieper River. As the work progressed, R' Yona
could already envision Kherson growing and being populated by
Jews. But his heart ached to use his skills for Eretz
Yisroel. He began laying plans for emigration and when the
bridge was completed, he and his son R' Dovid and their
families boarded a ship headed for the Holy Land.
R' Moishe Leib remained with his wife Henne Leah in Kherson
to finish off some business. In 1858, they joined R' Yona and
R' Dovid in the Old City, settling in the courtyard of R' Gad
Hamedakdek near the Dung Gate.
Yaakov Mann grew up to be a Torah scholar and married the
worthy daughter of R' Yitzchak Cheshin, the famous educator.
Determined to work for their livelihood, the family opened up
a mill. R' Yaakov entered the construction business and,
among many other edifices, also built the landmark Shaare
Zedek Hospital on Rechov Yaffo.
