"Suddenly the driver stops and signals to me to approach a
huge boulder, jutting out like an island on the flat plateau.
When I approach the boulder, I see a natural monument, on
which Jews immortalized their names before setting out on the
long journey across desert and mountain crest to Eretz
Hakodesh. Countless names have been etched in Hebrew
letters on the sand boulder. I also discover here the names
of friends, new immigrants who recently arrived in
Rechovot."
These impressions appear in an article in the journal
Masso Acher (Another Journey), written by Naftali
Hilger, who recently took a trip back to North Yemen.
The author of the article was joined by a driver, armed
guards and two other Jews, Saadya and Yaakov Tzabari, who
live today in Rechovot. Until six years ago, they were
residents of a small village in the Amlach wadi, the
region reviewed in the article.
Hilger tells about the coexistence between the Jews and the
members of the Bedouin tribes: "The Jews always lived here
under the aegis of the local sheik, and the Arabs are not
considered gentiles by the Jews, but rather family. They
always protected us from the authorities or from members of
other tribes who at times sought to attack us. Many of the
Jews of Yemen who made aliya to Eretz Yisroel
during recent years keep in touch with their Moslem friends.
When the sheikh of Tzaada died last year, the news spread
rapidly in the Rechovot absorption center. The new Israelis
collected money and sent a special messenger to Tzaada to
purchase sheep and goats in honor of the mourners and to
honor the memory of the great sheikh."
Many of the members of the tribes are waiting for Israel to
open a consulate in San'a, so that they will be able to visit
Israel, the article relates.
