JBlog Surprise, Almost Like Family!

Tikkun Olam's Lady-Light blogged about her Uncle Jack who just passed away.

As I read the post, I realized that her Uncle Jack and my Uncle Izzy had to have known each other.  They were both American volunteers in the "Palyam," helping Jewish immigrants, Holocaust survivors, sail to the HolyLand after World War Two, before the establishment of the State of Israel and against the cruel decrees of the British Mandate.

They both served on the ship, Midinat HaYehudim, the State of the Jews.

The big difference was that her Uncle made aliyah while mine built his life in New York.  A big result was that her uncle could talk about his experiences, while Uncle Izzy kept them bottled up.  His two sons were kept in the dark about all he did.  He was willing to talk to my family, because, as he said, we could "understand." 

One of my daughters, who did her national service in Haifa, visited the illegal immigrant museum at the port and became very friendly with Almog, who ran it.  He was my uncle's superior officer and remembered him well.  My uncle, who had dreamt of being a doctor, had been a United States Army medic and was called "the doctor" on the illegal immigrant ships where he served.

Uncle Izzy was my mother's closest in age brother.  There are two pictures of him in this blog's banner.  He's the tall, very handsome man and the taller than his older sister (wearing a headband) boy.