Two Little Girls

For most kids, grandparents are a source of goodies and gifts. But for two little girls, they are even more: they are lifesavers. Born out of wedlock to a Jewish woman whose life spiraled out of control in her early teens, the two sisters experienced much turmoil in their young lives. Their father routinely abused their mother, once even making her “eat dog food.” He also abused the oldest girl, but despite police interference, “somehow he always ended up back with them,” explained the girl’s grandfather.

One day, intoxicated and under the influence of drugs, he came home and “threw [the four year-old] against the wall and stomped on her leg.” Paralyzed with fear, her mother was too afraid to flee. Only two days later–when her boyfriend left with the youngest child for a bar-b-que, did she attempt an escape. But instead of taking her injured daughter directly to the hospital, she hid in a hotel.

“That’s the thinking of a battered woman. She wasn’t in her right mind. She realizes now that she was completely wrong,” her father said. Hotel guests heard the child’s cries and offered to take them to the hospital. When she refused, they called the police. The mother was immediately arrested as an accessory to child abuse.

Her daughter was rushed to the hospital where she underwent surgery and spent a month recovering. The police found and arrested the father and took the youngest child into custody. The two girls ended up together in foster care with a devoutly religious Baptist family. When their grandfather, who was living in Israel at the time, learned of the situation, he communicated with social workers. But “they gave me the cold shoulder. They didn’t vet me (as a potential guardian),” he explained. He believes they wanted the girls to remain in the custody of their foster parents. So he contacted Aleph for help.

Aleph sprung to action, paying for his flight to the US and for three separate attorneys: to represent him, the girls, and to reopen his daughter’s case. They also covered all of his hotel and local transportation expenses to visit the girls. They even bought him an entire set of new clothes “so I should be presentable in a courtroom.” He spent months in supervised visitations with the girls, bringing them small presents and working to establish a connection with them. “They loved me. They thought I was so much fun. And they liked having someone they were related to.” Then came the hearing. Finally, at the end of a very dramatic moment in court, “worthy of Perry Mason,” he was granted full sole custody of both girls.

But Aleph’s work was not done. Aleph set up an apartment for them near the central synagogue and paid for their grandmother’s flight from Israel. Over the next several months, the girls developed a relationship with their grandmother and adjusted to their new life. Before moving back to Israel, they visited their mother in prison. And though the facility is huge, loud and scary, “the girls didn’t care. They just wanted to see their mother.”

Today, they continue occasional contact with their mother through phone calls. After serving four years of a ten-year sentence, she is now eligible for parole. But prosecuting attorneys are appealing the motion, and the final decision is pending. “She got her GED in prison, is taking college courses and is in therapy,” her mother said, adding that they email each other weekly.

Whether she ever regains custody of her daughters “depends on her. If she keeps her resolution. I hope very much that she does,” her father explained—though he added, “it may never happen.” Most importantly, though, the girls are in a safe and loving Jewish home with their grandparents. Thanks to an Israeli foster care agency, they have been in play therapy the past year. And while “it’s a challenge,” they continue to heal day by day.