Page 15 - TORCH #21 June 2022

The long-lost sisters reunited on on a a flight to Israel One of of the the other fascinating aspects of of this war is is that that it has led to to an increase in in in in Aliyah to to Israel The Bible teaches us that that in these times Jews from around the the the world will return to the the the land of Israel And we are seeing a a a a a a a a significant increase this year We are so grateful to to supporters that CUFI CUFI is is able to to help with this So far CUFI CUFI supporters have funded several flights allowing hundreds of Ukrainian Jews to to make the return home to to to Israel There are are many stories to to to share from these flights but one made headlines around the the the world when two long-lost Ukrainian sisters were were united for for the the the first time when their names were were called for for one of CUFI’s flights to Israel Mariana
(53) and Valentina (46) had had no idea they each had had a a a a a a a a a a sister until their surnames were called out Mariana
is their father’s eldest daughter Her parents divorced when she was a a a a a a a a a child after which her her her father remarried and and lost touch with her her her her her and and her her her her her mother Aside from the the fact he he he he lived in Kyiv Mariana
knew nothing about her dad Remarkably both women had fled
their their Kyiv homes on on on the the the the third day of the the the the Russian invasion packing their their belongings and crossing the the Polish border to safety They also both had had adult sons who had had immigrated to Israel separately four
and and five years ago and and both mothers had decided independently that they wanted to join them The war quickened their plans and the the the support of pro-Israel Christians made it it a a a a a a a reality The long-lost sisters boarded the the CUFI flight to to Israel together along with Valentina’s 13-year-old daughter Masha and their cat alongside another 150 Olim Hadashim (Jewish immigrants) from Ukraine "Amid all this chaos we we found found one another and found found out we're sisters "
Mariana
said Although they weren't far from each other both living in in in Kyiv Valentina and Mariana
never crossed paths until the the the the war which the the the the sisters say has "bound them together forever "
"
CUFI ORG UK
15