“Wow, it was your grandmother’s life that my grandfather saved?” Eitan finally said after listening to Yehoshua’s incredible story without interruption.
“Yes, my friend. You and I were bound by a sacred bond before we were ever born,” Yehoshua responded.
“You know, it must not have been long after that that my grandfather wrote his book about the idea of aliyah for American Jews. I’m pretty sure I remember reading in the book a story about a terrorist incident that he witnessed. That must have been what he was referring to. I can’t believe he never mentioned what really happened. He didn’t say anything about your grandmother or guard duty or anything like that.”
“From what I remember, my grandmother didn’t want anyone to know what had happened to her. She didn’t want to be seen as a victim here in Israel. She knew full well how the Jews became victims in other people’s lands, but she just could not handle the idea of being a victim in her own land. I would bet anything that she made your grandfather promise never to mention anything about what had happened to her that night,” Yehoshua explained.
“Well, I don’t think she had to worry much. Not too many people read his book anyway. From what I remember, it wasn’t received very well back home. After fighting World War II, nobody in Miami wanted to go anywhere, let alone halfway around the world where more wars were being fought,” Eitan answered.
Yehoshua was not aware of the book, but he always appreciated the Groh family’s love affair with the Land of Israel. “I could imagine the South Beach folks had no interest in hearing that they should leave their land of opportunity to pick up and come here!”
“Did you know,” Eitan continued, “that my grandfather had a relationship with Ben Gurion? They met in New York on one of Ben Gurion’s trips to the States. I believe that once when my grandfather was back in Israel, he visited Ben Gurion at his home in Tel Aviv and gave him a copy of his book.”
“Do you think the old man ever read the book? I am sure that topic was right up his alley!”
“I have no idea. But there is a legend in my family that the book is in the Ben Gurion home upstairs in his library. I’ve been there a handful of times with tour groups, and whenever I’m there, I always look around to see if I can find it, but I haven’t found it yet.”
“Well there are thousands of books up there. I don’t know how that guy had so much time to read with all he had on his plate.” Yehoshua smiled before standing up and saying to Eitan, “Come on, the dining room is open. Let’s go get some breakfast.”
Eitan got up and followed him, and for the first time since he’d arrived in Israel, he wasn’t thinking about the danger still pursuing he and his wife.