This Tugs At My Heart

I was researching sister cities in Israel when I came across something that literally put a lump in my throat. The association and irony were so surprising that my heart told me that I had to start a new blog about it.

There are 41communities in Israel that have sister communities and cities around the world. Thirty-three communities have at least one sister community in the United States. The one that surprised me was the association between Yokneam-Megiddo and San Borja, Peru. Yokneam was founded in 1935, before the independence of Israel. It is located in the Galilee on the eastern slopes of Mount Carmel. The town has a population of about 18,000 now.

In November 1981, an eight-day old infant named Dara was put into our arms in Lima, Peru and will remain in our hearts (my wife and I), forever. We lived in San Borja, a suburb of Lima, Peru as we adopted her. The large pink house at 123 Calle Rousseau was home to the Noltes family. This was a family that opened their home and their hearts to many Americans who adopted children through the Catholic agency of Los Padres de La Preciosa Sangre. Everyone knew that we are Jewish, and that Dara would be raised Jewish. We were still family to them.

A year later we were home in Goldsboro. It was a snowy morning when two cousins of the Noltes family came to check on Dara. They wanted to make certain that she, and her family were doing okay. Folks like that are great to have as friends.

That lump in my throat connects Dara, San Borja, and Yokneam, Israel. Yokneam is also connected to Atlanta, Georgia and St. Louis, Missouri. The town of Yokneam is small compared to other world communities. Yet, Yokneam also has sister communities in Barnet, United Kingdom; Main-Kinzig district, Germany; and Shenyang, China.