Hear O Israel

On the way to work a few days ago, I was listening to Yaakov Shwekey's Shema Yisrael (Hear O Israel) and the words hit me ...

He raised his hand to wave goodbye
Saw the pain in mother's eyes
Who left her little precious boy of four
In a citadel of ashen stone
That preached a faith unlike his own
Perhaps he may just yet survive this war

In the shadows stood a man in black
My child he said, you must not look back
Yet one image lingered, the tears on her face
And mother's words from their last embrace

A mother, who realizes she may not survive the war, leaves her kid at a nearby church - saving her child's life but in the process, most likely extinguishing her child's Jewish identity.

It's tough to imagine that world, let alone write about it ...
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