42 years of waiting for her kidnapped husband: "In her final moments, Mom said she could let go"

Miriam Jamous, wife of Shlomo Mord Jamous, head of the Jewish community in Lebanon who was kidnapped in 1984, passed away on Yom Kippur after 42 years of waiting. Her son Moshe recounts her life: the escape from Syria, the wedding in Lebanon, the kidnapping, leading the community under civil war, and the immigration to Israel. In her final moments, she said: "I can let go. I'm tired."

Miriam (Maro) Jamous, wife of Shlomo Mord Jamous, head of the Jewish community in Lebanon who was kidnapped in August 1984, passed away on Yom Kippur after 42 years of waiting. Her son Moshe tells her story: born in Damascus, she helped smuggle Jewish girls from Syria to Israel, was imprisoned twice in Syrian prison, and eventually fled to Lebanon. There she met Shlomo, married him in 1975, and they had three children. After his kidnapping, she took command of the Jewish community in Lebanon, handled identification of bodies thrown near her home during the civil war, and smuggled her children to Israel. She immigrated to Israel in 1989 but struggled financially and socially. In recent years, she met with the coordinator for prisoners and missing persons Gal Hirsch, as negotiations progressed to locate missing Jews. In her final moments, she told her son: "Moshe, I can let go. I'm tired."

42 years of waiting for her kidnapped husband: "In her final moments, Mom said she could let go"