Early on, when we moved to the Ghamra apartment, Flora befriended a neighbor, Nina. Nina was a married young woman with a 5-year-old daughter, Rachel. (I do not remember anything about Nina’s husband). Despite a two year age difference, Rachel and I played together by the hours. This went on until unexpectedly tragedy struck.

One day, when I knocked on their door to ask to play with Rachel, a grim-faced Nina informed me that Rachel was sick; she also asked for my mother to come up if she could. Mom went up and stayed away for what seemed to me like an eternity. When she came back, her eyes were red. She sat with my grandmother, and the two of them had a long conversation in Ladino. They were now both crying. Even though I was only seven, I guessed that something was very wrong with Rachel.

Indeed, Rachel was very sick. Within days, a devastated Nina was heard wailing. Rachel had just passed away. Neighbors rushed to her apartment doing their best to calm her down. Eventually, a doctor was called to give her a sedative.

Rachel came out of our building in a little white coffin. As long as I live, this scene will replay itself in my mind whether I like it or not.

I was standing on my balcony silently bidding one last goodbye to little Rachel. My mother joined me and we both cried. Apparently I kept repeating: “It’s so unfair. It’s so unfair.”

Thereafter, mom had a long talk with me. I don’t remember what was said, however, I am reasonably certain that, among other things, she said that her door was open if I had any questions or concerns on the matter. Probably, my main question would have been, “where is Rachel now?”

In the Christian tradition, the answer you give to your child is quite simple: “She is with Jesus.” In Judaism, it’s more complicated. We have more information (in the Talmud, the Kaballah, and the Zohar) on the afterlife than any other religion. But it’s complex stuff, and I doubt that my mother knew much about it. Therefore, she could only provide me with vague answers, something like, “her soul went back to God.”

Where is Rachel now?

As I explained in “The Sublime Adventure,” Rachel went to sleep to await for the time when one of her parents would arrive on the First Mansion World. Thereafter, she would “wake up” and start exactly at the point where she was  when she departed her native planet. She would be brought up by specialized Angels and Material Sons and Daughters, and go to a school supervised by the Melchizedek. In time, as she matures, she will have to decide whether she wants to go down the long, long, road that leads to Paradise. If she decides against it, she will be annihilated, she will be no more. It’s free will at work, and nobody can tamper with this universal law. I sure hope that Rachel made the right decision, and that in due time, I will see her again.

Shortly after Rachel’s passing, Nina moved out. Her vacated apartment was rented by Maurice Kaire (my father’s partner) and his family.

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