From Runaway Teen to Reborn Jew: Shira’s Escape and Return to Faith

“It’s not easy for me,” she says. “You can see I’m scared.”

“I’m about 40, born to a Jewish family,” Shira begins her story in a conversation with Hidabroot. “I grew up in one of the northern communities in a large family. Everyone at home was religious,” she says, and continues: “From a young age I felt I didn’t belong. It always stirred something rebellious in me. I used to visit my grandmother a lot, and she let me behave however I wanted. My grandmother would tell me, ‘Do whatever you want,’ and since I already didn’t feel connected, I started drifting away from religion.

“My mother was very angry with me. Our relationship was never close and I always felt she didn’t love me. Slowly, the relationship grew more distant, and I felt her dissatisfaction and the pain I was causing her.”

Shira takes a breath and continues: “The more I drifted from Judaism, the more my brothers began to pull away from me, and my connection to my family started to break. Only my father spoke to me secretly and cared for me as much as he could. But there wasn’t much he could do, and at fifteen and a half, my mother threw me out of the house.

“One day, out of the blue, she threw all my things outside and told me that like this, I couldn’t come home anymore. The school didn’t know what I was going through, my family didn’t ask about me — in short, I was left alone.

“The neighborhood where I lived,” she shares, “was new and still under construction. There were lots of workers from nearby villages wandering around. One of them used to smile at me regularly, look at me many times, and give me attention. The day my mother threw me out, I sat behind the building with all my packed things, and suddenly I saw him coming toward me. He started asking what had happened, why I was sitting there like that. I opened up to him. He calmed me down and told me not to worry, that he would help me with everything. I was so happy and moved by his gesture and the warm, caring way he spoke to me.

“Obviously, if I had known then what his intentions were, I wouldn’t have taken a single step toward him. But back then, his attitude totally won me over,” Shira notes.

“He drove me to an empty apartment, apparently belonging to one of his friends, and from that day he started taking care of everything for me. He bought me food, clothes, jewelry, and spoiled me with everything I could dream of.

“Because the apartment was in another city, I stopped going to school. I would often go down to the street, walk around, and look for company. I spent many hours alone in the apartment. He would go to work and take care of his business, and come back occasionally to visit me. I felt like I was in a dream. I thought I was loved, that I belonged, that someone cared about me and I mattered.”

From “Princess” to Prisoner

“Slowly I felt myself becoming dependent on him, and then his attitude started to change. After a year and a half of living like I was in a dream, I began to wake up to reality,” she pauses and continues.

“I started to feel panic when I was without him. I couldn’t imagine myself without him. He, on the other hand, as soon as he understood that, began to exploit it.

“At that time he started forbidding me to leave the house, and threatened me that I shouldn’t dare go out, that I had better listen to him. From a ‘queen’ I became nothing. I understood that I was in a prison. I was terrified and simply stayed inside for days on end. He decided everything about my life. I felt like I had no right to choose anything.

“In addition,” she goes on, “he started teaching me about the Quran and about Islam. Then he bought me a Quran and taught me how to pray from it, until he began to pressure me to convert to Islam.”

Family Rejection and Growing Isolation

“My family knew I was in a relationship with a non-Jew,” Shira answers. “They always tried to send me messages through my friends and other people, warning me about him and telling me I should leave. But I never felt such deep concern from anyone, like the concern he showed me at that time. I also knew I had nowhere to go, because my mother wouldn’t accept me back in the condition I was in. So I stayed with him.”

“During the years I was with him, there were people who openly humiliated and cursed me. They called me a ‘collaborator’ and many other horrible names. People who knew me, and even random people in the street who heard about my relationship with him, shamed me. Sadly, it was specifically the humiliating treatment I got from my own people that made me stay with him despite everything.

“Time passed, and I understood how bad my situation was. I was trapped. I was in a place where I was suffering. On one hand, he kept compensating and spoiling me non-stop. On the other, he constantly reminded me, in every way, that I should be afraid if I didn’t do what he wanted. I was just a young girl; it wasn’t hard to direct harsh words at me and worse. At that point I felt like I was choking,” she says.

Trying to Escape – and the Emotional Collapse

“One day, a couple called me,” Shira continues. “They said they had heard about my story and wanted to meet me. I hung up and refused to hear anything from them. But they didn’t stop calling, and one day I finally agreed.

“When I met them, I couldn’t stop crying. I told them everything I had gone through, that I was suffering, that I was living in fear, and that he never stopped exploiting me and doing whatever he wanted with me.

“For five months I stayed in contact with them, and then one day, with their encouragement, I left his apartment and moved in with them.”

How did it feel to suddenly be free?

“On the one hand,” Shira says, “I really felt a kind of freedom I hadn’t felt in more than seven years. On the other hand, the dependence and bond I had formed with him shook me emotionally. I started having anxiety attacks. I was constantly looking for someone to take care of me. Even though I was already a 22-year-old adult, I behaved like a small child. They took care of me as if I were one of their daughters. They sent me to therapy and tried to help me in every way they could.”

Did you feel happy that you left the toxic relationship after such a turbulent time?

Shira sounds agitated for a moment and says in a hard tone:
“I regretted ever meeting him. He exploited me, used me, and shaped me however he wanted, for his own purposes.”

A Life Without Roots – Searching for Stability

“After a year and a half, I moved to a new city and tried to start a new life. As part of that, I started meeting Jewish guys, but I felt something was blocking me. I couldn’t build a relationship with any Jewish man I met. I felt Jewish inside, but I had no real connection to my people. My soul couldn’t find peace.

“I had a few male friends from the villages I knew, and with them I felt comfortable. I would travel to their villages to visit, and only there I felt good, like that’s where I could find quiet.

“After some time, I met a Jewish guy. He was nice, kind, and gentle. I thought, okay, I finally found calm and peace for my heart. For me he was like the family I didn’t have, he cared for me and loved me. But the truth is, he didn’t really fill what was missing. I didn’t feel connected to him. For five years we were together, and then we just broke up.

“I tried to keep moving forward with my life — to heal, to get back to myself,  but I couldn’t last anywhere. Every month I changed jobs, and about once a year I moved apartments. I felt like a leaf in the wind: no support, no stability, no family. My soul was crying out for help.

“Then I met a guy from a village in the Shomron (Samaria), and we started a relationship. I fell for him completely. Very quickly we moved into an apartment together. At first we split all the expenses fifty-fifty, but after a short time he forced me to pay for everything.

“It didn’t stop there. He would come home from work angry and start screaming and threatening me. He humiliated me and cursed me. I decided I needed to leave him.

“One day I was sitting in a café in the village where I lived, and I saw a gentle, friendly guy who showed interest in me. I told him everything that was going on with my current partner. He immediately promised to help me with whatever I needed and invited me to stay with him until I found an apartment.

“I moved in that same day. I felt saved. Slowly a relationship developed between us. He cared for me and showered me with a lot of warmth and love, in an extreme way.

“After just one month, the same cycle returned: his attitude slowly started to change. All the warning signs I had seen in past relationships lit up again, but they still didn’t make me leave. I was experiencing the classic ‘battered woman’ syndrome and it was like I was being sucked back into the same place. The suffering there was the worst of all. While others had abused me verbally and used me for their purposes, he just added even more pain. He abused my body. He would beat me badly every chance he got, even with no reason. After each time, I felt like my soul was about to leave my body.

“Every few days I would go to a medical center, while he made sure I didn’t dare report him. I explained away the bruises and injuries as painful falls. The staff tried to ask questions and investigate, but I denied everything. I knew it was just a matter of time before I would die,” Shira says chillingly.

“Do Whatever He Wants”

“One day he came home from work more furious than I’d ever seen him,” she says weakly. It’s clear it’s hard for her to recall it. “He came up to me and, without any warning, slapped me. Then he started hitting me all over my body. It went on for long minutes, while I groaned in pain. I felt I couldn’t hold on anymore, and I knew my life might end soon. By a miracle, he left me alone a moment later and walked out. With the last bit of strength I had, I decided — that’s it,” her voice breaks.

“I called my younger sister, whom I’d always been close to. I hadn’t spoken to her for years, but I knew I had nothing to lose. I told her I desperately needed help and had nowhere to turn, and that this might be my last call. She promised to help and hung up. A few minutes later she called back and told me she had contacted the Hidabroot organization, and they would call me and help me.

“I begged her to tell them to call quickly, because he would be back soon and then I wouldn’t be able to talk. A few minutes later, Kalina called me.”

Shira pauses, breathing hard, struggling to continue: 
“Through tears I poured out my whole story to her, told her what I was going through, and begged her to save me. Kalina promised to help, but asked one thing: ‘Promise me that after I get you out of there, you will never go back and never enter such a relationship again.’ While I was choking with tears, I promised her, and I wrote that promise on a piece of paper and put it in my pocket.”

“Kalina called again and told me to act calm. To cut off any emotional drama and let him feel as safe as possible with me and my presence, so that he would feel he could trust me.

“I followed her instructions and did exactly what she said. He was surprised by my change in behavior and asked what was going on. I told him that I just really wanted peace, no more fights.

“She told me to be ready the next morning and not to pack anything in advance, just to be personally ready.”

The Dramatic Rescue

“That night I couldn’t sleep,” Shira continues her incredible rescue story. “The excitement overwhelmed me, but so did a huge fear that the plan might fail.

“At seven in the morning, he left for work, and I pretended to be deeply asleep. Ten minutes later, I jumped out of bed and called Kalina. A few minutes after that, two big men arrived at the house, and together with me they packed the few belongings that were important to me. The stress and anxiety I was in completely overwhelmed me, and I felt like I was about to faint. They waited for me to calm down and get myself ready, and they took care of everything else. Slowly I pulled myself together, and we went out safely to the car that was waiting for us. I felt like I was in a dream — that they were doing for me what I myself couldn’t do because of the paralysis and lack of self-belief that life with him had created.

“The sense of safety I felt grew from the confidence of the rescuers and this wonderful organization. They weren’t afraid of anything; they were determined to do what was right and good, and said, ‘Let those who hurt you and others be the ones to be afraid.’ They kept explaining to me, ‘Your duty is to respect and protect yourself, and we’re happy to help you.’ I felt safe and in good, caring hands. As we drove further, I started replaying everything I’d been through. For the first time in my life, I truly decided that I want to live. I wanted to be free and to return to my people.”

How did the man you left react?

“That same day, I started legal proceedings against him. I was very scared, but I knew I had to. When he came home from work and saw I wasn’t there, he called and started yelling and threatening to hurt me. He threatened to harm my family, just as I was starting to rebuild my relationship with them.

“I collected all his threats, harassment, and frightening voice messages, and went to the police to file a formal complaint. I had a whole file of evidence,” she laughs bitterly.

“He was arrested and I got a restraining order against him. In court he received warnings, and slowly he backed off.”

“I Have Nothing – and I’m Happy”

Shira pauses for a moment, taking in the scale of her own story, and continues: “Suddenly I found myself, a 40-year-old woman, free on the one hand, but on the other hand lonely, emotionally shattered, and lost. I started searching for myself. They sent me to a seminar run by Hidabroot, and there I felt like my soul finally found a home. I explored, asked questions, and got answers that calmed my spirit. 

I began to understand how terrible my situation had been, and how much God had pitied me and protected me even when I was as far from Him as possible. I felt like I had discovered God all over again. I rented an apartment, went out to work, and received practical and emotional support from Hidabroot. They connected me with a special, warm host family who are like a real family to me.”

How are you today?

“Today,” she says with a smile, “I feel an unusual, special connection to God. Sometimes I feel like He’s only mine and I don’t want anyone to take Him away from me,” she laughs, then continues: “I have never been as happy in my life as I am now. I have nothing — and I’m happy. God fills me completely. I know He never left me, even when I left Him. He always watched over me and cared for me.

“I live in a nice apartment, I’m slowly rebuilding myself, getting treatment, and taking care of myself. I’ve renewed contact with my family and visit them now and then. For the first time in my life, I really feel good,” she says, smiling, calm.

As someone who has walked this whole journey herself, what is your message to girls who are now in the situation you were in?

“First of all, I want everyone to know this can happen to anyone, and everyone needs to be careful. You have to know and remember: you must not be naïve and go after someone blindly. You must keep your distance, not work with them, not have any kind of relationship with them. Even if it’s ‘just for work,’ you must not get close,” she says firmly.

She takes another breath and continues: “A girl who finds herself in such a place, I recommend she run. I wasn’t with just one or two; I knew many, and I can testify that the cruelty and harshness are beyond anything you can imagine.

“I wish every girl in such a situation to escape. If I made it out, anyone can. “And of course, not to forget to pray to God. He hears everything,” she adds.

“I want to thank the Hidabroot organization, who supported me and took care of me in every way — emotionally and financially. May God reward them. They were the right messengers at exactly the right time. It’s truly a home from God.”