The Untold Courage of Israel's Spy Shulamit Kishik-Cohen

Late one night in 1961, Shulamit Kishik-Cohen heard a knock on her door in Beirut's Jewish Quarter. Understanding the urgency of the late hour, she realized the military was at her doorstep. After a thorough search, they announced she must come with them. Her daughter, Carmela Asel, recalls, "As my mother stepped outside, she saw the entire neighborhood filled with military vehicles and soldiers, all there for one Jewish woman." Previously, Shula had narrowly escaped capture, leaping from her roof to a neighbor's to elude her pursuers. Realizing she needed more force this time, the Lebanese authorities succeeded in arresting the woman who had long defied them. In due course, she was sentenced to death. Now, four years after Shulamit's passing on May 25, 2017, Carmela shares her mother's story. "My mother was wise, creative, and daring. She risked her life and our family's lives for her uncompromising love of the Jewish people and the land of Israel. She ran our household, raising seven children, all while under Hashem's watchful eye. Even in her darkest days, she continued to thank Hashem." Shulamit Kishik-Cohen was born in Argentina in 1917. "She grew up speaking Hebrew, Spanish, French, English, and Arabic, which greatly aided her later. When she was seven, her family moved to Israel, and there, she and her siblings received a Jewish education and deep love for the land," says Carmela. At 12, during the riots of 1929, Shula watched her mother hide weapons for her older brother, planting seeds of courage that would shape her future. At 16, a pivotal moment arrived. "My father, Joseph Cohen, was a wealthy fabric merchant from Beirut seeking a Jerusalem wife. With some encouragement and considering their dire finances, my grandparents agreed, though it broke my mother's heart," Carmela recounts. Though difficult, understanding her family's circumstances, Shulamit married Joseph and settled in Beirut's Jewish quarter. "She was brimming with energy and loved challenges, but life in Lebanon felt like being a bird in a gilded cage," Carmela recalls. Discovering the local community board, she became an outlier, teaching Hebrew and promoting aliyah to Israel. In 1943, when Lebanon gained independence, Jews participating in governance were courted for votes. Challenging the status quo, Shulamit leveraged political dealings for better conditions for her community, even securing official recognition of Hebrew as a language of study. At 30, during a Christian holiday celebration, Shulamit accidentally heard military leaders planning attacks against Israel. "I listened to their plans of eradication, growing horrified," she would later say. Not knowing whom to trust, she encoded the details into a secret letter intended for an Israeli cousin. "My father, unaware of the letter's full content, ensured its delivery through a trusted source," Carmela explains. With time, Shulamit became a key player, aiding Jewish refugees fleeing to Israel, collaborating with smugglers, and crafting escape routes. "One Hanukkah, with authorities on her tail, she disguised a group of children as a festive parade, falsely rehearsing holiday songs," Carmela narrates proudly. The plans succeeded, and many were saved. Shulamit's faith sustained her through capture and torture. "If Hashem decreed it, she endured with love. She even saw being imprisoned in Lebanon over Syria as a divine sign she might yet be saved," Carmela reflects. Finally, after six years in Lebanese captivity, a prisoner exchange after the Six-Day War freed Shulamit. "We fled to Cyprus and then to Lod Airport. Our nightmare ended," Carmela recalls. Settling in Jerusalem, Shulamit remained a celebrated figure for her sacrifices, receiving accolades, including 'Woman of Valor' by the city she loved.