When the Old and New Cities of Jerusalem were reunited in 1967, a 
recently widowed Arab woman, who had been living in Old Jerusalem 
up to 1948, wanted to see once more the house in which she formerly 
lived. Now that the city was one, she searched for and found her 
old home. She knocked on the door of the apartment, and a Jewish 
widow came to the door, and greeted her. The Arab woman explained 
that she had lived there until 1948, and wanted to look around. She 
was invited in, and offered coffee. The Arab woman said, "When I 
lived here, I hid some valuables. If they are still here, I will 
share them with you, half and half."

The Jewish woman refused. "If they belonged to you, and are still 
here, they are yours." After much discussion back and forth, they 
entered the bathroom, loosened the floor planks, and found a hoard 
of gold coins. The Jewish woman said, "I shall ask the government 
to let you keep them." She did and permission was granted.

The two widows visited each other again, and again, and one day, the 
Arab woman told her, "You know, in the 1948 fighting here, my husband 
and I were so frightened that we ran away to escape. We grabbed our 
belongings, took the children, and each fled separately. We had a 
three-month-old son. I thought my husband had taken him, and he 
thought I had him. Imagine our grief when we were reunited in Old 
Jerusalem to find that neither of us had taken the child."

The Jewish woman turned pale, and asked the exact date. The Arab 
woman named the date and the hour, and the Jewish widow told her: 
"My husband was one of the Israeli troops that entered Jerusalem. 
He came into this house, and found a baby on the floor. He asked 
if he could keep the house and the baby, too. Permission was granted."

At that moment, a twenty-year-old Israeli soldier in uniform walked 
into the room, and the Jewish woman broke down in tears. 
"This is your son," she cried.

This is one of those incredible tales we hear. And the aftermath? 
The two women liked each other so much that the Jewish widow asked 
the Arab mother: "Look, we are both widows living alone. Our children 
are grown up. This house has brought you luck. You have found your 
son, or our son. Why don't we live together?" And they did! 

What a beautiful story!