Open Letter To Oskar Deutsch : ONE OF OUR OWN IS IN PAIN

o.deutsch@ikg-wien.at

office@ikg-wien.at

Dear Mr. Deutsch,

It's a pleasure to make my introduction. I am sure you're rolling your eyes at yet another email from a stranger to plea the case for Beth Alexander.

I now live in Kansas City, but am originally from the UK. I attended high school and Bnei Akiva with Beth and have watched from afar as she has battled for access to her dear boys, Sammy and Benjy. Beth was always a role model and a shining example to everyone around her. Her love and care for everyone around her is as clear as the sky is blue.

I was raised by a single mother. I had little contact with my father between the age of five and 25. This wasn't the fault of a court system or community influence, and my mother did everything in her power to make sure I knew my father was a good person, even if he wasn't actively in my life.

Once I was a parent myself, my father and I had the blessed opportunity to create a relationship of our own. We now visit each other's homes and he has a relationship with my three children too. As an adult, I was able to create this relationship but as a child and teenager, this void in my life had deep consequences on my education, behavior, and relationships. I cherish the Chumash my father sent me for my Bar Mitzvah, despite the fact I was heartbroken that he wasn't able to attend.

It pains me that these two young souls are being deprived of all contact from the mother that so clearly loves them. As a community leader, your voice has power. Your voice has the chance to make a real change in these lives.

The outcry of support that is overwhelming your emails is coming from a community that stands by its word and sees injustice. A people who are saying one of our own is in pain and Am Yisrael are standing together to right this wrong. As community leaders we preach tikkun olam, and yet there's a tikkun that needs to take place right now.

I turn to you as a leader to fill the shoes you stand in and ask that you embrace true leadership in a difficult situation, and get involved for the sake of Sammy, Benjy, and Beth.

I expect you have many emails to reply to. I promise that if you would like to take the time to speak to me, I will drop whatever I am doing and make the time.

I look forward to hearing from you,