JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Two weeks ago, Rabbi Shlomo Adeni, one of the venerable teachers (Mori) of the Yemenite community in Israel, passed away at the ripe old age of 101. His wife, Sarah, passed away just two days later at the age of 99. The two had been married for 82 years and their daughter-in-law Miriam Adeni tried to explain the secret of their longevity and their long, almost record breaking marriage, which is testified to by the Kesubah from Yemen which hung on the wall of their room.
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“Many people think that this is something from previous generations but it’s not true. Every couple getting married have aspiration, mutual attributes, communication which they have found and decided to build a life together. Many couples find after marriage that something in their life has changed.
Rabbi Shlomo and his wife Sarah had mutual goals and aspirations. They passed away between Lech Lecha and Vayera, and they like our father Avraham left their land and birthplace to go to a new land and had similar trials.”
Adeni is referring to the tragic loss of two of their children. The couple had seven children but after arriving in Israel with their daughter aged one and a half, they had another baby. Somehow both infants disappeared from the hospital and their fate was never discovered.
“The kidnapping of their children was just one aspect of life in Israel. Evil people tried to cut off their peot (sidecurls) and change their dress, names and language. The struggles over educating the children to Torah and Mitzvot was a daily battle but it was the most important aspect of their lives. Despite having lives full of challenges and difficulties, the Torah and the will to see their children educated in its ways gave them the strength to live.
“In a generation with cultural gaps and great confusion, they had no doubts or frustrations, their way was clear and roles defined. In all of the chaos and confusion we see today where people do not know where to put their borders, they knew to direct, not to surrender to modernization which threatened to ruin and destroy their children’s education. With pride and joy they continued to preserve the precious traditions of Yemenite Jews and saw success in their efforts.
“They never forgot the goals, they never changed the means into goals. Nothing confused or deterred them, nothing broke them. They jumped over every obstacle and continued on.
“After the death of my dear mother-in-law everyone said that when Rabbi Shlomo ascended to heaven, he was asked ‘where is Sarah your wife?’ and answered: ‘She’s in the tent’, meaning that she will join him. Indeed she died just two days later.”
“Those that are loved in their lives and in their deaths do not part”- May their memory be blessed.
Was he a direct descendant of the Mileches Shlomo?
What a non-story.
Do you know why they were married so long? Because they lived so long! If anyone else would live so long, they too would be married so long.