Family escapes Ukraine-Russia war, reunites with relatives in Miami after harrowing journey
A family was reunited with relatives at Miami International Airport after a harrowing journey to escape war-ravaged Ukraine.
Rabbi Yisroel Silberstein, his wife, Alizah Silberstein, and their nine children were greeted by relatives and Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava at the airport Tuesday night. Video of the reunion shows people cheering and dancing at the airport in celebration.
“Its been a long trip,” Alizah Silberstein told WSVN-Channel 7. “We’re exhausted. We’re exhausted.”
The couple moved 12 years ago from the U.S. to Chernigov in northern Ukraine to do Jewish outreach and provide Jewish services, according to WPLG-Channel 10.
To escape, Levine Cava says the family drove from Ukraine to neighboring Moldova.
“Along the way, they helped over 100 other families get to safety,” she wrote on Twitter. “They showed incredible bravery — and last night, I proudly welcomed them to Miami-Dade.”
Alizah Silberstein described on social media how the family would hide in their concrete basement every time they heard the boom of the shelling, bombings and missiles.
“Then you learn to distinguish the sounds. That one is far away. We can stay upstairs. That one is coming from our direction. We’re fine. But when the booms became louder and more frequent, we ran down to the basement,” Alizah Silberstein wrote on Facebook. “And our times in the basement grew longer and longer. When there was a slight lull in the booms, we’d quickly run upstairs to the bathroom — only to race back down at the sound of more explosions.”
Sometimes, their entire house would shake. Yet, the shelling, bombs and missiles didn’t stop the Silbersteins from helping others.
“We’re just sixty miles from the Russian border, and Russian forces have surrounded the city. We’re sheltering thirty-five people in the basement of the Chabad House, including one lady whose apartment was obliterated by an artillery shell,” Rabbi Yisroel Silberstein wrote in a first-person account of the crisis in late February for Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters website, which has been collecting funds to help Ukraine.
“Before this began we ordered a large stockpile of food, but much of it didn’t make it into the city in time. With all the stores being shuttered and unable to bring food into the city, we’re eating mostly oatmeal and trying to find ways to get more,” the rabbi wrote. “I’m not sure how long our food will last — it depends on how many people we end up accommodating. “
At some point, the family learned a street was still open, got into their car and took off, passing dozens of military checkpoints during their long journey to escape Ukraine and eventually make it to Miami, Alizah Silberstein wrote in her post.
“But my heart is breaking for the people we left behind,” she wrote.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 11:31 AM.
