"Children are our future, what better way to receive than
to give them life through our deepest caring. Their poverty is our poverty, and
our shame. We have to listen to their voices of hope."
After listening to these words by Cantor Estherleon Schwartz, Voices of
Women Worldwide invited Esther to be the guest speaker at
the Global Peace Odyssey for children of the world
shadowed by the conflicts of war.
On October 10th, with young children around her,
she will recall her own story on board the Global Peace Odyssey which sails
at 6:00 pm on the East River in Manhattan towards the Statue of
Liberty at sunset.
"As a young girl of 7, I came to America
with my parents on the Queen Mary with hundreds of refugees
fleeing the Nazi holocaust. Entering the shores of New
York, I recall seeing a tiny statue in the water from a distance, while
the passengers on board the ship became very quiet and started
singing and praying softly in gratitude, kneeling to thank the Lord Almighty
for this safe haven."
All the while, the little girl stared out at the majestic
statue and as it got closer and closer, she felt this elegant replica of
a woman with a wand ... so regal and strong, smiling down at her and
whispering her blessings
"all is good," a phrase Cantor Estherleon uses
and repeats often.
Cantor Estherleon will relate her story of how her father threw her over the
barbwire fence in 1944 on the Swiss border into the arms of the Swiss
Red Cross, and prayed to the heavens: "Save my daughter and she
will always serve you...".
That was six decades ago and the little girl never gave
up... always working
towards fulfilling her destiny, knowing deep within her soul that her
course in life was to bring the Torah to all religions and
people and hold it close to their hearts to feel an inexplicable reverence
of oneness. Her whole purpose is to promote spiritual harmony
and global peace.
One of Esther’s close associates, Paul J. Puzzanghero, a Roman
Catholic, related how moved he became when he held the Torah in his
hands with tears in his eyes. This simple gesture moved him to
recognized Cantor Estherleon's spiritual message which unites
all religions, as part of her universal interfaith journey in uniting all
people in oneness.
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