The couple lived in Arhab District north of the capital of Sanaa. According to Al Moshki, they had no children, and had “rejected all temptations of travel” – with Badra only leaving after her husband’s death due to ill health.
Kan News reported that, according to an anonymous source in Yemen, Badra traveled with a local to Ethiopia where she met with relatives, who continued with her to the Jewish state.
Yemeni Jew Said Said Yahia Annaati eats lunch with his children at his home in Raydah, in 2007 (Image: Getty)AFP via Getty Images
It is now thought there are only four Jews remaining in Yemen – one of whom has been imprisoned by the Houthis since 2016.
Levi Salem Musa Marhabi was originally sentenced to three years and six months in prison for allegedly helping to smuggle an ancient Torah out of the country, but is still being kept behind bars – in increasingly dire conditions, according to The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
The Jewish community in Yemen dates back to ancient times, making it one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world.
According to Aish: “the famed Queen of Sheba, discussed in the Book of Kings where she visits King Solomon, is said to have heard about King Solomon from Jews in Yemen, which was located near the kingdom of Sheba.”
Newly arrived Yemenite Jewish immigrants in Israel, around 1950 (Image: Getty)Getty Images
Yemenite Jewish culture developed independently for centuries, and as such, the community have their own distinct traditions – including ancient ways of pronouncing Hebrew words, and dishes such as jachnun, a pastry traditionally eaten on Shabbat morning.
During their time in Yemen, the Jewish community lived as dhimmis (second class citizens) and as such, often faced hardship and persecution. Most notably, the Mawza Exile in 1680, when almost all of Yemen’s Jews were forced into the desert, where many perished, and the Orphan’s Decree (enforced during the rule of Imam Yahya, 1918-1948) which saw Jewish orphans forcibly removed from their families and converted to Islam.
Between 1949-50 almost all of Yemen’s Jews – some 50,000 men, women and children – were airlifted to Israel in a historic mission known as “Operation Magic Carpet” or “Operation Wings of Eagles.”
A group of Yemenite Jews look at their new homeland, Lydda in Israel, on a map (Image: Getty)Getty Images
With too few Jews left in the country to say Kaddish, Badra’s husband Yahya was buried by his Muslim neighbours. Videos of his funeral – showing his body shrouded in a tallit – were shared on a Yemenite Jewish Facebook group.
"This was an act of unity and respect from the local Muslim community, who buried one of the six remaining Jews in the country,” they wrote.
