Earlier that year, many thousand miles away, in Boston, Massachusetts, David Cohen, a wealthy, devoted husband and doting father of two sons, was standing by the obstetrician's side as they watched the ultrasound examination of Deborah, his four-month-pregnant wife.

"Congratulations! It appears you guys have to get a Barbie doll this time," remarked Dr. John McGregor, MD, an obstetrician with a thriving practice and a family friend of the Cohens.

"John... you mean, we are blessed with a daughter?" remarked David, clutching Deborah's hand as both were engrossed in watching their unborn baby on the ultrasound screen.

"Are you certain, John? Is she? Is she well?" Deborah heard herself utter. She ought to have felt jubilant exhilaration; instead, an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and nervousness left her bewildered.

"She is fine, and what a bonnie lass she is," replied Dr. McGregor as he gently wiped the gel off Deborah's belly with a paper towel after finishing the examination.

Stolen story; please report.

The baby's due date was sometime in early December, and as Deborah stepped out of the hospital building in the open, she suddenly felt immense contentment and pride, as if she had fulfilled an age-long obligation.

"Tom, please take this change and hail a cab home," David instructed the chauffeur. "I shall be the one to take Mrs. Cohen home." The Cohens got in their black Cadillac Seville and drove to their favourite hilltop location, which overlooked a little park. "Are you okay?" David asked as he kissed Deborah's hand.

"I am so happy," Deborah replied as tears filled her eyes. "Without being ungrateful, I have not felt such happiness in my previous pregnancies."

As they reached home, Deborah bathed and went to the private synagogue inside their grand house, on Commonwealth Avenue. Deborah's mother, Leah Goldstein, who lived in London but regularly visited her daughter, established the synagogue. An impressive assortment of artefacts and relics, handed down from one generation to another, graced the home, serving as a monument to those who persevered in their faith in the face of persecution and prejudice.

Deborah, a modern Jewish woman who had received a liberal education, would reserve her visits to the synagogue for solemn occasions. Even though David was not particularly religious, he did observe that his pregnant wife began to pray for long periods of time in their private synagogue as the pregnancy progressed.