THE
HAR NOF MASSACRE
A letter from Rebbetzin
Heller
Yesterday at about 7am my
daughter Miri called. "Mordechai just came home from shul. He said that
Arabs came in and are shooting, and that a man with an axe is hitting everyone.
Some of the people threw chairs at them, but it didn't help". The twelve
year old had hit the floor along with everyone else when the bullets began to
fly. He was fully aware of what was going on, and what it meant. He somehow
found the courage to let go of his father's hand, crawl towards the exit and
break into a run. Some of you know Miri and her
family. She has had some of you over for Shabbos and holidays, and others
sleeping in one of her kid's bedrooms when the crowd at my house gets too big
to accommodate sanely. Mordechai is blonde, freckled,
and a soft spoken somewhat introverted and studious boy, much like his father, Shmuli. He is not Huck Finn, and the courage he found at
those moments was a gift straight from G-d. By the time he finished telling Miri what happened, sirens from Hatzalah
ambulances, police cars, and Magen David could be
heard telling her that there were casualties. "Where's Shmuli"
was the thought that entered her mind again and again as the seconds which felt
like hours began to tick. She called me and said, "Say Tehillim.
There is shooting in Bnei Torah". I began to say
the ancient prayers, stopped myself and called Rabbi Weidan,
and told him what was happening. I then began the Tehillim
again, knocked on my neighbor's door and told her to do the same. Chani called and told me to look at the news to see what
was really happening. Nothing was reported as yet. Of course
not. It was only
I realized that the whether or
not the attack was over, that no one as yet knew whether the murderers escaped.
I called again, asking that everything be done to see that no one leaves the
campus, and then called Miri. Thank G-d she had the
sense to stay indoors and not run to the besieged synagogue. When Mordechai came home, the shooting was still happening. By
Josh White, a student of Machon Shlomo was riding down
Agassi on his bike. He noticed what he described later as "a lot of
confusion" in front of Bnei Torah asked someone
what was going on, and surprisingly (for Har Nof) the man answered him in Hebrew! In the midst of what
to him was gibberish, he picked up the word Aravim
(Arabs) and immediately grasped what was happening. He approached the shul and saw Shmuli who was still
aware. The Machon student took off his shirt and stopped
the bleeding, a move which may have saved Shmuli's
life. The shooting was still happening inside. It was about
Inside, the terrorists were
continuing their "work". When they entered they turned to their left,
and immediately cut down Rabbi Twerski and Rav Kalman Levine who were standing in the corner. Reb Kalman was the husband of Chaya, formally Markowitz who was
a student and later a madrichah at Neve. Her husband was not a regular attendee of Bnei Torah. He would generally daven
in the earliest possible minyan so he could get in a
couple of hours of learning before beginning his day. Yesterday he had a
question about something he had learned and had gone after davening
to Bnei Torah to put the question to its erudite rav, Rabbi Rubin. The question will now only be resolved in
the
The first policemen to enter
were traffic cops who knew what they were facing, and also knew that they were
not wearing protective gear. They entered anyway and together with the forces
that came afterwards ended the bloodbath. By
Miri, my daughter Guli, and her
husband were in Hadassah. Miri's other kids were
watched by relatives and friends for the day. Mordechai
was urged to speak about what he saw again and again in order to diminish the
damage of the trauma he had undergone. The rest of the family flowed in, saying
Tehillim and waiting for updates. The hospital social
worker, Aviva, who is blessed with the rare gift of being empathic without
being overbearing, and the women of Ezer Mitzion (a volunteer organization) kept us well supplied
with food, calming conversation and practical advice. We were allowed to see Shmuli who was put under anesthesia. We don't know if he
heard us or not, but we were talking to him stressing that Mordechai
was fine. In the hours before the surgery was done, we found ourselves with Risa Rotman. Her husband, Chaim Yechiel ben
Malka, was also attacked, and the extent
of his wounds are very serious. Some of you may know Risa
(who if I am not mistaken also is an OBG) and those of you whose husbands
learned in Ohr Sameach or
who recall Reb Meir Shuster
who he helped unstintingly for years, may know him as Howie.
The policeman who entered first, passed away. May Hashem
avenge his blood.
Every day in Eretz Yisrael is a gift and a miracle. I have no
pretensions of knowing Hashem's will, but I do know that everything He does is
purposeful, and that His compassion that is often hidden from the human eye.
Anyone who values human life and reality and the eternal nature of the soul is
appalled by the idea of people entering a synagogue and killing people who they
never met randomly.
Except for
CNN. They reported the entire
event as an attack on a mosque.
Except for
Please post the truth to whomever you can reach.
Please please
continue saying Tehillim for Shmuel
Yerucham ben Baila and the other victims. Daven
that Hashem give strength to the five new widows and
24 new orphans. Most of all thank Hashem that we are
not Them, and treasure Hashem's Torah and His Land.