Community Magazine December 2003

Lot’s house to kill him for breaking their law against hosting guests. In the Perasha, the people of Sodom got stopped at the entrance by the angels—just like the terrorists who were stopped at the gate of our building. There was a long thunderous boom and then everything was a mess. Baruch Hashem, I was not injured. My first thought was of my father, Rephael. He was praying upstairs in the Early Minyan and I knew that he always sat next to the stained glass windows which are very close to the street. I made my way upstairs and found that the hall was in shambles. I saw my father; his face was bloody and he was wandering around in a daze. I sat him down and cleaned his face. Baruch Hashem, it turned out, he only suffered a broken arm. Since many of the people in the early Minyan were in their advanced years, I quickly turned my attention to help others who were injured. As I did, I had a terrible fear that any second somebody would walk in with a machine-gun and start to shoot. Thank G-d this did not happen and there was no panic. We heard a hissing noise, which sounded like a gas leak, and even though everybody was trying to be calm, we knew that we had to evacuate immediately. I helped lead everybody to the exit, while my friends tended to some of the other wounded people and transferred the Torah scrolls to the main Shul’s Aron, which was safer. We made a final check for wounded among the debris and then left after doing the best we could to make sure that everyone else was out. There were cars, taxis and ambulances helping to evacuate the wounded. I put my father in a car bound for the hospital and started to walk there to meet him. I saw my Rabbi walking in that direction also—and noticed that he had injuries on his knees and hand; so I stopped a taxi and took the rabbi to the hospital. The driver was nice enough to understand that we did not have any money on us to pay him. When I entered the Emergency room, I sawmany people I know laying on beds with blood on their faces and bodies. Doctors were running in every direction to help the injured, it was hectic. Until that time, I didn’t realize just how serious the situation was—I didn’t think anyone was killed because we didn’t see any casualties in the shul. At that moment, somebody told me that there was also a bomb at the Neve Shalom synagogue. The news hit me very hard. KISLEV 5764 DECEMBER 2003 41 s xc After the bomb went off, the room filled with a cloud of thick smoke. People were running in all directions, afraid of further explosions. I checked myself and was covered with blood. I bent down, covering myself in my tallit, and prayed, “Shema Yisrael.” The gas line had ruptured and could ignite at any moment, exploding the entire block. I saw that one of the interior walls was collapsing, so I ran to hold it up so that people would be able to pass. Then I went to the front and noticed gray plumes of nat- ural gas gushing out, where the gas line had ruptured. I knew it could ignite at any moment, exploding the entire block of buildings. I quickly opened the Holy Ark and took out some of the Torah scrolls. Then I heard our Hazan calling my name: “Yossi! Yossi! Please help get me out of here...” His leg was shattered and he could not move. At the same time other people were yelling, “Evacuate immediately,” because of the danger of the natural gas exploding. I had to make an instantaneous decision: Do I stay to help or run out to save my own life? There was no way that I could leave the Hazan there. My mind flashed back to seven years ago when I was in a terrible auto accident. My head and limbs were so badly injured that when the ambulance came, they took my friend but left me there, thinking I was dead. When the doctor finally arrived, he realized that my lung had deflated and was filled with blood. He told me I could die at any second and he would have to perform an emergency procedure right there. It was then that I experienced how a person’s deeds are calculated in Heaven. Everything is recorded on a balance sheet, the good and the bad; nothing is hidden and there is no longer any time for excuses. So I made a vow then to always choose to do good, and to be ready to rise to the challenge whenever it will come, because in life, the opportunity to do the right thing, something truly meaningful, happens suddenly and without warning. So as I heard the Hazan calling out to me, I was not afraid of death. I knew that “doing the right thing” was even more important than surviving this attack. Some things are more important than life itself. As the Hazan cried out for help, I realized that God was sending me to save him. When I had my accident, I prayed that God should send me someone to save me. It was only by a miracle that I survived. So standing there in the synagogue, as the Hazan cried out for help, I realized that God was sending me to save him. I sensed that the Hazan knew that, too, and I felt the Hazan’s faith in G-d depended on me. I could not disappoint him; I could not cause him to think that God would abandon him at that time. So I grabbed a few people and we moved the Hazan to safety... Excerpt reprinted with permission from Aish HaTorah’s award-winning website. For the full text go to www.aish.com Answering The Call B Y : Y O S S I K .