July 20, 2006
It's difficult to be positive when your synagogue has been heavily damaged, your neighbors are living in bomb shelters, and daily Katyusha attacks claim more and more casualties.
But when a Katyusha rocket slammed on the grounds of a Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue in the northern city of Nahariya Tuesday, blowing out all the building’s windows and doors – all in all, no one was hurt, not even the Torah scrolls.
“It's a miracle," reported Rabbi Yisroel Butman, who said the synagogue was among six or seven buildings hit in Tuesday’s barrage. “We managed to save the Torahs. It’s a terrible mess.”
“We managed to save the Torahs. It’s a terrible mess.” The loss of even one Jewish life is too many, but considering the number of rockets Hizbullah has launched at Nahariya, it is amazing there have not been more losses, Butman said.
"Do you know how many miraculous stories I could tell, just from the past week?” said Butman. “Take the attack on the shul. The man who lives next door to the shul left his house about a minute before the rocket hit.”
Latest attack
About 10 rockets exploded in Hatzor Hagalil, Rosh Pina and Emek Jezreel, sparking brush fires; two rockets fell in Kiryat Shmona, and another three fell in communities in the western Galilee.
In both attacks, no damage or injuries were reported. Neither were there reports of damage or injury from four rockets that fell in open fields in Nahariya.
For Shabbat Chabad organized the distribution of more than 1,500 challahs and wine packages to the city’s 157 bomb sheltersBut not every bombardment comes without tragedy, such as on Wednesday, when a Katyusha killed Nahariya resident Andrei Zilensky, 36, whose wife and four-year-old daughter were awaiting his return to the bomb shelter.
Counting additional fatalities on Wednesday, the number of Israeli civilians killed since the attacks began last week rose to 16. Nahariya Hospital reported on Tuesday evening that a total of 88 people from the Galilee area had been treated for shrapnel injuries and shock.
Despite the attacks, which someplace else might lead a person to give up, Butman is concentrating his efforts on getting the shul up and running in time for services on Shabbat. Cleaners are removing the debris from inside the building, and electricians are doing their best to get the lighting working again. He said he doesn't hold out too much hope it will all be ready by Friday night, but that services would continue in any event.
“Hopefully we will have people for Shabbat,” said the rabbi. Last Shabbat, on July 15, only 16 members showed up, "No matter what – for whoever is here, and whatever is here, we will go on. We will not stop praying.” out of a typical attendance of 60 to 70 congregants. But considering that some 60 percent of Nahariya’s residents have left the city, Butman pointed out that even 16 is a blessing.
“Hopefully we will have a shul to pray in, too. But no matter what – for whoever is here, and whatever is here, we will go on. We will not stop praying.”
For those members of the community who have decided to stay in Nahariya, Butman is organizing food relief with the help of a Chabad-Lubavitch soup kitchen in nearby Kiryat Ata.
Each day, he said, he expects to visit about 40 bomb shelters with warm meals, fans, other necessities, and candy and books for the children.
“We are doing our best to help the people who have stayed here, and to provide for their needs,” he said.
"We are doing our best to help the people who have stayed here, and to provide for their needs." Last Shabbat, for instance, Butman organized last-minute relief for the residents of Nahariya, distributing more than 1,500 challahs and wine packages to the city’s 157 bomb shelters.
“I decided to stay in Nahariya because this is when the community needs me most,” Butman said resolutely. “It’s tough to be here, but I must stay to help the people of my community.”
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