Eight-year-old Sholom Ber Laufer of Ashdod, Israel, was miraculously left with only light injuries when a car hit him during a run to an emergency bomb shelter Friday. The boy – whose parents, Rabbi Mordechai and Leah Laufer, direct the Chabad-Lubavitch center serving the coastal city’s 11th District – was taken to the Kaplan Medical Center in Rechovot for testing. He remained at the hospital through Shabbat and was released on Sunday.

Like the hundreds of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries and rabbinical students who fanned out across Israel’s south during its offensive in the Gaza Strip, Laufer had been handing out small books of Psalms to citizens coping with the daily threat of rocket fire. When the air raid siren sounded, he ran to the nearest shelter, but was struck by a car as he made a dash across the street. The force of the impact threw him into the air.

According to his mother, the boy might have lost consciousness.

“It’s still unclear if he did,” said Leah Laufer, “but the driver stopped, got out of the car, and splashed water on his face” so that he would come to.

“He has some swelling on his head and scratches,” added the mother of eight. “But he’s alright.”

On Sunday, the boy was complaining of some residual pain, said Laufer. “But thank G‑d, he’s alright. His life is a gift from G‑d.”