The convergence of hundreds of thousands to Meron on Lag
B'Omer was marred by the tragedy of the death of two young
women from the religious community of Beit Shemesh when the
bus they were traveling in to Meron overturned.
52 were injured including the driver and are being treated
in area hospitals in Afula and Haifa.
Two police officers were stationed not far from the site of the
accident. One of them said that he heard an explosion, saw the bus
rolling some 50 meters and then smoke rising from it.
Hatzolo volunteers from Bnei Brak who were in the area arrived
very soon. They were joined by units of Zaka, the chareidi volunteers
who regularly deal with the aftermath of accidents. Many were in
Meron.
Police originally wanted to do an autopsy, but the efforts of Rabbi
Chanania Cholek, head of Ezer Mizion, and the Zaka volunteers who
regularly work with the police, succeeded in avoiding this further
indignity. Rabbi Cholek personally guarded the bodies in an Ezer Mizion
ambulance in Afula.
The Beit Shemesh community was extremely shaken by the news. "The
prayers that the two righteous women wanted to offer at the grave
of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai they will instead offer in the heavenly
yeshiva," said a mourning resident of Beit Shemesh.
One of the women, Mrs. Chava Raizel Hacker, 26, was the wife of
R' Chaim Yeshaya Hacker and the mother of
two young children. She is the daughter of Rabbi Nochum Bergman.
The other was Mrs. Frieda Leah Mintz, 21, wife of R' Yisroel Mintz.
She is the daughter of Rav Eliahu Mordechai Levi, of Yerushalayim and
the Gerrer community of Chatzor.
