A great miracle occurred on Tu BeShevat in Jerusalem's Beis
Yisroel neighborhood, when a booby-trapped car exploded in
the heart of the neighborhood, only a few meters away from
the Mirrer yeshiva. Miraculously, only one person was
slightly hurt -- a sixty year-old-woman who suffered slight
injury to her forehead by glass fragments. Nine people
suffered from shock.
The explosion occurred at 4:45 in the afternoon on Beis
Yisroel Street at the corner of Rapoport Street, near Shimon
Rokach Street (just past the Shilitz Bakery). The explosive-
rigged car was parked on the street. A tremendous explosion
jolted the entire neighborhood. The blast was so great that
it was heard even in far away neighborhoods. The car was
totally demolished and went up in flames, as did two cars
near it. Parts of cars were hurled about, some as far as 150
meters.
Eyewitnesses report that just before the explosion, a truck
with gas tanks for domestic use passed by the car. The
explosion occurred only seconds after the car had passed,
and by a great miracle heavy calamity was averted.
Large police forces arrived on the scene within moments.
First to arrive were the Hatzoloh volunteers, who were
notified of the explosion seconds after it occurred. A
number of Hatzoloh volunteers studying in the area hurried
to the site to see if there were victims in need of first
aid.
The woman who suffered light cuts on her forehead was
evacuated to Hadassah hospital. Although nine people were
suffering from shock, they did not require hospitalization.
Nonetheless, some of them were taken to various hospitals
for observation.
The explosion took place only few a meters from the Mirrer
yeshiva where thousands of bochurim and
avreichim study. Every day at that hour, many
avreichim make their way to the yeshiva, but
miraculously there weren't many people on the site of the
explosion at the time. "I saw great miracles," Reb Nochum,
an avreich in the Mirrer yeshiva said. "It is obvious
that a heavy calamity was averted in the merit of the Torah
study of the Mirrer yeshiva students."
Another eyewitness relates, "I heard a tremendous explosion,
and then a series of smaller ones. Thick smoke began to
billow. It is difficult to ascertain whether the bomb was in
the car or near it. The explosion occurred on a side street
near the yeshiva. There wasn't much traffic at the time.
Immediately after the explosion people streamed to the site.
The area is very crowded during this time of day."
Another yeshiva student who was only a short distance from
the explosion relates, "I heard an explosion, and then an
even greater one. The interval between the two was only half
a second."
Yosef, a Mirrer yeshiva student, related that he was in a
nearby building a few meters away from the explosion. "I
heard an explosion and rushed outside in the direction of
the fire. Perhaps that was foolish of me, but I wanted to
see if I could help the injured. I didn't see any injured
people in the area, and began to run away. When I was at a
reasonable distance away, I heard a second explosion. I saw
a number of children running, but didn't see anyone who had
been injured."
Another eyewitness relates, "I saw a truck with gas tanks
that passed only a few meters away from the car that
exploded. Seconds later there was a powerful explosion, and
everyone ran."
A kollel is located near the site of the explosion,
and its building absorbed the horrendous blast. One of the
avreichim relates: "We were engrossed in our studies
when suddenly we heard a tremendous explosion. After three
seconds, an even stronger one was heard. From the door of
the beis medrash we saw fire and thick, billowing
smoke. Ten seconds beforehand, a truck with gas tanks passed
by. We were saved by a miracle. Parts of the car flew
towards us, and from the impact of the blast, the tiling of
the beis medrash's walls was loosened. Boruch Hashem,
no one was injured or killed."
Police combed the area for additional bombs for a long time,
closing the area to traffic. Thousands of people crowded the
area, making it difficult for the police sappers to do their
work.
During the first moments after the explosion, police
repeatedly asked people to leave the area so that the
victims could be evacuated through the narrow alleys of the
Beit Yisroel neighborhood and so that they could search for
additional bombs. Police hounds also scrounged the area for
suspicious objects, but no additional bombs were found.
Magen David Adom sent 25 ambulances to the site of the
attack and four intensive care units. Most of them returned
to the Magen David Adom station in Romema soon afterwards
for lack of work, boruch Hashem.
An hour after the explosion, when residents began to grasp
the immensity of the miracle, people broke out into dance at
the site of the car bomb. Some took fragments of the mined
car and sang: "Chasdei Hashem ki lo somnu, ki lo cholu
rachamov," to illustrate the immensity of the miracle
that had occurred in this crowded area containing many
yeshivos, kollelim, and talmudei Torah as well
as hundreds of homes.
On Thursday night, a truck with megaphones rode through the
streets of Jerusalem, calling out, "Hakol yoducho, hakol
yeshabechucho," arousing people to appreciate the extent
of the miracle and to thank Hakodosh Boruch Hu for
the overt miracle and urging everyone to strengthen himself
in Torah study and good deeds.
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A Rally to Thank Hashem for the Miracle in Beis
Yisroel
A massive rally of gratitude to Hashem over the great
miracle which occurred this past Thursday in the Beis
Yisroel neighborhood of Jerusalem was held Sunday night, 19
Shevat. The rally took place on the site of the terrorist
attack in which, through chasdei Hashem, only one
passerby was injured lightly from of glass fragments and
nine suffered from shock.
Masses of residents of Beis Yisroel, Meah Shearim and
additional neighborhoods flocked to the rally, as did the
students of the yeshivos and the avreichim of the
kollelim who study near the site of the attack.
At the rally, rabbonim delivered words of chizuk, and
those who were spared during the attack thanked and praised
Hashem Yisborach for His kindness. At the end of the
speeches, there was dancing accompanied by music.
On Shabbos Shirah, seudos and kiddushim were
held in many synagogues and yeshivos throughout the
neighborhood, in order to acknowledge the great miracle in
which thousands of men women and children were spared, as
well as for the two other miracles which occurred in the
neighborhood this past month, in which bombs were dismantled
before they exploded.
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