November 18, 2003
23 Heshvan, 5764
Special Message from the President of
the Orthodox Union,
Harvey Blitz
Mr. Blitz, who is in
Jerusalem representing the OU at the General Assembly of the United
Jewish Communities, traveled today to Turkey, together with other Jewish
and Israeli leaders, to attend the funerals of those killed in the
bombing attacks on two synagogues in Istanbul last Shabbat.
He sent the following report:
It was a cold and rainy day today as the
Jewish community of Istanbul buried the six members of the community who
were killed in the synagogue bombings last Shabbat. I went to the
funerals with both Chief Rabbis of Israel, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Yonah Metzger, and the Rishon le-Zion Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar; the
speaker of the Knesset Ruby Rivlin; two other members of the Knesset,
Eli Yishai and Binyamin (“Fouad”) Ben Eliezer; Rabbi Yechiel Wassermann
and several other officials from the Jewish Agency; Rabbi Arthur
Schneier of New York’s Park East Synagogue; and Rabbi Pinchas
Goldschmidt of Moscow.
The funeral service was held outdoors in
the rain at the cemetery; generally, funerals are held at the Neve
Shalom Synagogue, but that was now destroyed. It was poignant, to say
the least, to see all around us individuals with multiple bandages,
clearly covering wounds they had sustained in the bombings. The funeral
itself was understated—the only speakers were the Chief Rabbi of the
community, Rav Isak Haleva and a community lay leader. The speeches
focused on the solidarity of the Jewish community worldwide and on the
confidence the speakers had in the secure place that the Jewish
community has in Turkish society.
In the afternoon, we had the opportunity
to visit the site of the Neve Shalom Synagogue. It is impossible to
describe the level of destruction. The synagogue had previously been
bombed one day in 1986 at 9:17 am, and the community had left in place a
clock which had stopped at that time. Eerily, the bombing this Shabbat
happened at 9:27 am. There had been a bar mitzvah at the shul on Shabbat
and the only thing seemingly untouched was the special chair the bar
mitzvah boy used. You can imagine how that boy felt after the bombing,
especially since some of his family were injured. It was therefore truly
inspirational when we met with the boy, his parents and his sister, and
when the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yonah Metzger, gave him
a gift of a Chanukah menorah and invited him and his family to come to
Israel to re-celebrate his bar mitzvah at the Kotel.
I spoke to several survivors of the
bombing, some of whom felt it was a clear miracle that they survived.
Rav Haleva himself told me that he had dropped his siddur and bent to
pick it up just as the bombing happened. The blast went over him but
seriously injured his son.
Wherever I went and whomever I spoke to
was tremendously appreciative that the Orthodox Union had come to share
their pain and their distress, and to demonstrate our
achdut (unity) with the
Turkish Jewish community. I was moved by their appreciation, and by the
realization that we truly are one.
I know that you joined with me when I
extended to the community our heartfelt wishes for their continued
welfare, our condolences to the families of those who died, and our
prayers for the complete recovery of those who were injured.
Harvey
Blitz
*****
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