This past Shabbat, 30 Kislev 5782 (December 4, 2021), two brave Israeli Border Police were compelled to break the laws of Shabbat for the sole reason permitted by Torah: to save a person’s life.
As 20 year old Avraham Elmaliah was passing through the Shechem (Damascus) Gate in Jerusalem after davening mincha, terrorist Mohammed Salameh of Judea and Samaria stabbed Elmaliah in attempt to murder him. In the stone heart of Salameh, the sole crime of Elmaliah was that of being a Jew. B’H, the Israeli Border Police saved the Jewish world a young man by shooting the assailant. As always, Israeli authorities sought to avoid killing the terrorist, initially attempting to physically separate him from the young Jew.
Elmaliah survived and was admitted to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center and in stable condition as of motzei Shabbat. Several members of Elmaliah’s immediate family & members of Israeli society visited the survivor. Among then, pictured above, is former Israel Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar. The picture was provided exclusively to the Israel Heritage Foundation.
Jewish wisdom knows no coincidence. Hashem’s plans occur as He pleases. Therefore, it is G-d’s will that Elmaliah’s miraculous survival coincided w/ Hanukkah this year.
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