Rabbi Shmuel Goldstein to Celebrate Bar Mitzvah of His Son at Kehillas Bnei Torah Six Months After Massacre

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shmuel goldsteinNext week, Rabbi Shmuel Goldstein, one of several individuals seriously wounded in the horrific terror attack attack on Kehillas Bnei Torah in Har Nof, Yerushalayim, that claimed five lives will celebrate the bar mitzvah of his son, six months after his miraculous survival.

Rabbi Goldstein was present at the shul when two terrorists burst in during Shacharis. One of the two terrorists struck him three times with a meat-cleaver, twice in the head and once in the back, leaving him for dead on the ground. Astoundingly, however, he was still alive, and when the other terrorist’s pistol jammed, he managed to get to his feet and, in an act of incredible heroism, pulled the murderer to the ground. It was an attempt to save his fellow mispallelim that could have cost him his life, but the shocked terrorist simply barked at him to leave, a twist he says is nothing short of a miracle.

After running from the building, a passerby took the shirt off his back and bandaged Rabbi Goldstein’s wounds, before paramedics evacuated him to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Yerushalayim unconscious.

In another miracle, the bar mitzvah bochur, Rabbi Goldstein’s son, Mordechai, managed to escape unharmed in the midst of the chaos.

The bar mitzvah seudah will be held next Thursday at the Kehillas Bnei Torah shul where the Har Nof massacre occurred, claiming the lives of Rav Moshe Twersky Hy”d, Rav Kalman Zev Levine Hy”d, Rav Aryeh Kupinsky Hy”d and Rav Avraham Shmuel Goldberg Hy”d and police officer Saif Zidane.

The mispallelim of the shul will be joined by members of the community at the bar mitzvah, which will also serve as a seudas hodaah of sorts for father and son.

This Shabbos, Parshas Naso, the aliyah l’Torah will take place at the shul, with a Kiddush in honor of the bar mitzvah after davening.

{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}


3 COMMENTS

  1. “After running from the building, a passerby took the shirt off his back and bandaged Rabbi Goldstein’s wounds” This passerby was none other than Yehoshua ‘Joshua’ White.

    The Chafetz Chaim writes (Ahavas Chesed 2:3) that although everyone is interested in obtaining complimentary divine kindness and compassion, these attributes are extended in accordance with the principles of justice – middas hadin. When a person conducts himself with kindness and compassion towards others, he then merits equivalent treatment from Above.
    November 18, 2014 is a date that will live in infamy for the brutal and shocking events that took place in Har Nof. Yet with all the barbarity that transpired, opportunities for kindness also presented themselves. One such act, as reported by several media outlets, told of an older yeshiva bochur, Yehoshua White, who put himself in harm’s way to assist one of the victims that managed to escape. Under pandemonium’s reign, Yehoshua fashioned a makeshift tourniquet from his shirt, treated the victim’s major wounds, and shepherded him to safety.
    If we fast-forward the camera of life, the epilogue of this story proves no less powerful. Mere hours after that episode, Yehoshua received an email from a shadchan, informing him that a prospective mate had expressed her interest to meet. Six weeks later, after the shidduch process ran its course, their engagement became official.
    Beyond a doubt, the earlier words of the Chofetz Chaim offer clarity to the conjectural chain of events. Yehoshua extended himself and acted with extreme kindness towards the victim. At that very moment, Hashem Yisbarach focused on these actions and probed what type of kindness he personally required. In retrospect, the answer was clear. Yehoshua and Esther have begun building their bayis ne’eman b’yisrael.

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