The murderous attack in Toulouse, France felt a little closer to home in Ashkelon last week after I spoke with Rabbi Mohe Benisti, a local Rabbi here in Ashkelon a day later.
Rabbi Benisti, originally from France, has a brother and his family who live in Toulouse.
"On the day of the sad murder of innocent victims in front of the Yeshiva Ozar Hatorah, I called my brother immediately as soon as I heard the news to inquire about the incident," he said.
Rabbi Benisti’s niece, who was still in shock as a result of the tragedy sadly informed him of the identity of the victims. Then she explained to him that they could have been victims of the attack, but for the fact that she was running a little late on the day in question and found the street blocked when she arrived.
"My niece is a teacher in that yeshiva [where the attack occurred]. She has a young daughter twelve years old who is a student in the same yeshiva. She and her daughter had been late about 15 minutes that morning, and she felt that this by itself was a miracle, for if she had been on time she and her daughter might have been counted amongst the victims."
Luckily, the Rabbi's niece was passed over.
The Rabbi added, " She [my niece] of course understood that those victims were actually the representatives of the Jewish people for they were so cruelly murdered for only one reason ---that they were Jewish...A Jew can always be in danger anywhere in the world. "
He said "It was sadly ironical that a week or so before my brother had called me to ask us about our safety in Ashkelon, since at that time we were the target practice of our unfriendly neighbors in Gaza."
"Let us pray to the Al-Mighty for a speedy peace in Eretz Yisrael & the whole wide world!"
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