A group of party participants in Kibbutz Raim were saved thanks to Shabbat. One of the survivors from the party reveals the story of his miraculous rescue.

Hadrei Haredim learned that the survivor is a member of a haredi family in the center of the country, a former yeshiva student who distanced himself from a life of Torah and mitzvot, and serves, among other things, as a driver and photographer for guests from abroad who travel to Israel. During the week of Selichot, he came as part of his work together with three men from the USA to the Rosh Yeshiva  Rabbi Chaim Feinstein in Bnei Brak. The men wished to ask Rabbi Feinstein for a blessing for the new year.  After the men had been blessed and turned to leave the Rosh Yeshiva's room, the Rosh Yeshiva turned to this young man and said to him : You also need a blessing for a happy new year, and he explained that a happy new year is not something that comes naturally, you have to invest in order to merit it.

While pressing his hands warmly, the Rosh Yeshiva told him to make a resolution to observe Shabbat in the month of Tishrei (first month of the Jewish year), and that will be a blessing for him for a new year. The young man was very moved and in tears told the Rosh Yeshiva that he will do it.

The young man did keep Shabbat for a couple of weeks. On Friday, the eve of Simchat Torah, while he was at the party, he turned to his friends who were with him and said to them, listen, I can't observe the Shabbat here, and I won't break my word, so I'm leaving the party now. He begged them to come with him. Two of his friends decided to join him, and the rest remained at the party.

After Simchat Torah, the three found out that their friends were murdered, while they were spared thanks to Shabbat.

Image credit: Catridges and hand grenades discovered after the massacre near Re'im. Kobi Gideon / Government Press Office of Israel, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.