Boston – Chabad Shaliach On Site During Marathon Blasts

Boston – A Chabad shaliach who went to the Boston Marathon to offer the people a chance to put on tefillin never dreamed that the annual event would turn into a scene of unspeakable horror.

Rabbi Yossi Zaklos, director of Chabad of Downtown Boston, was near the finish line when the blast occurred.

“There was a loud boom on my left,” Rabbi Zaklos told VIN News. “I would say it was about 150 meters away, at the finish line. After about twenty seconds, people started panicking and running the other way. And then the second blast took place from that other side.”

According to Rabbi Zaklos, while people weren’t quite sure what to make of the first explosion, the second blast made it very clear that the explosions were no accident.

“After the first blast, you could still speculate what it was. The second blast drove the point home. I witnessed the smoke, the carnage and the fires, which seemed to be several stories high,” said Rabbi Zaklos.

Rabbi Zaklos, a Montreal native who has been living in Boston for eighteen months, described the scene at the finish line as one of pandemonium.

“There was chaos,” said Rabbi Zaklos. “People barging into restaurants trying to get away. The scene was that of total confusion as people had no idea where to go.”

While most fled the area, Rabbi Zaklos stayed on scene, offering whatever words of support he could.

“Someone said to me ‘Why are you standing here? Why aren’t you leaving?'” recalled Rabbi Zaklos. “I tried to be that sense of calm, offering people spiritual and emotional support, giving people a phone to use. People needed that human touch, a sense of calm. I tried to be collected and upbeat.”

One passerby did put on tefillin after the blast and the 31 year old Rabbi Zaklos, who lives near Massachusetts General Hospital, where many of the victims were taken, hopes to spend his evening visiting the injured.