Israel – Two Israelis who were holed up at the Oberoi Trident Hotel in Mumbai during the terrorist attacks returned to Israel unharmed and recounted their 36-hour ordeal.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Yossi Weingarten and Ephraim Zamir were staying in separate rooms at the hotel when it was shaken by a blast.
“There was a huge explosion, gunfire and then quiet,” Zamir said after he arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. “I immediately understood it was a car bomb and 15 minutes later I saw the breaking news reports.”
Zamir, who said he once narrowly escaped being hurt by a car bomb in Hadera, reacted by locking his door with a chain and barricading it with furniture. Both men said they kept in touch with Israel via their cell phones after their televisions blacked out.
“There were lots of explosions and I saw the fire reach the 19th floor,” Weingarten recounted. “Thoughts are still running through my head. Someone sneezed on the plane and I jumped. When I close my eyes I see the flames. It happened beneath us.
After we were rescued we saw the hotel downstairs – it was all blown-out. There were bodies in the lobby and puddles of blood.”
Zamir recounted that during his stay in Mumbai he had met with Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who ran the Chabad House in the city. The couple were killed by terrorists who seized the Chabad House after a two-day standoff with Indian security forces.
“They hosted me for Sabbath dinner – I still have the kippa [scullcap] the rabbi gave me,” Zamir said. “I was very saddened to hear what happened to them. They were a pure-hearted couple.”
The Israeli businessman said their ordeal ended when Indian security forces knocked on their door and informed them that they can leave their rooms.
Back in Israel they were greeted by their families at the airport. “Thank God it’s over,” said Idan Weingarten, Yossi’s son, after reuniting with his father. “To say the past few days were nerve-wracking is an understatement.”
B”H, hopefully now they will stay with kipah.
Amen.
#1 is correct! The couple will not have died in vain; they died al kiddush hashem!!!
Let’s hope that his kipa will get upgraded to a yamulka…..if this doesn’t wake him up, I’m not sure what will.
#8 What is a difference bt a kipah and a yarmulka?
Is that like bread and lechem.
kipa, schmipa, you fools are not looking at the right issues, Become a mench and treat All Jews with care and respect, doesn’t matter how they look on the outside. A goat has a beard too.
Im sure that he has a different view on life and will come closer to hashem in the near future
3. Whats wrong with a kipah ?
From the whole picture,you could learn 1 major lesson, BOSHERT EZ BOSHERT…..
I was sitting on an airplain next to yid without a kipa. and as we were talking he mentioned that he is jewish. he saw my disbelief in my eyes . he says in anger”because I’m not wearing a yarmulkah like you .I’m not jewish?” I replied the reasen why you or father stopped wearing a kipa is that the goy shouldn’t know that your jewish. so why are you so angry that I also thought that you are not jewish…….
#15 …so what did you accomplish with your sharp retort?? You are now stuck with each other on a plane both being sick of other. You could have spent your time knowing a Jew that is different than you. OR are you terrified of that?
Many yidden wear a kipa for tefila or meal time, since it was neither when you were talking to him, WHY MAKE THE ASSUMPTION THAT HE IS NOT JEWISH?