The following is via NBC10 Boston:
It was late at night and a group of Jewish teenagers were on a walk around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir in Massachusetts.
Boston College Police Officer Carl Mascioli was on patrol.
“As I approached them, two of them ran up to my car,” said the patrolman. “There was a body in the water.”
Mascioli ran down the embankment and found a man partially submerged and not moving.
“While I was pulling him out of the water, I also observed that he had a swastika on his hand,” said Mascioli.
It turned out the man the Jewish boys helped save had a tattoo of the Nazi symbol, and Mascioli told them about it.
“I kind of let the gentlemen know sometimes some deeds have a funny way of turning around,” said the officer. “Their good deed had a little bit of a twist to it.”
The students, who study at a Yeshiva high school in Brighton, were not permitted to speak with NBC10 Boston about the incident, but they had a message for the officer to share with the man they helped rescue.
“They wanted just to let him know that it was four young Jewish boys that helped save his life,” recalled Mascioli, who said the students had no regrets about helping a man with an anti-Semitic tattoo. “A good deed is a good deed and that’s part of life. We should be helping everybody out.”
It’s unknown how the man ended up in the water. But police say he didn’t have much time left, and if it hadn’t been for the teenagers, the patrolman likely wouldn’t have seen him.
The man is expected to recover.
(Source: NBC10 Boston)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
11 Responses
Should of let him drown
It’s only a Kiddush Hashem if it were necessary due to darkei shalom. Otherwise the opposite and verboten.
As far as Halacha is concerned they were not mechuyav too. A mefoorisha Gemara
Unfortunate tendency most ppl have ( not just us yiddin ) to BLOW things out of proportion – as we always look for heroes and villains ( I.e. see last article re: terrible Israel police officers who are tormented regularly and deal with the worst of the worst regularly ) ..
here’s what may have happened here :
1) nice Jewish Yeshiva guys out for a stroll in the woods
2) notice a BODY in the water
3) start running and screaming like anyone in the world would do
4) notice a cop and frantically tell him there’s a BODY in the water
5) cop goes and takes care of situation
6) the end
Kiddish Hashem? Hmm
Certainly the nice normal thing to do ..
You teens are the best. Keep up the good work.
Hymish
Sounds like you’re jealous
If not why would you downplay what happened
Hymish it is normal but that doesn’t mean it’s not a Kiddush Hashem. They still saved someone’s life.
Although they did the right thing, they should asked their Mashgiah, what wrong deed they did, that brought them to do this?
I
re: the first 3 responses, how do these kids know that the drowning “body” is of a non-jew? There’s always a chance the guy is Jewish. Hindsight is 20/20. Kiddush Hashem it is.
Hymish is probably right about the chain of events. If they thought a man was drowning, one would hope they’d have pulled him out themselves.
Not sure if I would be able to do the same!!!