According to Chabad shaliach in Warsaw, Rabbi Shalom Ber Stambler, a number of leaders of the local Jewish community are alive because they canceled their participation in the official state delegation, realizing the flight was on shabbos.

Rabbi Stambler stated the Polish president who was among the many government officials that perished in the crash was a true friend of the Jewish People and Israel. He stressed that President Lech Kaczynski showed his solidarity with the Jews by his actions, not just with words.

He pointed out that when the late president served as mayor of Warsaw, he played a major role assisting in the construction of the Jewish Museum, which is soon to open in the location of the Jewish ghetto area.

Rabbi Mordechai Shudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, was among those invited to accompany the president on the ill-fated flight. The rav explained he told the president that he cannot fly on shabbos, and his explanation was received and understood.

A Polish guard came into shul during krias hatorah on shabbos, informing the rav of the tragedy. The rav stated the shul was full, “with hundreds of young mispalalim who were in Poland to take part in Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremonies” on Sunday night and Monday. The rav waited until krias hatorah was over and then made the announcement. The mispalalim recited Tehillim 130 and then proceeded to davening, with the tzibur visibly upset over the tragic news.

The rabbi on Sunday explained that he recalls a case in which the president responded to his request, to intervene to prevent an autopsy, stating he was a true friend of the Jewish community.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)