A group of nine bochurim from Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland miraculously escaped serious injury after their van overturned in an accident on a Pennsylvania highway early Thursday morning. The van was traveling on I-80 in Pennsylvania, en route to Monsey, when it overturned at high speed around 4:30 am.
In an incredible twist of hashgacha, a Hatzolah member, R’ Ari Lebowitz, was at the scene within minutes to provide immediate medical assistance to the boys. R’ Ari, a 31-year veteran of Monsey and Catskills Hatzolah, was driving another van filled with Telshe bochurim to Lakewood and had stopped to fill up with gasoline. By the time he pulled back onto the I-80, his van was behind the Monsey van, and minutes later, he came across the crash site.
Out of precaution, five bochurim were transported by local EMS to Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, PA, while the other four were brought to Geisinger-Community Medical Center in Scranton, PA. All of the bochurim quickly received medical clearance to continue their journey. R’ Ari accompanied the bochurim to the hospital, where he says the staff were incredibly helpful, even procuring kosher food for them and providing a private area to daven.
R’ Ari described the accident as an “outright neis,” saying, “I have seen many accidents with far less damage that resulted in fatalities. It is unbelievable that everyone walked out okay.”
He quoted R’ Luzer Bodner, the father of one of the bochurim involved in the accident and son-in-law of Telshe Rosh Yeshiva R’ Dovid Goldberg, who attributed the bochurim’s safety to their decision to guard their eyes by taking the long journey home from Cleveland instead of flying – a trip during which they could have potentially been exposed to inappropriate sights and scenes.
“Shmiras Einayim, that’s what saved these bochurim today,” R’ Ari said.
The bochurim are still en route to Monsey and are expected to arrive shortly after 3 PM – with R’ Ari at the wheel.
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9 Responses
The article is ok, besides when he starts contemplating the reason why Hashem decided to bring about this positive outcome.
Get it straight, we know Nothing about the ways of Hashem.
So preoccupied with שמירת-ענים:- Do they drive from Cleveland to Israel? or do they חס-ולילה abstain from going to Israel despite the massive infusion of קדושה that their eyes can absorb from the כותל?
Thank G-d.
@147
The Gemarah says that if you have two routes and one is shorter but contains non-tzniusdike elements then you should take the longer one.
You are just being obtuse and unwilling to acknowledge that going out of your way (when you can) is the proper behavior for a Yid
It would be nice if you just have the Neis without the comments. BH it was tremendous Nissim that they’re all alive and ok. The boys and their families who went through this are not making silly comments like the ones above. Chasdei Hashem
I am happy to read about a beautiful miracle.
שמירת עיניים is a wonderful thing to work on.
I do think that these Bachurim should be working on a course called “defensive driving “.
To fly on the highway at 4 am is not a good idea. We are all human and at night it’s the norm that we get tired.
Rabbi Shimshon Pincus
זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה
He lost his life in an accident late at night.
Also his wife and some of the children.
I lost a close relative also to an accident at night.
Avraham- it wasn’t Bochurim driving.
They had a hired driver.
147:
So preoccupied with Zionism.
Hakatan, so someone who feels that being in EY is not a bidieved is a zionist according to you? First of all, I would not give them that much credit, as in .. zionism at least has some sort of an ideology/goals/idealism.. And, whoever is in charge has little to do with a jew’s need to be in the kedusha of EY. Enough of being satisfied with practicing mitzvos. Time to come home. The writing is on the wall…