Clearly the message of Holocaust Remembrance Day is lost on some as tefilin were stolen from bnei yeshiva near the Kinneret and set ablaze.
On the same day the siren wailed in Israel to remember the atrocities of Nazis YSVZ, Wednesday 27 Nissan, vandals stole tefilin that were placed together near the Kinneret, and then set them ablaze in a bathroom R”L.
The talmidim camped out for a last night as bnei torah head back to yeshiva. They report hearing “noises” during the night but they ignored them. When they awakened on Wednesday morning they realized their bags had been stolen. They began frantically searching the area for their bags and after a while they realized they must begin searching places that are off the track, somewhat hidden. A short time later they found the remains of their tefilin in a public bathroom.
Their joy over finding their tefilin was very short-lived as they realized the thieves set their tefilin bags on fire inside the bathroom. One of their pairs was placed in a sink which was filled with water. The bochrim summoned police and crime scene investigators worked the scene for evidence that will help apprehend those responsible.
It is reported that one pair of tefilin belongs to an 18-year-old orphan who received the tefilin from his father z”l. A cousin of the victim is quoted telling Kikar Shabbos News “it is an atrocity and difficult to believe this can occur davka today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day”.
One person commenting on the hate crime stated the news and the politicians would be beside themselves if someone set an Israeli flag ablaze on Independence Day yet this passes without anyone making a fuss, adding the silence speaks volumes.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
Yes, this was a hateful crime but its really stupid to make this a political statement about the flag of the medinah and imply that one crime would be taken more seriously. Both a flag and a pair of tefillin are physical symbols of more important concepts. Both have great significance, in the first case secular and political in the second case, religious and spiritual Both deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and vandalizing either is inappropriate.
Gadolhatorah
Your comment is worse than the article. To even mention together burning tefilin with burning a flag is beyond reproach. You should even say them together. That being said this is obviously a great tragedy for many reasons but the connection to the holocaust & how it’s somehow worse because it’s Yom hashoah is utter lunacy.
ANON21
Right on target
Gadolhadorah needs to have his name changed to Gadolhaboerah