Amichai Shindler of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom miraculously survived the October 7th massacre but was left with severe injuries.

Kerem Shalom is a mixed religious-secular kibbutz that is less than 100 meters [.06 miles] from the Gaza Strip. That Shabbos/Simchas Torah morning, Amichai, 33, and his wife and six children went into their safe room when they heard rocket sirens blare early in the morning. When they heard the sound of terrorists shouting in Arabic inside their home. Amichai ran to the door and held it shut, while his wife and small children huddled inside. Amichai held the door shut for hours, fending off the terrorists but eventually, the Hamas animals threw an explosive device at it. The resulting blast seriously injured Amichai, blowing off one of his forearms, breaking his other arm, and crushing his face and jaw. Amichai fell to the floor of the room – still conscious but bleeding profusely. He lay there for three and a half hours until IDF soldiers reached the kibbutz and evacuated Amichai to the hospital. Fortunately, his wife and children were physically unharmed.

Amichai is now undergoing rehabilitation at Sheba Hospital, learning to live with his severe injuries, with one arm cut off right below the elbow and the other severely injured. One of his first requests after regaining consciousness was to meet with HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein.

Once Amichai was in rehabilitation, he had two more requests – to meet the Gerrer Rosh Yeshivah, HaGaon HaRav Shaul Altar, whose Torah he’s enjoyed in recent years, and to start using Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin.

HaRav Shlomo Raanan, the head of Ayelet HaShachar, which oversees shuls and kollelim in secular kibbutzim including those in the Gaza border area, conveyed the requests to his friend, the philanthropist HaRav Tzvi Reisman of Los Angeles, who asked HaRav Altar to visit Amichai.

HaRav Altar was very moved by Amichai’s story and he told those close to him that he has the tefillin of his grandfather, the Imrei Emes, z’tl, in his possession, adding: “I don’t dare to use the tefillin since I’m not worthy of them. But a Jew like Reb Amichai is worthy.” However, Harav Raanan found a different pair of Rabbeinu Tam tefillin for Amichai.

HaRav Altar went to visit Amichai last week and told him “’ויהי ידיו אמונה’ – you can learn emunah from your hands.”

They also spoke about tying tefillin and how Amichai will light Chanukah candles – Amichai related that he asked the physical therapists to practice lighting candles with him. The Rosh Yeshivah was moved, saying that it’s a “מצוה לפרסם” that these are the requests of a Jew in such a situation.

They also spoke about whether Amichai should say Shechiyanu when donning tefillin D’Rabbeinu Tam for the first time. After the Rosh Yeshivah heard that HaRav Zilberstein told Amichai to recite Shechiyanu, he said that he doesn’t dare to disagree but he should recite it “not because of the mitzvah [of putting on tefillin] but for the simcha [of receiving new tefillin] – like you say Shechiyanu on new clothing.”

Regarding Amichai’s injuries, the Rosh Yeshivah said: “It’s not an individual tza’ar – it’s a tza’ar of all of Klal Yisrael. But we know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is in charge.”

When word got around that HaRav Alter was in the hospital, he received requests to visit other patients. The Rosh Yeshivah, accompanied by the director of the unit and Ba’al Chessed Shuki Brif, visited a number of wounded IDF soldiers, including senior officers. They all requested that the Rosh Yeshivah give them brachos for a speedy recovery so they could return to the battlefield and win the war against Hamas.

In a related note, Chareidi journalist Moshe Weissberg published a photo of fallen IDF soldier Eitan Dov Rosenzweig, H’yd, at HaRav Altar’s tisch. Weissberg said that Eitan, H’yd, considered HaRav Altar to be his Rav Muvhak.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)