Hundreds of fires wreaked havoc in the lives of thousands of Israelis last week, but the bigger question is when and if it will happen again
BURNT TO THE GROUND The new aerial firefighting unit together with firefighting aircraft from other countries eventually managed to get the fires under control and save lives but couldn’t prevent dozens of homes from burning to the ground (Photos: Flash 90 /Israel Police Spokesman)
I t was a night seder that Rabbi Dovid Schechter will never forget. Rabbi Schechter is the night seder rebbi and dormitory supervisor at Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim a post high-school yeshivah for American bochurim in Beit Meir a religious moshav ten miles west of Jerusalem.
“We had mishmar on Thursday night like we normally do until about midnight and then I went home to get some sleep” Rabbi Schechter said.
Two hours later police sirens and megaphones roused him along with the yishuv’s 800 other residents with orders to evacuate. A fire fanned by wind gusts topping 30 miles per hour was bearing down on the heavily forested community.
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