Scorched earth and questions as Carlebach moshav, Mevo Modiim, burns
R
abbi Shmuel Taizi can’t quite find the words to describe what he felt when he first entered the village of Mevo Modiim, days after a devastating fire destroyed 40 of its 50 homes and much of its property.
“It was a difficult sight. Scorched houses, burned-out cars, and streets decked in soot. A whole village was just burned to the ground. Whole lives just went and disappeared.”
Rabbi Taizi, 64, a former educator in the Chabad chassidus, said nearly everything was destroyed in the village he has called home for the last 30 years: The shul, the event hall, the playground — all vanished in a cloud of soot and smoke.
The fire in Mevo Modiim, founded in 1974 by followers of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l and the site of a popular annual music festival, was only one of several across Israel last week. Extremely high temperatures sparked some of the blazes, but Israeli investigators are also looking into the possibility of arson. “The fire Thursday came suddenly and with force,” Rabbi Taizi said.
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