Terror survivor Shimon Levy used faith and his beketshe to avert another casualty
Oiring became an honorary member of the Levy family, and Shimon became known as “Bentzy’s baby.” Both his bar mitzvah and his wedding a little over a year ago were widely covered, and although his parents had eight more children, “the memory of the attack was always in the house, always hovering in the background,” Shimon says.
Today, Shimon Levy, the child miraculously pulled out of the carnage, has created quite a following in Jerusalem and beyond as a kumzitzer and composer with an uncanny ability to open hearts. He discovered early on that he had a passion for music; he would sing at every opportunity, and since his bar mitzvah seven years ago, he has composed over 500 songs. Of course, most of them never got past his own guitar, but the backstory of his latest hit, “Ein Davar Ra,” which he sings together with Yaakov Shwekey, is actually another thread in the interwoven miracles and emunah that have laced his and his family’s lives.
And it began on that very Shabbos in March 2002.
Reb Oren Levy still flashes back to the beginning of that Shabbos, to a conversation that would change his life. “About 15 minutes before candle lighting, one of the families that was supposed to stay with us arrived. They knew they were coming to a religious neighborhood, but this was a bit too much for them. They felt like they’d been kidnapped and dropped in Meah Shearim — so many shuls, so many chassidim and shtreimels! Not exactly what they’d had in mind. This is not where Shimon Ilan wanted to spend Shabbos. He decided to turn around and leave.”
Create a free account to keep reading.
