Flitting
1101VIE
LYNNE MEREDITH COHN
StaffWriter
Y
oni and Ari Sherizen had
only been in Israel for 24
hours when they were
caught up in the aftermath
of a dreadful Ben Yehuda Street triple
bombing Sept. 4. The brothers from
The bombing did not scare the
moments to register what had hap-
Sherizens into leaving Israel; just the
pened," Ari recalls. "I instinctively
opposite. Being in Israel, Ari, 18, says
dove behind the cash register counter
he feels safer than he would anywhere
in hopes of avoiding broken glass and
else because he knows that he is con-
shrapnel. It felt like an eternity, as I
stantly watched over and that the gov-
lay on the floor with my face pressed
ernment is ever on guard to put an
against the Jerusalem stone, feeling
end to terrorism.
helpless and scared."
What the incident has done is
Finally, Ari "peeked over the
motivate the brothers
counter and saw others beginning to
into action, to do all
raise their heads, before a third blast
they can to stem the
sent us crashing to the floor. We then
threat of terrorism.
somehow knew that this was the last
On the day of the
blast and stood up in total shock."
bombing, Ari and
People began to "swarm hysterical-
four friends walked to
ly" around the shopping district. All
"Jerusalem's largest
tourist trap — Ben
Yehuda Street." The
Sherizens had arrived
in Israel the day
before, and were set
to begin 10 months
of study in
Jerusalem's Old City.
The five boys headed
to Jerusalem's popular
shopping district to
purchase "some of the
essentials for our first
year at a yeshiva
abroad — phone
cards, European volt-
age converters and
most essentially, our
first falafels."
The boys "reached
the top of the street
and began our walk
down
when my
Ari could think was, "Is my brother
A triple bomb-
friend
Jonathan was
alive?"
ing inspired
suddenly
stricken
At the same time, Yoni, secure
Yoni Sherizen
with a crazed urge for
within the walls of the Old City,
to action.
chicken fingers."
stopped unpacking and ran toward
They turned down a
Ben Yehuda. Knowing his brother had
side street and head-
gone there to shop, he checked the
ed to the kosher Kentucky Fried
yeshiva's "accounted for" list. Ari's
Chicken.
name was not on it.
"As we peered up at the huge
"Along the way, I saw a lot of
Hebrew menu, two tremendous blasts
panic-stricken faces," Yoni recalls.
threw us to our knees. It took several
"The most lively area of Jerusalem had
Two Detroiters
deal with
a bombing
only hours
after arriving
in Israel for a
year of study.
Oak Park were not hurt, but other
boys from their yeshiva were, includ-
ing Ari's roommate.
Every time a bomb goes off in
Israel, Yoni says, Diaspora Jews tend
to view it, literally and figuratively,
from a distance. But this time, the 19-
year-old second-year yeshiva bocher
"took it as a call to get our act togeth-
er and do whatever we can before,
God forbid, it's too late, that another
incident like this should happen."
turned to shattered store fronts,
crowds of screaming people and
swarms of security and medical
vehicles."
Back at Ben Yehuda, Ari wondered
simultaneously if he knew anyone
who had been on the street at the time
of the blast and what to do next.
"I decided to retreat to the base-
ment of the eatery ... As I sat in the
basement, shaking uncontrollably, I
noticed a woman weeping over her
empty baby stroller. I wondered if that
innocent child was safe from the
blast... "
Eventually, the brothers reunited.
Yoni went to call home. 'After search-
ing for the nearest phone, I waited
several minutes behind a woman sob-
bing uncontrollably into the receiver,
as her eyeliner poured down her face
... I contacted my family back home
and in Israel to inform them of our
safety and to confirm theirs."
Ari's roommate was "minorly
injured" during the bombing. Nails
struck his legs and right forearm. He
was set to be released from Hadassah
Hospital yesterday and is expected to
regain full use of his legs.
The boy and two other students
from the same yeshiva (no Detroiters)
were injured — one took a nail in his
spleen and against the wall of his
heart, and another took shrapnel in
his leg. All will heal completely, says
Dov Sherizen, the boys' father.
In the days since the bombing, Ari
has spent more time in the hospital
than in class. At one point, he
returned to Ben Yehuda and realized
that he had been less than 50 yards
from the explosion. "I thank God
every day that I am alive," he says.
"My semester has started out in a
strange way. On the evening following
the blast, I heard a loud bang. I
checked my watch; it was 1:35 a.m. I
couldn't sleep until 4, anticipating
those horrible screams and sirens. I
wonder if it was a car crash or just a
door closing," Ari says.
The night of the blast, Yoni sat by
the bedside of a classmate who had
"undergone emergency surgery to
remove one of the nails embedded in
his body." The patient's parents were
on their way to Israel.
"Every time something terrible like
this happens, we are shocked, feel ter-
rible and maybe even compelled to do
something to stop the mess," says
Yoni. "Seeing the nails and screws
which belong in our tool sheds, dry
wall and woodwork in small contain-
ers after being removed from human