Renewed Resolve
The Blast,
The Carnage
Local rabbis react to Tuesday's bus bombing in Jerusalem.
NAOMI RAGEN
Special to the Jewish News
SHELLY LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter
T
uesday's bus bombing in Jerusalem that
killed at least 20 people and wounded
more than 100 brought the first great
wave of fear to Rabbi Alon Tolwin since
his daughter and her new husband made aliyah two
weeks ago.
When he finally reached his daughter, Henna, by
telephone, "She told me she and her husband Yosef
[Milworn] were going to be on that bus, but then
her husband suggested they take a cab." Rabbi
Tolwin's family, including his father and brother vis-
iting Israel, are safe.
"The bus is one of the heavier usage buses in the
Orthodox community," said Rabbi Tolwin, executive
director of Aish in Birmingham. "It connected
French Hill, where my daughter and her husband
live, with other Orthodox communities and the
[Western] Wall.
"The bus is the one often taken by American stu-
dents. If this was two weeks from
now, after school started, there would
no doubt have been some students on
the bus. "
The rabbi, who returned from a
visit to Israel just last week, said, "I
would go back in a heartbeat. We take
chances every day. Just this morning, I
Tolwin
jumped out of the way of a car that
didn't stop where it should have."
Rabbi Tolwin added, "I would never steal from
my daughter something meaningful in her life —
creating a strong camaraderie with Jews in Israel. "I
would never tell her to come back here."
Rabbi Daniel Nevins of Adat Shalom Synagogue
in Farmington Hills and his Israeli cousin Natalie,
visiting Ann Arbor following her discharge from the
Israeli army last month, read about the bombing on
the Internet. Natalie's father runs a store near the
bombing site.
"The Jewish people are very desperate to believe in
the decency and good intentions of the Palestinians,
all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding," said
Rabbi Nevins "If this is what they call a truce, then
what can they possibly mean by peace?
"My admiration for the Israeli people grows
stronger by the day, as does my desire to spend as
much time as possible in Israel. When our people
are hurting, the Jewish instinct is to run towards,
not away from, the situation."
Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan
Detroit members will meet with members of
Congress with the message "to pressure the
Palestinians to confront the terrorists in their
midst," said Allan Gale, associate JCCouncil direc-
tor. He also urged the community to contact local
members of Congress.
"We feel that the United States must make a credi-
ble threat now, and back it up if need be, to remove
support for the Abbas government if it does not act."
Terror Claims Children
The bus bombing occurred on a street running from
downtown Jerusalem toward the fervently Orthodox
Mea Shearim neighborhood. Several children were
among the dead.
The fact that so many children were killed or
wounded has made the tragedy even more painful for
a nation already reeling from dozens of suicide bomb-
ings in the 3-year-old Palestinian intifada (uprising).
Apparently dressed as an Orthodox Jew, the terror-
ist shoved his way among the many passengers to the
center of the elongated "accordion" bus, where he det-
onated the bomb he was carrying.
Five of the dead were American citizens, according
to the Associated Press.
Eighteen of the 20 dead had been identified by
Wednesday. Names released included Mordechai
Reinitz, 49, and his son Issachar, 9, of Jerusalem;
Goldie Taubenfeld, 43, and her son Shmuel, 3, from
New Square, N.Y.; Ya'akov Binder, 50, from
Jerusalem; Rabbi Eliezer Weisfish, 42, from
Jerusalem; Menachem Liebel, 24, from Jerusalem;
Shmuel Zargari, 11 months, from Jerusalem; Lilach
Kardi, 22, who was nine months pregnant, of
Jerusalem; and Tehilla Nathanson, 3, of Monsey, N.Y.
Other names were withheld at the families' request,
Israeli media reported.
The bombing came days after Israel had decided to
relax its demand for a Palestinian Authority crack-
down on terrorist groups, announcing that it would
turn over four more West Bank cities to P.A. control.
The bombing seemed likely to intensify criticism of
the government from the Israeli right, which had been
critical of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to
pull the army back from West Bank cities without
serious Palestinian action against terror groups.
In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Israel
froze security talks and its planned withdrawal.
However, Israeli officials said Wednesday that in the
long run they still believed the withdrawal — and
other parts of the "road map" peace plan — should
proceed.
A U.S. congressional delegation canceled a meeting
with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud
Abbas after Tuesday's bombing. "We have concluded
it is pointless to meet with Abu Mazen [Abbas' nom
de guerre], as he is either impotent to stop terror or
unwilling to act," Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., said
in a statement.
Israel briefly considered expelling P.A. President
Yasser Arafat, who they consider an instigator of vio-
lence, but decided against it.
Israel also re-imposed a closure on the West
RESOLVE on page 25
Jerusalem
L
et's go out to dinner tonight, my husband
suggested about 5 p.m. Tuesday. Great, I
told him. I've been stuck in the house all
day working on my book. Making dinner
seemed like mission impossible.
I wanted to go someplace new, so I went to a Web
site listing all Jerusalem's kosher restaurants and found
this little French place in the center of town I'd never
been to before. I called to find out if they had a secu-
rity guard, and then, while I was on the phone, asked
if I needed to make reservations. Actually, I did.
"We've only got one table
available, out on the patio,"
the staff told me.
"Otherwise, we are booked for the whole evening."
And I thought, wow, after all the restaurants in
town center have been going out of business after
two years of intifada (Palestinian uprising), this place
must be something special. Even before we parked
our car, I saw it. Downtown Jerusalem was packed
with people. Families out for a stroll. Holiday-mak-
ers on tours. People going to the downtown food
festivals. The open-air flea markets were re-opened,
and full of buyers. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Just a year ago, Jerusalem was a ghost town. It was
almost the feeling of a rebirth, I thought. People
throwing off their fears, beginning to live again.
We sat down to eat about 7:50 p.m. The food was
great. The service wonderful. Lovely antipasti, and
foie gras with pears, served on a little table out in a
vine-covered courtyard. It was quiet and pretty. And I
thought how fortunate this little place had weathered
the terrible days when no one came to Jerusalem.
We finished about 9:10, and decided to join the
milling crowds enjoying the summer evening. As we
walked down Rechov Rivlin and reached Jaffa Road, I
didn't suspect anything as I saw the young boys who ran
down the street. Youngsters letting off steam, I thought.
Then I saw the police cars, and overheard some-
one say: pi gua
terrorist attack. All at once, I
heard the sirens. More crowds of people were gath-
ered on corners, listening to car radios. Someone
said, "Shmuel HaNavi Street." It was a street in the
heart of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.
Suddenly, the lively street scene turned almost sur-
realistic. People were still sitting in outdoor cafes,
smiling and laughing, while streets away children lay
burnt and dying.
There were no loudspeakers, and if you weren't
paying attention, you could keep on telling yourself
that everything was the same — a lovely summer
evening in Jerusalem.
We headed back to the car, and put on the radio. A
double bus, standing-room only, packed with reli-
gious families coming back from a visit to the
Western Wall, blown to bits. It had just happened.
COMMEIrl'ART
—
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CARNAGE on page 24
8/22
2003
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