Week
Tragedy Hits Home
ER doctor with Detroit roots and his daughter are killed in Jerusalem bombing.
band, Peter. I thought of how he loved
Sta j And Wire Reports
to laugh and how he was a major influ-
father and his daughter out
ence on me religiously, making me
together the night before
want to become more observant. When
her wedding were among
I saw his face, I saw the friendliest smile
the seven killed and 57
and such softness in his eyes, and I
wounded in a suicide bombing at a
knew he had been a comfort to so
popular coffee shop in Jerusalem
many patients."
Tuesday night, Sept. 9.
David and
Dr. David Applebaum, 50, and his
Fayga Dombey
daughter Nava, 20, were buried
of Southfield
Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m. in
recall Dr.
Jerusalem.
Applebaum as
Dr. Applebaum was born in Detroit
the man who
and was a member of the first class at
saved the life of
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
their son, Rabbi
Detroit, where his father, Rabbi
Moshe Dombey.
Emanuel Applebaum, spent several
Their son and
years as principal. Dr. Applebaum was
head of the emergency department in
Shaare Zedek Hospital and founder §
of the Terem 24-hour emergency
clinic in Jerusalem.
Locally, Dr. Applebaum is remem-
bered by former Hillel classmates.
"David and I were friends from
Beth Hayeled Nursery School (at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek) and
then from Hillel, where we were in
class together from kindergarten
until he moved from Detroit in 8th
grade," said Miriam Seagle of West
Bloomfield. 'As soon as I heard someone
named David Applebaum was killed in
the suicide bombing, I called our Hillel
classmate, Susan (Freier) Caine, who
made aliyah after high school.
'As soon as I heard her voice — and
she was crying — I knew it was the
same David Applebaum. Susan and
David and I were very, very close in
school and he and Susan kept in touch
in Israel through the years."
Freier and another classmate, Hassi
(Bigman) Brickman, who also made
aliyah, attended the funeral for Dr.
Applebaum and his daughter.
For Elissa Berg of West Bloomfield,
another of Dr. Applebaum's former
Hillel classmates, the loss of her
Dr. Applebaum became friends when
"vibrant, energetic good friend" also
brought a new reality. "David's death is both were students at Hebrew
Theological College in Skokie, David
the first connection I've ever had with
Dombey said. "David Applebaum
someone affected directly by Israeli ter-
introduced my son to Miriam Simon,
rorism," she said. "And I pray it's the
who became his wife."
last."
Dr. Applebaum married Debbi
Seagle said, "When I saw his picture
Spero, daughter of Rabbi Schubert
in the paper, I remembered David who
Spero, a highly esteemed Cleveland
I used to play gym hockey with and
rabbi. Both couples made aliyah and,
who I visited in Israel with my hus-
9/12
2003
18
years later, Dr. Applebaum hired
Miriam Dombey to manage his inno-
vative emergency clinic.
Four years ago, Rabbi Dombey was
stricken with a rare bile duct disease
Clockwise from top left..
David Applebaum in
second-grade class photo
from Hillel Day School
of Metropolitan Detroit.
Dr. Applebaum at work
at Shaare Zedek Hospital
Mourners around the
bodies of Dr. Applebaum,
, and his daughter at
their funeral Wednesday.
Dr. David Applebaum
and daughter Nava.
and needed a complicated series of
treatments, including a liver transplant.
A specialist who had done similar work
was found in Miami, but Rabbi
Dombey's doctors in Israel felt he was
too ill to be flown to the United States.
"David convinced them that his vital
signs were strong enough to survive the
trip," David Dombey said. "He trav-
eled with them on the plane — with
my son, his doctor and his nurse —
and he flew back again while Moshe
was in the hospital."
Dombey said his entire family is "in
shock" over Dr. Applebaum's death.
"He was a marvelous man; he would
treat anyone," Dombey said. "He had
Israeli patients and Arab patients, and
there were Arabs on his staff."
A Bomb In The Night
The suicide bomber who killed the
Applebaums and five others blew him-
self up Tuesday night at the entrance
to the popular Cafe Hillel restaurant
on Emek Refaim Road in the German
Colony in southern Jerusalem, where
the father and daughter had gone to
review last-minute wedding plans.
According to police, there were two
guards at the coffee shop, one at the
entrance and one inside. Both guards
noticed the suicide bomber and
moved towards him.
One witness said the guards definitely
pushed the bomber outside the cafe,
where he managed to shout Allah Akbar
(God is great) before he exploded.
Jerusalem Police chief Mickey Levy
said the guards prevented a much larg-
er number of fatalities.
Hamas' military wing Izzadin Al
Kassam welcomed the attack. The
group's statement said Israelis could
expect more attacks. Crowds in Gaza
City celebrated the two attacks, with
some handing out sweets.
In addition to the Applebaums, the
following victims of the Jerusalem
bombing have been identified:
Alon Mizrachi, 22, Jerusalem.
Shafik Karim, 27, Beit Hanninah.
Gila Moshe, 40, Jerusalem.
Yechiel Emil Tubol, 52, Jerusalem.
David Shimon Avizadris, 51,
Mevaseret Zion.
One Of Their Own
As the Shaarei Zedek crew of nurses
and doctors were treating the dozens
of wounded at Cafe Hillel, they
received word that the attack had
killed one of the most senior and
beloved doctors of their hospital.
Applebaum, well-trained in treating
bombing victims after years working
as a hospital emergency room director,
was usually the first to report to the
hospital after a bombing. There was
no sign of him Tuesday night.
"It was clear to me from very early
on that David Applebaum — when he
didn't show up and I knew he was in
Jerusalem and he hadn't called — that
a terrible _tragedy had occurred," said