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Rabbi Ahiad Ettinger, 12 year old father.
(photo credit: courtesy)
"Rabbi Ettinger called me just 14 minutes before the terrorist attack," remembers Yitzhak Wbaderlauf, a student in Oz V Emunah hesder yeshiva, in southern Tel Aviv. "Every morning he called me to make the point We are all in shock, he was going to the yeshiva here and we thought we could see him at any time when we heard about the attack."
The father of 12 children died last month after being hit in the head by a terrorist in Ariel Junction. Ettinger, 47, was arrested for shooting at the terrorist, but the latter fired back, fatally wounding him. His family announced that they would give his organs.
Ettinger has lived in Eli for the past three years. Before that, he lived in Kiryat Shalom, in southern Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, he founded Yeshivat Oz V'Emunah at 13 Yesod Hama'ala Street in Neveh Sha'anan, a neighborhood that has experienced great difficulties in recent years. The aim of Ettinger was to rehabilitate and strengthen the neighborhood and its inhabitants and restore its Jewish character. A few hours before the funeral, yeshiva students gathered to remember their rabbi and the many wonderful things he's done for people.
"Rabbi Ettinger had three main goals when he founded the yeshiva," says Ariel Bashan, co-founder of Yeshivat Oz V'Emunah and resident of Shapira neighborhood. "First of all, he wanted to create a place where he could learn seriously. His second goal was to help others feel closer to their Judaism and Zionist tendencies by learning the Torah texts and values. His third and main goal was to strengthen the Jewish character of the neighborhood, from which many Jews fled. He called it Africa-Israel.
"He wanted to achieve these goals without harming other people in the area," says Bashan. "He did not want to do anything negative, but only positive actions. The Jews were constantly leaving the neighborhood, so he felt it was important for us to come live there. Upon learning Torah, he felt like he was bringing light into a dark place. "
Have many people followed his example?
"He had to face many challenges to start the yeshiva, but he was extremely determined and had tremendous faith. He intended to support the residents of the neighborhood. He managed to bring together a variety of people with different worldviews and visions. He would talk about the importance of his purpose and how it would significantly affect the future of our community and our country. He chose the name Oz V'Emunah because he believed that we could find great strength by faith. "
One of the individuals he recruited to help establish the yeshiva is the representative of the Tel Aviv City Council and Bayit Yehudi member, Chaim Goren. "Rabbi Ettinger took a deserted synagogue near the old central bus station and revived it," says Goren.
"He gathered shekel after shekel with a lot of dedication to pay for the renovations and to find students and teachers. Ettinger served as the director, head of the yeshiva and secretary. He filled all these positions himself. He wanted to create an anchor that would prevent the last Jews who lived in the area from leaving. His goal was to convince others to come and strengthen the synagogue so that there would be a functional synagogue in southern Tel Aviv, where any Jew could come to pray or learn. Her dream was to create a community and create a positive feeling in a neighborhood that was in great pain. He hoped that at some point, families would start coming back here to live and raise their children. "
What role did you play?
"The rabbi has done almost everything alone. I helped him as much as I could. I served as a liaison with the municipality and asked for help from friends living in nearby communities. In these aspects, I was able to help a little. At first, I was quite skeptical that he would get the yeshiva off the ground. Such an undertaking is difficult even in the usual circumstances. But attempting to achieve such a feat in a region such as the south of Tel Aviv seemed virtually impossible. It's a neighborhood where many bars are open at night and drugs sold in the streets. Rabbi Ettinger was determined and despite the odds, he succeeded. "
Wbaderlauf has been studying the yeshiva for three years, starting from the day of its opening, and lives in the Shapira district of southern Tel Aviv. "I am annihilated by the tragic death of the rabbi," he laments. "I was very close to the rabbi. He would come here every day.
What is life like in this neighborhood?
"There are currently about 2,000 Jews living here and many other non-Jewish residents," says Wbaderlauf. "The streets are very neglected and violence and crime have exploded. Rabbi Ettinger created the yeshiva here in order to strengthen local Jewish residents. All synagogues in the area have been closed and Jews are discouraged. Jews no longer had room to pray together. He recognized this need and began offering food packaging for the elderly. He also led study groups in local matnas (community center). "
Will the yeshiva continue to flourish without Rabbi Ettinger?
"He was the backbone of the yeshiva. He did everything. We will have to pull ourselves together and find a way to continue his work without him. With the help of God, we will succeed. "
"Rabbi Ettinger wanted to strengthen the Jewish nature of this neighborhood, where so many Jews have fled in recent years," says Nir Seat, who also lives in Shapira. "Only the frail and poor residents, unable to leave, stayed here. The rabbi also addressed non-religious Jews and tried to reconnect them with their Jewish heritage and religion. When he was still living in the neighborhood, after finishing the Shabbat dinner with his family, he went to the streets of Shenkin and Florentine and offered Kiddush for the people who lived there. Even after he left Tel Aviv, he would return again each year for our matsa manufacturing event in the old Hapoel Hamizrachi synagogue where he was the rabbi. For six years, he gave a Torah lesson at home every Tuesday night. It would be packed every week. He was very popular. "
The students of the yeshiva became extremely aware of the death of Rabbi Ettinger. "On the day of the attack, we wondered why the rabbi had not arrived yet. Then one of the students who was connected to Eli's yeshiva called me to tell me that he had heard a rumor about the bad news. Right now my phone has rang. It was my wife. She told me that she had just received her phone with Rabbi Ettinger's wife, who said that he had been shot and was in critical condition. That night, people from all over the country began to gather in the Tel Aviv yeshiva. We held a mbad prayer session and poured out our hearts for the rabbi's recovery. When we received the sad news of his death, our heart broke.
"None of us are surprised to see other people bragging about the esteemed values of Rabbi Ettinger and his heroism in the attack," notes Bashan. "We are now trying to overcome the shock. There are already many people coming to help us continue the work of the rabbi throughout his life. With the help of Hashem, we will succeed. "
Translated by Hannah Hochner.
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