In a heartbreaking funeral, ten Torah scrolls burnt when Muslim terrorists set fire to the shul in Derbent, Dagestan were buried on 17 Tammuz, the day we mourn the burning of a Torah by Roman general Apostomus.
On Sunday, the seventeenth of the month in which the Torah was given to the Jewish nation, about half an hour before the arrival of dozens of local Jews to daven at the shul in the center of the city of Derbent, a sudden terror attack took place at the hands of three foreign Muslim terrorists who went on a deathly rampage in the city against members of other religions.
After murdering a number of civilians, two of them came to the shul, shot the guard, and barricaded themselves in the shul. The local police were no match for their sophisticated weapons, and until more skilled fighters arrived, the terrorists set fire to the main sanctuary. The local Jews who saw the raging fire tried to run in to save the Torah scrolls, but were blocked by the police who feared for the lives of the Jews.
The sight that unfolded after the vile killers were eliminated was heartbreaking. Jews and non-Jews stood weeping in front of the large amount of ash that was left from the beautiful building which had been covered in wood. This caused the flames to spread rapidly, consuming everything there, including the Aron Kodesh along with the ten Torah scrolls inside of it, seven of which were Sefardic and three Ashkenazic. It also destroyed the rich Torah library which served the worshipers, guests, and the local youth who would come regularly for Torah classes.
Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, second in size in the Muslim Republic of Dagestan. The shul that was burnt had been renovated and rededicated fourteen years ago by Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar. Every step in the revival of the community was under the direction and dedicated support of the Republic’s President. The shul was built on the foundations of the two-hundred-year-old shul that once stood there, the only one that survived out of thirteen shuls that had been closed by the Communists.
On the thirtieth day since the terrible fire, the Chief Rabbi of Russia sent a delegation from Moscow, amongst whom was the Rabbi and Chabad Shliach of Derbent Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, as well as the Gabbai of the central Marina Roscha shul, to arrange the funeral and burial of the Torah scrolls, holy books and other sacred items.
After an emotional Mincha in the Shul’s courtyard, they left in a convoy secured by the local police towards the Jewish cemetery. The Rabbis put into a large earthen vessel the remains and ashes that had been collected from the place of the Aron Kodesh, and to the sounds of the cries of the many gathered, the vessel was lowered into the burial pit. Around it were buried holy books and sacred items that had been damaged by the fire.
When the pit was covered, Rabbi Isakov asked for forgiveness on behalf of all those involved and on behalf of all the community members, and together they said the slichos and chapters of Tehillim as they were instructed by the interim Chief Rabbi of Israel HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Rozhe, who guides the Rabbis of Russia at all times and in all matters.
The funeral concluded with learning Mishnayos and reciting Kaddish. The community president Reb Baruch Elyashiv and community lay leaders sat down immediately to work out a plan in addition to a number of moves that were already made in coordination with the authorities and community leaders in order to restore the place and increase security for the hundreds of Jewish families who live in the city and its outlying communities in this republic.
Photography: M. Ashkenazi
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