At 4:00 am, a shochet going to Mikvah in Postville, Iowa, noticed flames in the shul and called for help. In a nick of time, he saved the newly renovated shul, plus two brand new Sifrei Torah.
By Anash.org reporter
On Wednesday night, Rabbi Greenwald, a Rachmastrivka chossid and shochet at Agri in Postville, woke up and went to mikvah at 4:00 am to start his day. As he passed the shul, he noticed flames and immediately called 911. The firefighter who arrived on the scene was Rabbi Mendy Chazan, a mashgiach at Agri Kosher, who quickly rescued the two brand new Torahs and helped save the shul.
As it turns out, a yahrtzeit candle lit by a shul member the previous evening had caught fire in the middle of the night. The newly remodeled shul, which had recently been updated with a generous donation from Rabbi Heshi Rubashkin and family, was about to go up in flames.
“This was a tremendous miracle that happened,” local melamed Rabbi Mendel Raices told Anash.org. “The fact that the shochet was going to mikvah before starting his job and the rescuing of the Sifrei Torah and the shul on time was a tremendous hashgacha pratis. The morning minyan would have been a few hours later and much too late. Boruch Hashem!”
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