Yair, who lives in Raanana in Israel, was getting ready to leave the house a few days ago. He was getting dressed and looking for a pair of tzitzit (ritual fringes) that he wears under his shirt all the time, following Jewish commandments.
It turns out they were all in the laundry except the brand new pair he had purchased in honor of his sister’s wedding which was to take place in two days.
As he intended to keep them clean and new for the wedding, he decided he would go without wearing tzitzit that day. But, at the last minute, uneasy about his decision, he turned back and put them on, knowing it was the correct thing to do – and feeling that if he didn’t, he would somehow be inviting trouble.
He left for the bus stop and was waiting for the bus to arrive. He was feeling tense already because of the terrible terror attacks that had been taking place all across Israel. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a man near him who was having a conversation in Arabic on his phone. The man looked very agitated and was dripping with sweat.
Before Yair could do anything, the man suddenly lunged at him and began stabbing him in the shoulder and neck. As Yair struggled with him, despite the pain and horror, he tried to make sure to keep the attacker away from a woman and her children nearby.
People around him came to his rescue, some tackling and holding the terrorist, the others taking his tzitzit and tearing them into bandages to staunch the flow of blood.
Yair was rushed to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba where Rabbi Menachem Kutner, Director of Chabad’s Terror Victims Project (CTVP) and Rabbi Yossi Lipkin met him.
Yair told them that he felt sure that Hashem had protected him from worse injuries in the merit of his having worn his tzitzit that morning. Not to mention the fact that the tzitzit stopped his loss of blood.
Yair underwent a series of treatments and was released from the hospital just in time to attend his sister’s wedding! Mazel Tov to all!!
Rabbi Kutner and Rabbi Lipkin Visiting Yair and giving him a gift