Miracle in Itamar: Torah Ark Falls on Baby During Farbrengen; Baby Unharmed

An incident which can be described as nothing short of a miracle occurred in the Shomron community of Itamar on Tuesday. A synagogue ark containing heavy Torah scrolls fell on a baby and the baby survived.

“Yesterday we celebrated a brit milah (ritual circumcision –ed.) of a son of one of the residents here,” David Shneerson, whose son was the one on whom the ark fell, told Arutz Sheva. “During the brit we had a farbrengen (a Hasidic tradition involving a night of Torah learning and celebration –ed.) and the Mashpia (lit. person of influence, the leader of the study –ed.) was talking about a lack of love within Israel, and as soon as he said those words we heard a huge boom.

“We looked and saw that the entire ark with all the Torah scrolls fell on the floor,” added Shneerson. “My two-year-old baby was under the ark, and we lifted the ark and saw him screaming. We thought that the worst had happened, but it turned out that nothing happened and he was just screaming because he was startled.”

Shneerson recalled that earlier, the synagogue’s gabbai (sexton) suggested placing a partition in front of the ark.

“The gabbai suggested placing the partition so that when it comes time to eat, the congregants won’t eat in front of the ark,” he said. “I asked the rabbi and he said that we should place the partition. My son was between the partition and the ark and that’s what saved him. The ark fell on the metal of the partition and the metal pierced a hole through the ark. The ark weighs 150 to 200 kilograms. The metal saved my son.”