"Avraham had a Sefer HaZohar and the sefer Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim in his pocket, and they are both full of stab marks"

We all know that stabbing attacks are possible, but Avraham Elmaliach never dreamed it would actually happen to him, walking back from the Kosel on the afternoon of Shabbos Chanukah. The 20-year-old yeshivah student in Ateret Yitzchak lives in the Beis Yisrael neighborhood, and in order to make it home after Minchah before shkiyah, he decided to take the popular shortcut. Instead of walking through Jaffa Gate, the safer route, he went through Damascus Gate, hoping to shave off 20 minutes. He had just exited the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, crossing Sultan Suleiman Street, when he was met by a knife-wielding terrorist who grabbed him and stabbed him over and over, until two border policemen arrived at the scene and shot the terrorist. The terrorist tried to get up again; then they fired another few rounds and killed him. (The border policemen were interrogated and their weapons confiscated when video footage shows they shot an already-injured terrorist, but they were eventually released and their weapons returned.)

Avraham was taken to Shaare Zedek medical center, where doctors found 11 stab wounds all over his body. One was just millimeters from the main artery in his neck.

“Avraham didn’t come home for Seudah Shlishit, and we were very worried about him,” relates his brother, Nachman, 23, who is at his bedside daily. Mrs. Elmaliach passed away two years ago, and their father has had a slew of health issues since that family tragedy, so the family tries to keep together. “We had no idea what happened, and only on Motzaei Shabbos did we receive a call from Shaare Zedek that Avraham was in moderate to serious condition. Fortunately, he was conscious the whole time. When we heard his voice and saw him alive and breathing, we were overwhelmed with gratitude.”

Some people have already heard about the miracle that saved his life. “Avraham had a Sefer HaZohar and the sefer Kabbalas Ol Malchus Shamayim in his pocket, and they are both full of stab marks — those seforim saved his life,” Nachman relates. “He always carries the Zohar, and he received the other sefer on Chanukah from the Toldos Aharon Rebbe, who had a gathering for orphaned bochurim.”

Avraham, grateful to be alive, says he just has to be patient. “I’m in a lot of pain, mostly in my back and legs,” Avraham says. “I can’t swallow solid food because of the wound in my neck, and I still can’t walk or sit up.” The physical pain, he says, is excruciating, and so is the trauma.

“I’m an emotional wreck,” he admits. “I have the image of the terrorist in my mind all the time.”

— Sarah Pardes

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 890)