The mission ended. The paths of life of Yonatan Sandler הי"ד

In the Jewish community of Toulouse in the south of France, they are worriedly keeping track of the situation of those wounded in today's attack (Monday) next to the Otzar Hatorah school.

The heads of the Kehilla can hardly fathom the abominable attack in which Harav Yonatan Sandler and his two sons were killed – Arye aged 6 and Gavriel aged 3.5, and the principal's daughter, Miriam Monsoniego aged 8 – Hashem Yikom Damam.

Yonatan Sandler, born in Paris, arrived in Toulouse in the South of France a few months ago, in the framework of a Kiruv organization which is funded by the Wolfson Fund. The Talmud Torah in Toulouse was well known to Yonatan, since in his childhood he was sent there by his parents in order to get a Chareidi education, and so he made the way every morning from Paris to Toulouse. After he ended school he moved to the Beis Halevi Yeshiva in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem.

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Shooting attack in France. Avrech, his two sons and a girl, murdered at the entrance to the Talmud Torah in Toulouse. Watch.

After his marriage in France, he returned to Eretz Yisroel and learned in the Zichron Shimon Kollel in Har Nof, Jerusalem. The kollel, which is funded by the Wolfson Fund, was aimed at training Avreichim for Shlichus in Jewish communities abroad.
"He was one of the brightest Avreichim in the project," said a person in the fund to Behadrey Haredim. "You could see that he is coming with a lot of willingness and ambition. He was full of "drive" to Mekarev as many Jews as possible to their Father in Heaven, and invested way over what was expected in the studies".

"Excited by the return to Toulouse"

Harav Aharon Getz, who learned Chavrusa with him in the learning framework of Shlichus in the Zichron Shimon kollel, tells Behadrey Haredim: "Yonatan was a very friendly Avrech. He used to Mekarev French students who arrived in Israel to complete their studies. He would invite them for Shabbos and take care of all their needs.

"During the last month he was in Israel, he talked to me about his excitement about the trip back to Toulouse. He felt he's going for a special mission, he had a feeling he's going to return a favor for being educated there himself.

"He had very clear plans. He meant to return to Israel after two years of Shlichus in order to complete the learning program in Halacha which he did here in Israel. Everything was meticulously organized with him. The sudden murder shocked us all."

"Doing everything in order to make it easier for his wife"

"We are talking of an important and dear Avrech who arrived here before Rosh Hashanah", Harav Avraham Weill, the Chief Rabbi of Toulouse, tells Behadrey Haredim, a short while after the murder.

"He held activities with the youth and was very beloved to everyone. A very fine Avrech indeed. Almost every day he would travel a distance of 200km in order to Mekarev university students to their Father in Heaven. It's hard to fathom the tragedy. A young Avrech and two of his children at once. Unfathomable."

Harav Weill tells that he is in constant touch with the wife of Yonatan z"l. "We are in full connection with the police and the authorities in order to bring them as quickly as possible to Israel. This is a procedure which can take hours, and we are trying to make it easier as far as possible".

About the feelings on the harsh morning in Toulouse, Harav Weill says: "As I tell everyone, it's hard for me to talk. What happened here is too terrible. This is a great tragedy. The terrorist arrived in front of the school and started shooting. It's hard for us to fix exact numbers of those injured, but we need a lot of davening."

"A simple and humble man"

Harav Rachamim Sabag, who served as a teacher in the school in which Yonatan Sandler learned, and sat with him in the Kollel during the day, says to Behadrey Haredim: "This is a great disaster for the Jews of the diaspora, may Hashem help all of us, we have to daven, it's very hard for me to talk.

"This was a simple and humble man, who did very good work in Kiruv. He used to help students in a distance of tens of kilometers from Toulouse. In the Kollel he would not stop for a minute from the learning of Torah.

We are all in shock, his family is making its way to Toulouse. His father is the head of a kehillah in Paris".

About the feelings in the Jewish community in Toulouse, Harav Sabag says: "We are all in shock, such things don't normally happen in France. We need a Yeshua".

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