Gabbai of Bostoner Rebbe: thought we were terrorists

A moment of silence for those killed in the explosions at the Boston Marathon was held yesterday (Monday) in Boston. The city, with its millions of inhabitants, stood in silence and remembered the trauma and turmoil which it suffered a week ago.

Naftali Farkel, right hand of the Rebbe of Boston, a head of 'Refuah' organization operating in the city, restores the moments of terror which peaked last Friday: "Our Beis Midrash is located in Brookline. The marathon was right in front of the Beis Midrash. Every year it goes that route. The attack occurred a mile away from us.

"The truth is that during the attack, we did not know the dimensions of the case, what we did see, is that half an hour later policemen appeared at the entrance to Beis Midrash and Talmud Torahs, and were stationed at the entrances to the institutions. Then we started to realize that this is a terrorist attack. But the peak of the tension began on Thursday and reached a peak on Friday. The police and security forces had already realized that this is probably a nationalist event. I myself and another avrech went on Thursday, each in a separate vehicle, for a meeting near where the attack occurred.

"My friend the avrech noticed a gathering that blocked his way, stopped the car, and went to investigate. I stopped behind him and called him on the cellular to find out why he stopped. Suddenly I see four security personnel with pistols surrounding the avrech and attaching guns to his head. Someone grabbed his phone, my friend bent down on his knees and lay down on the road, face down, one of the officers put handcuffs on his hands from behind. The drama lasted half an hour, during which he was asked a lot of questions. It turned out that the police suspected that he was the terrorist and is posing as haredi. Only after they realized that my friend is an honest and innocent avrech, his handcuffs were removed, and the police apologized."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!