A Candle in the Darkness

Amid the darkness of the events in Meron, a small candle flickers which represents a young life which b’chasdei Hashem was not snuffed out.

“After I fell down in the pandemonium, I managed to stand upright on my feet,” Yosef Chai Absalem told Ynet. “I was able to pull out several people, but I myself tried several times to leave the area where I was trapped but I was not successful.

“I saw the face of a young boy, and I decided I would approach him. I was able to pull him out a bit, first his head, then his arms, and at a certain point I told him, ‘Go forward. Help me help you.’ I tried to pull him out by his hands, and although I pulled and pulled, I was unable to budge him. At that point, when I was unable to get him out a bit but he was not responding and unable to help me, I thought I lost him.

“I passed out, and I awoke in the hospital. For the past 2 days, all I could think about was, ‘What happened to the child?’ It was important to me.”

Eventually, the boy whose name is Pinchas, was brought to safety, and on Shabbos Yosef Chai and Pinchas met for the first time in Ziv Medical Center in Tzfas.

“Today, someone made the connection. When I went down to see him, he immediately recognized me. Our first meeting was very emotional,” said Yosef Chai. “I feel completely different, I feel relieved that he is alright. Baruch Hashem I am happy, healthy and complete. Physically, I am ok, and mentally I will be alright, since Pinchas is healthy as well.”

Pinchas expressed his wish to keep up with Yosef Chai, the man who help save him from the enormous calamity in Meron.