THE KATYUSHA AND THE COINS

Yossi Amargi was an employee with the Israel Railways garage in Haifa on that fateful morning when a Katyusha rocket struck the depot. While the direct hit killed several of his fellow co-workers, he was miraculously saved in the merit of the coins he had received from the Rebbe decades before. To mark nine years since the Second Lebanon War, Yossi sat recently with “Beis Moshiach” to tell the story of his amazing personal salvation.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

One sunlit morning at the start of the Second Lebanon War’s third difficult week, the citizens of Eretz Yisroel were jamming the highways on their way to work. Suddenly, they received the terrible news that eight Jews had been killed from a direct hit by a Katyusha rocket fired by Hezbollah terrorists on the Israel Railways depot garage in Haifa’s Chof Shemen industrial zone. The emergency paramedics called to the scene treated dozens of people for injuries and shock. They were quickly transported to the Rambam and B’nei Tziyon Hospitals in Haifa. Others, unfortunately, were not quite as lucky. This marked the first time since the start of the conflict that the terrorist organization had managed to strike such a devastating blow against innocent citizens. The entire country was plunged into mourning.

The media reports stated: “Katyushas rained down on Haifa in one of the worst missile attacks in Israel’s history. The police reported this morning (Sunday) eight people killed from a direct hit by a Katyusha rocket on the Israel Railways garage at Chof Shemen, Haifa. Magen David Adom crews treated dozens of injured and transported them to city hospitals.”

It began with the blaring of an air-raid siren at around nine a.m. due to a barrage of more than ten RAAD anti-tank missiles. Local residents were instructed to enter bomb shelters. Security forces reported at least seven Katyusha hits in the Haifa area. The worst damage came at the coach repair section in the railway garage. One room inside the building sustained a direct missile hit, resulting in eight railway workers dead and twenty-three people injured, six seriously.

One of the railway employees wounded in the rocket attack was Yossi Amargi. While he was sent to the hospital with shrapnel injuries, his life was miraculously spared. “The next day, I realized that my incredible rescue was due to the bracha of the Lubavitcher Rebbe that I had received more than twenty years earlier,” he recalled.

We met with Yossi in one of the Israel Railways offices. While the garage has been fully renovated and reinforced, he doesn’t want to go back. The trauma caused by the loss of eight colleagues with whom he had worked very closely for many years has clearly taken its toll. “I’m not even willing to pass by there,” he explained.

THE REBBE TOOK SEVERAL COINS OUT OF HIS POCKET

“When I finished my IDF service in the navy at the end of the seventies, I joined the merchant marine as an employee of Israel Chemicals Ltd. The sea was my whole life. Even before   my naval service, I learned in a school for sea cadets, and it was quite clear to me that my future employment would be of a maritime nature. To my great pleasure, I was hired as a machinist with one of the company’s ships. I would be on the vessel for months at a time, making nautical journeys that spanned the globe. Periodically, we would carry freight to the various ports of New York City.

“Whenever we would come into port, while the crew was busy unloading the cargo, we would take leave for a few days in the port city to regain our strength for the next journey. So it was in New York, where we came on numerous occasions.

“By this time, the Lubavitcher Rebbe had become known far and wide as a prominent Jewish leader. Countless people came to seek his advice and receive his blessing. The daily newspapers in Israel would regularly print reports on his public statements and activities. People who would meet with him spoke about the thrilling experience of visiting his holy court. There wasn’t a Jew anywhere who hadn’t heard about the Rebbe and Chabad.

“I heard the miraculous stories about the Rebbe whenever we came to New York and met with Jews from the local communities. What really fascinated and impressed me was hearing these accounts even from those who were far from being Torah-observant Jews.

“At one point, I decided that on our next journey to New York City, I would make my way to the Rebbe’s court and ask for his blessing. When we docked in New York, I planned to head straight for Crown Heights. Unfortunately, some mechanical problems were discovered in the engine room and I had to wait on board the ship until the repairs were made. It soon became clear that the repairs would take much longer than anticipated. As a result, the ship would have to put out to sea for the return trip to Eretz Yisroel without delay. Since I had no way of knowing whether I would be back any time soon, I asked one of my co-workers to go to the Rebbe for me and ask for a bracha on my behalf.

“This young man was then becoming a baal t’shuva, and I thought that he would make a good spokesman for me. For his part, he was delighted by the opportunity, and he prepared to go as my representative before the Rebbe. I gave him my full name and my mother’s name, and then I went back to the ship to resume work on the repairs. He went to 770 and came back only on the following day. He gave me some coins in a bag, explaining that he met the Rebbe at the entrance to the beis midrash. When he mentioned my name and asked for a bracha, the Rebbe put his hand into his pocket and took out several coins to give to me. I was overcome. As someone educated according to the principle of emunas tzaddikim, I was very happy to receive this bracha.

“I wrapped the coins and placed them in my wallet, and they have remained there ever since. They are the most important thing I keep there, far more than anything else. When I bought a new wallet, the first thing I transferred to it was the bag of coins. For me, it serves like an ‘amulet’; I consider the coins to be a segula that protect me wherever I go. However, I never imagined that they would actually save my life.

“I eventually left the merchant marine – the long sea journeys and absences from home were not particularly suitable for a married family man. Looking for a similar position that would keep me primarily on dry land, I found a job in my chosen profession – repair and maintenance - with Israel Railways. Thus, I began work with the train garage in Haifa near the seashore, the place I like more than any other.”

BENT OUT OF SHAPE

“It was during the Second Lebanon War at the start of a routine day, as all the employees were working at their respective posts in the train garage depot. Suddenly, without warning, I heard a powerful explosion. Shrapnel flew everywhere, as the entire area was gripped by paralyzing fear.

“The first reaction was shock, immediately followed by panic. As I looked around me, I soon realized that we had suffered some serious casualties.

“The rescue units arrived quickly and they transported all of us to Rambam Hospital. Upon my arrival, the emergency staff put me straight into the intensive care unit. Alongside the deep sadness over the tragic loss of my fellow co-workers, there was also a sense of joy for the lives that had been miraculously spared. My injuries were relatively minor – wounds from shrapnel to my face, leg, and chest. Following an initial examination, the doctors informed me that I had been saved by a miracle. During the treatment in the emergency room, the medical staff had taken all my clothes and I had dressed in a hospital gown. They eventually gave my clothes and personal effects to my wife, who had rushed to the hospital upon hearing about the missile attack.

“The following morning, my wife took the wallet and went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. When she opened the wallet, she noticed that there was a hole in it. All the bills were torn and they had signs of powder burns. When she opened the change purse, she found several coins that had been bent due to the impact of the explosion.

“After buying some bread and milk, she quickly went to the hospital with the wallet.

“I looked at the bent coins and began to absorb the tremendous miracle that had been done for me. The coins in my wallet were the same coins that I had received from the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 5744. For all intents and purposes, they had stopped the shrapnel from causing any serious injuries to vital organs that undoubtedly would have endangered my life, as happened with several of my co-workers who succumbed to the massive loss of blood. When I realized the extent of the miracle I had experienced, chills started going up my spine.

“I felt that I had been given my life back as a gift, and it was all thanks to the Rebbe, who had given me those coins for tz’daka as a bracha thirty years ago. This is why I’m still here today.

“My wife, my children, and my family members all know that I owe the Rebbe my life.”

PUBLICIZING THE MIRACLE

Yossi concluded his amazing story with deep emotion. The events of those difficult days are etched into his memory. When we ask him where the coins are, he gave a deadpan facial expression as if he didn’t understand the question. He then pulled out his wallet and produced the bag containing the coins. “Here are the coins that saved my life,” he said in a quavering voice. “I don’t just tell this story to you: At every available opportunity, I reveal the great miracle that I personally experienced – and anyone who wants proof can see the bent coins for themselves.”