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Israeli investigators are examining whether the flydubai co-pilot accused of attacking the captain of Flight FZ1073 deliberately waited until the aircraft was near Jordan before attempting to seize control — potentially as part of a plan to crash the passenger jet inside Israel.

The disturbing possibility emerged alongside a new report that Shin Bet Director David Zini had spent weeks warning that security arrangements at airports in the United Arab Emirates were inadequate, and had insisted that Israeli airlines not resume service to the UAE until the deficiencies were addressed.

According to a report by Amit Segal on Channel 12, the Shin Bet had conducted its own assessment of the security perimeter surrounding Israeli airline operations in the Emirates and concluded that the existing arrangements did not provide sufficient protection.

That assessment reportedly triggered a significant dispute in recent weeks between Zini and Israeli airlines eager to resume service to the UAE. Zini resisted pressure to lift the restrictions, maintaining that Israeli carriers should remain grounded on the route until the security concerns were resolved.

The warnings have taken on new significance following Wednesday’s extraordinary events aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Ben Gurion Airport, when the co-pilot allegedly attacked and stabbed Captain Smit Machchhar before apparently attempting to send the Boeing 737 MAX into a catastrophic descent.

Flight-tracking data shows that the aircraft was cruising at approximately 34,000 feet before suddenly plunging. Publicly available data indicates that the jet lost roughly half of its altitude in less than two minutes during the most violent portion of the emergency.

The aircraft initially transmitted the emergency squawk code 7700, indicating a general emergency, and subsequently transmitted 7500 — the international transponder code indicating unlawful interference with an aircraft.

The plane briefly entered Jordanian airspace before turning back toward Saudi Arabia, where it ultimately landed safely in Tabuk after passengers and other crew members managed to overpower the alleged attacker.

Israel is now examining whether the location of the aircraft when the alleged takeover began was coincidental or whether it was itself part of the plan.

One scenario under investigation is that the co-pilot intended to gain control of the aircraft while it was over or near Jordan and then rapidly turn toward Israel, leaving Israeli authorities only a very short period to react before the aircraft could reach Israeli territory.

Officials have stressed that this remains an investigative theory and has not been established as the attacker’s actual plan. The motive for the cockpit attack has also not yet been officially determined, and investigators are examining whether the co-pilot acted alone or had assistance or direction from others.

The exact weapon used in the attack also remains unclear. Israeli reports have variously described it as a knife or a small ax, and investigators are expected to focus heavily on how any weapon capable of inflicting the captain’s injuries could have reached the cockpit.

That question is where Zini’s earlier concerns about airport security in the UAE could become particularly significant.

Although the incident occurred aboard a foreign airline and the alleged attacker was himself a member of the flight crew, Segal reported that Israeli aviation security procedures might have provided another layer of protection capable of detecting or preventing such an attack, particularly if investigators determine that the weapon was brought aboard before departure from Dubai.

Israel’s aviation-security system subjects flights and personnel to measures that go beyond the standard screening procedures used at many international airports. The flydubai incident is now expected to trigger a broader examination of the threat posed by insiders with authorized access to aircraft.

The security concerns raised before Wednesday’s attack reportedly did not center specifically on a rogue pilot attempting to seize his own aircraft. Instead, Israeli intelligence had been dealing with a sharp increase in general warnings about possible attacks, including concerns about an assault at an airport or missile fire targeting aviation.

According to Segal, a scenario in which a member of a flight crew would attack another pilot and attempt to use the aircraft itself as a weapon had not previously emerged in the discussions or threat scenarios known to him.

Wednesday’s incident has now placed that possibility squarely on the table.

Israeli fighter jets were scrambled during the emergency as authorities initially confronted the possibility that the Israel-bound aircraft had been hijacked. The plane ultimately turned toward Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely and the alleged attacker was taken into Saudi custody.

Nearly all of the roughly 170 passengers aboard were Israeli. Passengers and crew members who gained access to the cockpit subdued the co-pilot, while additional flydubai pilots who happened to be traveling aboard the aircraft subsequently helped bring the situation under control.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority has officially described what occurred aboard FZ1073 as a “security incident” and confirmed that crew members were injured and taken to a Saudi hospital. Emirati authorities said an investigation is underway into both the operational and security circumstances surrounding the incident.

Flydubai has likewise said that the motive and underlying circumstances remain under formal investigation and has cautioned against drawing conclusions before investigators establish the facts.

The incident is also highlighting the unusual division of responsibilities surrounding flights between Israel and foreign countries. Israel’s Transportation Ministry oversees regulatory aspects involving foreign airlines operating to and from Israel, while the Shin Bet is responsible for security surrounding Israeli airlines and their flights. The Mossad handles the broader effort to prevent international terrorist threats outside Israel.

That division helps explain why Zini’s warnings did not result in flydubai being barred from operating the Dubai-Israel route: his concerns had directly affected Israeli carriers whose security falls under the Shin Bet’s responsibility, while flydubai is a foreign airline operating under a different security framework.

The attack is now expected to force Israeli authorities to reassess that framework as well, including the screening of foreign flight crews, the security arrangements at airports serving Israel-bound flights and the possibility that someone with legitimate cockpit access could himself pose the threat.

The most ominous question remains what the alleged attacker intended to do had the passengers and crew not stopped him. Israeli investigators are now trying to determine whether the terrifying plunge aboard FZ1073 was simply an attempt to bring down the aircraft wherever it happened to be — or whether the jet’s proximity to Jordan and Israel was part of a far more calculated plan.

{Matzav.com}

Saudi Arabia provided food, medical assistance and reportedly warm treatment to the Israeli passengers stranded in Tabuk following the dramatic flydubai cockpit attack, but drew a firm line at allowing Israeli military aircraft to land on Saudi soil to bring them home.

Behind the scenes, the Mossad maintained continuous contact with Saudi authorities as Israel worked to evacuate the passengers of flydubai Flight FZ1073, which made an emergency landing in Tabuk after the co-pilot allegedly stabbed the captain and attempted to bring down the aircraft.

Nearly 180 passengers, most of them Israelis, suddenly found themselves inside a country that has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Despite the unusual circumstances, the Saudis received the passengers, provided them with food and arranged medical treatment for those who required it.

Israel initially sought permission to dispatch Israeli Air Force Hercules transport planes to Tabuk to retrieve the passengers. Riyadh, however, refused to permit the military aircraft to land, reportedly concerned that photographs of Israeli Air Force planes sitting openly at a Saudi airport would be viewed as a highly public demonstration of normalization between the two countries.

Israeli officials then explored another possibility: sending an unmarked Israeli civilian aircraft instead of a military plane.

According to Ynet, the Mossad came close to securing Saudi approval for a so-called “white plane” — an Israeli civilian aircraft without conspicuous identifying markings — that could have flown into Tabuk and brought the stranded Israelis home without the political symbolism of an Israeli military aircraft landing in the kingdom.

That plan ultimately became unnecessary after the passengers agreed to board a replacement aircraft dispatched by flydubai. Some passengers had initially resisted getting back onto another plane belonging to the same airline after the terrifying ordeal they had just survived and hoped that an Israeli aircraft would instead come for them.

After discussions at the airport, the passengers eventually boarded the flydubai rescue flight, which departed Tabuk and landed safely at Ben Gurion Airport later Wednesday.

An Israeli official said the Saudi reluctance to allow an identifiable Israeli aircraft onto its soil reflected the delicate reality of the relationship between Yerushalayim and Riyadh. The two countries cooperate on a range of regional security matters but still lack formal diplomatic relations, and Saudi leaders remain highly sensitive to domestic and regional reaction to visible signs of cooperation with Israel.

“The kingdom is now benefiting from a security connection, thereby paying no price and only gaining,” the senior official said, adding that Israel should find ways to translate the growing behind-the-scenes relationship into diplomatic gains as well.

The circumstances surrounding the emergency landing are themselves being viewed by Israeli officials as another unusual chapter in the steadily developing, though still unofficial, relationship between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The alleged attack aboard FZ1073 was not directed at Saudi Arabia. The flight was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv and was near the Saudi-Jordanian border when the cockpit crisis erupted. Flight-tracking data showed the aircraft transmitting a general emergency code and later the 7500 transponder code signaling unlawful interference before turning toward Tabuk.

Saudi air traffic authorities cleared the aircraft for an emergency landing, and Saudi security and medical personnel were waiting when it arrived. The wounded captain, Smit Machchhar, was taken for medical treatment, while the co-pilot accused of attacking him was detained by Saudi authorities for questioning.

Israeli officials have expressed appreciation for the way Saudi Arabia handled both the aircraft and its Israeli passengers, particularly given the absence of diplomatic relations between the countries.

The episode follows other instances of quiet Saudi assistance to Israeli aviation. Since the October 7 massacre and the upheaval that followed across the region, Saudi Arabia has permitted flydubai aircraft traveling to and from Israel to use Saudi airspace, providing an important corridor for the Emirati carrier.

At the same time, security cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia against common regional threats has reportedly continued to deepen away from public view.

That cooperation has recently included the threat posed by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, whose missiles and drones have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.

Despite recent complications in the regional diplomatic picture following Saudi Arabia’s defense arrangements with Turkey and Pakistan, Riyadh reportedly approached Israel through the United States Central Command seeking Israeli intelligence assistance against the Houthis.

Israeli assessments indicate that Yerushalayim responded positively to the Saudi request, reflecting the overlapping security interests of the two countries despite their lack of formal relations.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have also recently moved to deepen their own military coordination under the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, with senior military officials discussing greater intelligence sharing and joint efforts to confront regional threats, including Houthi attacks.

The extraordinary events in Tabuk therefore exposed both sides of the complicated Israeli-Saudi relationship: Saudi authorities were willing to accept an Israel-bound aircraft in distress, care for nearly 180 mostly Israeli passengers, detain and investigate the suspected attacker and cooperate with Israeli officials behind the scenes — while still refusing to allow the highly visible sight of Israeli military aircraft landing on Saudi soil.

{Matzav.com}

Aviation and security experts examining the extraordinary ordeal aboard flydubai Flight FZ1073 say the safe outcome bordered on miraculous, as a commercial jet carrying 174 people survived a violent cockpit attack, an extraordinarily rapid loss of altitude and a desperate struggle for control before ultimately landing safely in Saudi Arabia.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was traveling from Dubai to Tel Aviv Wednesday when the crisis erupted at cruising altitude. Israeli officials say the co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit, stabbing him and apparently attempting to bring down the aircraft. Flydubai has confirmed that an “altercation” occurred on the flight deck but says the motive remains under formal investigation.

What followed was an almost unimaginable convergence of circumstances that aviation specialists say prevented the episode from ending catastrophically: the wounded captain was apparently able to release the cockpit door, passengers and crew managed to reach the flight deck, an Israeli passenger physically subdued the alleged attacker, and additional flydubai pilots happened to be aboard the aircraft and were able to assume control.

Flight-tracking data underscored just how close the aircraft came to disaster. The jet was cruising at approximately 34,000 feet when it suddenly plunged nearly 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds, according to Reuters. Other tracking measurements covering a somewhat longer interval showed the aircraft falling from approximately 34,000 feet to around 17,000 feet.

The aircraft transmitted emergency transponder signals during the crisis, including the 7500 code associated with unlawful interference or hijacking. Israel scrambled fighter aircraft as authorities attempted to determine what was unfolding aboard the Tel Aviv-bound jet.

Passengers described being thrown around as the aircraft descended violently, with some convinced that they were experiencing their final moments. Chaim Nazarovitz said that for a moment he felt as though he was “not among the living,” while passenger Naama Bershadski recalled closing her eyes, praying and thinking, “We’re going to die.”

Yet even as the aircraft was dropping, a series of extraordinary developments was unfolding at the front of the cabin.

Yaniv Hayoun, an Israeli plumber seated near the front of the aircraft, rushed toward the cockpit with others after passengers became aware that a pilot had been stabbed. According to Hayoun, the wounded captain was on the other side of the cockpit door and had apparently managed to activate the release that allowed the passengers to get inside.

Hayoun and others then fought with the alleged attacker and dragged him away from the aircraft’s controls. With the jet still descending, Hayoun grabbed the controls himself and pulled back on them, relying on what he remembered from watching the aviation-disaster television program “Mayday,” also known as “Air Crash Investigation.”

When Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu later asked Hayoun whether he knew what he was doing, the blood-covered passenger gave an extraordinary answer: “I watch Air Crash Investigation, Mr Prime Minister.”

That intervention bought critical time until qualified pilots could take over.

In another remarkable circumstance, two additional flydubai pilots were traveling aboard FZ1073. Airlines routinely transport flight crews as passengers when they need to reposition personnel, but their presence on this particular flight meant that trained pilots were immediately available after the cockpit attack. Flydubai said on-duty crew traveling aboard the aircraft ultimately secured the jet, diverted it and landed safely at Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia.

Aviation experts say the episode also illustrates an unusual vulnerability created by the very security measures designed to protect modern commercial aircraft. Since the September 11 attacks, cockpit doors have been heavily reinforced to prevent hijackers from gaining access to pilots. In this case, however, the alleged threat originated inside the protected cockpit itself.

Stanislav Bukhman, head of risk at aviation-security firm Osprey Flight Solutions, said investigators will likely scrutinize several areas, including pilot vetting, crew screening and exactly how access to the cockpit was obtained during the emergency.

Cabin crews have emergency procedures that can permit access when pilots are incapacitated, although pilots who remain conscious normally retain the ability to deny such an entry request.

“This exists for situations where the pilots are incapacitated. There is a safeguard built in, though. If the pilots are conscious and operating normally, they can deny that request and keep the door locked. This is designed to protect the flight deck in a hijacking or hostage situation,” Bukhman explained.

“At this stage there isn’t enough information to say how the flight deck on FZ 1073 was accessed. The door may have been opened by the captain, who reportedly resisted the co-pilot’s attempt to take control, or by cabin crew using the emergency procedure.”

Investigators are also expected to focus intensely on one of the most troubling unanswered questions: how a knife or other bladed weapon apparently reached the cockpit of an Israel-bound commercial aircraft in the first place. Pilots and other crew members normally undergo airport security screening, and airlines also conduct employment, medical and background vetting of flight crews.

The incident is particularly striking because aviation security systems have spent decades concentrating on preventing outsiders from taking control of an aircraft. The FZ1073 episode appears to present the much more difficult scenario of a person authorized to sit at the controls allegedly becoming the threat himself.

There have been rare but devastating precedents involving pilots deliberately bringing down commercial aircraft. In 2015, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 locked the captain outside the cockpit and deliberately flew the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people aboard. The circumstances of the flydubai incident remain under investigation and should not be assumed to be the same, but the Germanwings disaster illustrates why an internal cockpit threat is especially difficult to stop.

In the case of FZ1073, the outcome was dramatically different because people outside the cockpit were able to intervene and trained replacement pilots were available aboard the aircraft.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that the flight suffered a security incident requiring an emergency diversion to Tabuk and that crew members were injured and taken to a Saudi hospital. Emirati authorities said investigators are examining both operational and security aspects of the incident and cautioned against reaching conclusions before the investigation is complete.

The alleged attacker was taken into Saudi custody. Authorities have not publicly established his motive, and flydubai has specifically cautioned that the reasons behind the cockpit incident remain unknown pending the investigation.

President Isaac Herzog described the survival of those aboard as a “great miracle,” while Netanyahu praised the passengers who intervened as heroes who prevented what he said could have been a major disaster.

For the passengers themselves, the description was even simpler.

After finally reaching Israel, passenger Lital Shachaf summed up the ordeal: “I just can say that it was a miracle.”

“It was awful, crazy, and we thank God that we survived it. We didn’t think we will make it but thank God we are in Israel.”

{Matzav.com}

Elon Musk is returning to a role in the Trump administration, this time as one of three high-profile figures chosen to help the Pentagon determine what weapons, technologies and battlefield capabilities American troops will need to fight the wars of the future.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will co-lead Project Meridian, a 120-day Pentagon initiative charged with looking years and even decades ahead at how warfare could change and what the United States will need to maintain a military advantage.

The project will operate under the direction of War Department Chief Technology Officer Emil Michael and will draw on additional experts from technology, business, academia, public policy and national security. Its findings are due in January 2027 and will be released in a public report accompanied by a classified annex.

Musk’s selection marks a return to government work after his earlier role leading the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE. This time, however, his focus will be squarely on national defense and emerging military technology.

Hegseth said the Pentagon deliberately chose prominent figures from outside the traditional defense bureaucracy because predicting future wars requires perspectives beyond those of career military planners.

“The best forecasters of future conflict do not solely reside inside the Pentagon,” Hegseth said during his State of the Force address at Marine Corps Base Quantico. “There are obvious biases and risks to asking ourselves to both ask the questions and answer them.”

Hegseth said Project Meridian would begin immediately. Following his address, he planned to meet with Musk, Luckey and Gingrich at a secure facility located only about 200 yards from where he delivered the speech.

Over the next 120 days, the group will “ruthlessly map the trajectory of wars, domains and technologies,” examining how conflict may evolve and identifying areas in which the United States could need new weapons or technological capabilities.

The scope is intentionally enormous. Hegseth said the examination will stretch “from under the Earth to beyond the moon.”

Project Meridian is expected to examine emerging fields including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, robotics, directed-energy weapons and biotechnology, as well as future battlefields extending from subterranean environments to space.

Rather than writing a new national military strategy, the panel has been directed to identify technological gaps and determine where American research, development and weapons procurement should be concentrated.

Hegseth said the group will seek to identify “the domains that we must conquer and capabilities we must master” while focusing on “discovering, developing and fielding” the systems future American forces may require.

Musk and Luckey bring particularly significant ties to the defense industry. Musk’s SpaceX is already a major Pentagon contractor, providing launch services, satellite capabilities and other technology used by the U.S. government and military.

Luckey founded Anduril Industries, one of the most prominent companies in the rapidly growing defense-technology sector. Anduril develops autonomous aircraft, drones, surveillance systems and artificial-intelligence-powered military technology and has secured major Pentagon contracts.

Their involvement gives Project Meridian direct access to executives working at the cutting edge of commercial and military technology. It could also raise conflict-of-interest questions because companies associated with Musk and Luckey currently do business with the Pentagon while the project will be examining which technologies the military should prioritize in the years ahead.

Gingrich brings a different background to the panel. The former Republican House speaker has spent decades writing and speaking about national security, technological change and the need for the United States to anticipate emerging military threats.

Project Meridian is only one component of a much larger Pentagon overhaul unveiled by Hegseth during Wednesday’s State of the Force address.

Hegseth also announced plans to establish Autonomous Warfare Command, or AUTOWARCOM, a new four-star command designed specifically to accelerate the development and deployment of autonomous and robotic systems throughout the armed forces.

The command is expected to have what Hegseth described as “service-like authorities,” giving it substantial power to move technology from development into the hands of troops without becoming bogged down in the lengthy acquisition processes that have traditionally slowed Pentagon innovation.

The Pentagon’s goal is to have AUTOWARCOM established by October 2027. An interim effort known as Project Agincourt will begin laying the groundwork while Pentagon officials work with Congress on the authorities necessary to create the new command.

The War Department is also developing new military career tracks for personnel specializing in autonomous warfare, creating what Hegseth described as a new generation of “autonomous warfighters.”

“We should have been thinking about Autonomous Warfare Command ten years ago,” Hegseth said, explaining that Meridian is intended to look far enough ahead to anticipate the next technological transformation before the military falls behind.

The push reflects lessons learned from recent wars, particularly the extraordinary proliferation of inexpensive drones and autonomous systems. Conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere have demonstrated how quickly relatively cheap unmanned aircraft can alter battlefield tactics and destroy equipment costing many times more.

Hegseth’s broader package includes six initiatives aimed at reshaping different aspects of the armed forces. Another program, called FORTRESS America, is intended to make American military installations and defense supply chains less vulnerable to foreign disruption.

Under that initiative, major U.S. military bases would eventually be capable of generating their own electricity independently of the civilian power grid, allowing installations to continue operating during a cyberattack, sabotage or other major disruption. The Pentagon also wants to strengthen domestic supplies of strategically important materials, including rare earth elements, semiconductors, specialty metals and propellants.

Hegseth also announced plans for a new major U.S. military installation, with states expected to compete to host the base, as well as an expanded military-college initiative and a new Office of Religious Affairs.

Wednesday’s address was the second annual State of the Force speech Hegseth has delivered at Quantico. Last year, he summoned generals, admirals and other senior commanders from around the world as he laid out major changes to military standards, personnel policies and what he calls the “warrior ethos.”

This year, Hegseth deliberately addressed younger leaders, including top-performing E-6 enlisted personnel and O-3 officers from across the services. He described them as the military’s “current and future leaders on the front lines.”

Hegseth also used the speech to reiterate his campaign to reverse diversity initiatives and other policies he says weakened military standards.

“We are no longer the woke department or the weak department,” Hegseth said. “No fatties, no trainees, no weirdos, no beardos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors.”

The War Secretary also launched a blistering attack on portions of the news media, accusing some journalists of allowing political agendas to influence coverage in ways that he said could jeopardize American military operations and personnel.

“It’s sick. It’s a national betrayal. It’s treason, actually,” Hegseth said.

For Musk, Project Meridian places him back inside a major Trump administration initiative — this time alongside one of America’s leading defense-technology entrepreneurs and a former speaker of the House, with just four months to produce a blueprint identifying the technologies that could shape American warfare for decades to come.

{Matzav.com}

Matzav.com regrets to report the petirah of Rebbetzin Rivka Steinwurzel (Rabinowitz) a”h, a longtime mechaneches who for decades helped shape generations of Bnos Yisroel, and who stood at the side of two distinguished marbitzei Torah, Rav Moshe Dovid Steinwurzel zt”l and, later, the Biala Rebbe.

Rebbetzin Steinwurzel was known to generations of families in Brooklyn through her many years teaching at Bais Yaakov of Boro Park. Her influence extended well beyond the classroom, as she devoted her life to chinuch, her family, and supporting the avodas hakodesh of the distinguished Torah home she helped build.

She was first married to Rav Moshe Dovid Steinwurzel zt”l, the renowned Rav of Khal Bais Ephraim in Flatbush and a rosh yeshiva in Bobov. Rav Steinwurzel was an exceptional talmid chacham and marbitz Torah whose life revolved around learning and harbotzas haTorah.

Born in 1934, Rav Steinwurzel established Khal Bais Ephraim in 1967, during an era when the Torah landscape of Flatbush was far different from what it is today. The kehillah grew into an important center of Torah and tefillah in the neighborhood, and the Steinwurzel home became intertwined with the growth of Torah life in Flatbush.

Throughout those years, Rebbetzin Steinwurzel stood devotedly at her husband’s side, carrying the responsibilities of a Rav’s home while simultaneously pursuing her own lifelong mission of educating Jewish girls. Those who knew the family recalled a home whose rhythm revolved around Torah, the kehillah, chinuch and service to others.

Rav Steinwurzel was also a prominent figure in Bobov, where he served as rosh yeshiva. His absorption in Torah was legendary. One well-known story relates that on his way out of his home one morning, the Rebbetzin asked him to take out a bag of garbage. Deep in thought, Rav Steinwurzel boarded the bus and traveled all the way from Midwood to Boro Park still carrying the bag, only realizing what had happened when his talmidim asked him why he had arrived with it.

Rav Steinwurzel was niftar in 1991, leaving behind his Rebbetzin and a distinguished family. Khal Bais Ephraim continued under the leadership of their son, Rav Yitzchok Steinwurzel, who serves as its Rav today.

In later years, Rebbetzin Steinwurzel married the Biala Rebbe, Rav Benzion Rabinowitz zt”l, the author of the Mevaser Tov seforim. The Rebbe, a scion of the Biala dynasty, spent many years in Lugano, Switzerland, before later settling in Eretz Yisroel.

The Rebbetzin became a devoted ezer kenegdo to the Biala Rebbe, accompanying and assisting him in his avodas hakodesh. Accounts published following the Rebbe’s passing specifically recalled the important role she played at his side, first in Lugano and subsequently in Eretz Yisroel, continuing until illness made it impossible for her to do so.

Her life thus spanned several distinct worlds of Torah: the classrooms of Bais Yaakov of Boro Park, the Flatbush kehillah built by Rav Moshe Dovid Steinwurzel, the Bobover world in which he served as a rosh yeshiva and dayan, and later the Biala chassidus and the home of the Mevaser Tov.

Through it all, Rebbetzin Steinwurzel was remembered for the devotion with which she supported those around her and for the dignity with which she carried the responsibilities placed upon her.

Most enduring, however, is the legacy she leaves through the countless students she taught during her years at Bais Yaakov of Boro Park. Generations of women passed through her classroom, carrying with them lessons and values imparted by a mechaneches whose own life was deeply rooted in Torah and mesorah.

The Rebbetzin’s levayah took place today at Khal Bais Ephraim on Avenue J in Flatbush.

Yehi zichrah boruch.

{Matzav.com}

Children who survived the attempted attack aboard the flydubai flight to Israel have described the terrifying moments when the aircraft suddenly began plunging from the sky, with one 16-year-old passenger saying he began speaking to Hashem and asking forgiveness because he believed he was about to die.

New accounts from passengers and their families are also shedding light on the remarkable chain of events that led to the alleged attacker being discovered and subdued. According to the father of 8-year-old Omer Shalom, a woman who happened to get up to use the restroom near the cockpit heard the screams of the captain, who had been stabbed. She alerted her husband, Yaniv Hayoun, who rushed toward the cockpit and ultimately helped overpower the co-pilot.

Omer’s father described the horrifying moments as the aircraft descended at an extreme angle, saying the speed and force of the dive damaged part of the plane.

“The rear wing broke from the speed of the fall. Everything went through my mind, all the things I can’t bring myself to say again in front of the girls.”

Sixteen-year-old Peleg Itali was traveling with his parents and sister and was seated near the front of the aircraft, giving him a close-up view of the chaos as it unfolded.

“The plane started going crazy, and I heard a woman screaming that he had been stabbed,” Itali told Ynet. “Two heroes jumped forward toward the cockpit. No one tells you that there’s a terrorist. I saw the floor and felt that we were falling. I started talking to God, asking forgiveness for everything and asking for Heaven. I almost wrote a eulogy.”

The fear was especially intense for the many families aboard the flight. Itali recalled mothers desperately trying to calm frightened young children as screams could be heard throughout the cabin and passengers struggled to understand what was happening.

Omer, just 8 years old, also recalled the terrifying descent and the belief that the aircraft was about to hit the ground.

“I was terrified because I thought we were going to crash,” she said.

Only after the alleged attacker had been subdued did Omer’s mother explain to her that the immediate danger had passed and that the aircraft was now heading for an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia.

The flight ultimately landed safely in Tabuk after Hayoun and other passengers subdued the co-pilot and additional pilots aboard the aircraft took control, bringing an end to an ordeal in which passengers had believed for several terrifying moments that they were witnessing their final minutes.

{Matzav.com}