A well-known matzah bakery in Boro Park was completely destroyed in a major fire last week, drawing an extraordinary response from its owner that has since resonated across the neighborhood and beyond.
The blaze tore through the famous Boro Park Matzah Bakery on 14th Avenue, reducing the facility to ashes.
Firefighters battled the flames for nearly seven hours before finally bringing the inferno under control, according to local reports.
As firefighters worked to extinguish the fire, the bakery’s owner, R’ Chaim Bru, a chossid of Vizhnitz, stood nearby watching his livelihood go up in flames. Rather than reacting with anger or despair, he distributed sheets of paper to onlookers bearing the words “Ein Od Milvado,” and repeatedly called out the phrase, expressing his firm belief that everything comes from Hashem and is ultimately for the good, even amid enormous financial loss at the peak of the matzah-baking season.
In footage recorded at the scene, R’ Chaim can be heard explaining his outlook with striking clarity. When one bystander asked whether a malfunctioning oven may have sparked the fire, he replied that it was Hashem Above who caused it. “When Hashem gives a person a slap,” he said, “you don’t ask questions.”
True to his word, R’ Chaim later took his message a step further. A massive banner bearing the words “Ein Od Milvado” was hung prominently on the remains of the bakery, serving as a public declaration of faith and acceptance. The sign, now impossible to miss along the busy avenue, has become a powerful symbol of emunah.
{Matzav.com}
A weeklong search ended with the arrest of a 23-year-old suspect accused of carrying out a violent antisemitic attack in Crown Heights during Chanukah. Armani Charles is charged in the stabbing of 35-year-old Elias Rosner, who was wounded in the chest outside a Chabad shul on the third night of the Yom Tov.
Rosner later recounted that the assailant was shouting threats and spewing antisemitic hatred moments before the attack. “I’m going to kill Jewish people, I’m going to kill a Jew today, I don’t give a ….,” the attacker allegedly said. “We wouldn’t be in this mess if the Holocaust had happened.”
According to Rosner, he was targeted after confronting the attacker rather than backing away. He said his belief in “standing up to bullies” drew the attacker’s focus amid a group of Yidden who were outside the shul at the time. Rosner added that his background in martial arts helped him avoid a fatal wound when he was stabbed.
Charles was taken into custody and is facing hate crime charges in connection with the incident.
The Crown Heights stabbing followed closely on the heels of another disturbing antisemitic episode in New York City, though police emphasized the two cases are not believed to be linked. One day earlier, a group of Jewish students were threatened on a subway train after participating in a Chanukah gathering in Union Square.
The students had spent several hours in Manhattan engaged in Chanukah outreach, sharing the light and message of the Yom Tov, before boarding a No. 3 train back toward Crown Heights. While riding the train, two men allegedly entered the car and began hurling antisemitic insults at the visibly Jewish group.
According to testimony from the students, the verbal abuse quickly escalated. One student began filming the encounter to document it for police. “That’s when everything changed,” the student said. “As soon as the younger one realized I was filming, he attacked me.”
Video taken by another member of the group shows the assailant striking the victim inside the subway car, while no other passengers appear to step in during the confrontation.
{Matzav.com}