You may have heard about the attack in a synagogue near San Diego during the Saturday morning Sabbath service on the final day of Passover last year.
This attack came exactly six months after the deadly attack on the Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 worshippers.
A man shouting anti-Semitic slurs burst into the synagogue with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire.
Immediately upon entering the synagogue, he shot and killed a 60-year-old woman and wounded the congregation’s rabbi, Yisroel Goldstein. She would ultimately give her life to save Rabbi Goldstein. Another man and a 9 year-old girl were also wounded.
There were approximately 40 to 60 worshippers in the congregation when the attack occurred.
What you may not have heard is that Shimon Abitbul was in the synagogue at the time of the shooting.
Shimon Abitbu is a paramedic with MAGEN DAVID ADOM. He was in California visiting his daughter and grandchildren. He enjoyed his trips to California as an escape from the tension that often grips his community near Israel’s borders with Syria and Lebanon.
Shimon was no stranger to gun violence. As MDA’s station chief in Kiryat Shemona, he spent much of his time treating wounded soldiers and civilians during Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon.
Highly trained with years of experience in this exact type of injury, Shimon immediately began administering first aid to the grievously wounded woman.
Ultimately, she did not survive, but her family was comforted knowing that Shimon was right there in that moment to provide her with the best emergency medical care possible. They will never suffer wondering what might have happened if help had arrived sooner.
Everywhere the men and women of MAGEN DAVID ADOM go, they bring their experience, their love, and their passion to save lives. Your support is making a difference in Israel — and beyond.
. . . in you all peoples on earth will be blessed.
Genesis 12:3
Your gifts — and the donations of Christian friends like you — ensure that the thousands of dedicated MAGEN DAVID ADOM paramedics in Israel like Shimon are trained and fully equipped to save lives — wherever they may be.
Bless you.