Three Israelis killed in rocket attack
Three Israelis were killed early Thursday, Nov. 15 when a rocket struck an apartment building in Kiryat Malakhi in southern Israel. The victims were not able to make it to the fortified stairwell in their building, which did not have a viable shelter. Some sources reported that a critically injured eight-month-old baby had also died, but as the Ledger went to press those reports remained unconfirmed.

MIRAH SCHARF, 26, was killed and her husband and three children were wounded. Her husband Shmuel, 29, and the couple’s children, Yosef Yitzchak, 4, Hana, 2, and Geula, 8 months, were in good condition. The Scharfs are Chabad emissaries living in New Delhi, India. They were visiting Israel to attend a memorial ceremony for Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the young Chabad couple murdered by terrorists four years ago in Mumbai, India. The yahrzeit of the Holtzberg’s murder was also Thursday. The Sharf’s intended to return to India before Chanukah. Mirah Scharf’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoshua Scharf, recalled his daughter-in-law’s devotion to her work. “In our generation everyone is looking for luxury,” said Rabbi Scharf, “but they lived in minimalist conditions in a Chabad house that was open to the public.” Scharf’s funeral was attended by many of the Israeli backpackers who met her in India.

AHRON SMADJA, 49, lived on the north side of the building, which was not hit by the rocket. When the alarm sounded and he heard his neighbors, Yitzchok Amsalem and his mother, arguing about taking cover, he went to their apartment to intervene. He was killed when a rocket hit the Ansalem’s apartment. His two-year old daughter was also critically injured in the attack. Smadja was reportedly one of the first members of Chabad to join the Israeli army. Smadja and his wife had been married for many years before they had children; but 10 years ago they had twins, a boy and a girl, after which Smadja made a big party for the whole neighborhood. Two years ago the couple had another girl. “He was a guy who only knew how to do good for people,” Gadi, who owns the local grocery adjacent to where Smadja had once run the kiosk, told Haaretz. “The day his kids were born was the happiest moment of his life. He waited for this for so many years. Now his three kids are left orphaned.”

YITZCHAK AMSALEM, 24, was killed when the rocket hit the fourth floor apartment he shared with his mother. Amsalem had worked in a local bank, but in recent months became an observant Jew and had started to study in a yeshiva. According to Haaretz, when the alarm sounded, Amsalem’s mother begged him to go to the safety of the stairwell, but he wanted to try to photograph the Iron Dome system intercepting incoming missiles. He was on the porch when the missile hit the building.