Amichai Schindler was mortally wounded in his home in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, after he held with both hands the door of the protected area where he was staying with his wife and six children until the terrorists planted an explosive device and blew up the door. Amichai lost one hand and three fingers on the other hand. Miraculously, the terrorists did not harm the rest of the family and left the house for the battle that awaited them outside. Amichai was taken to Sheba Hospital in critical condition, where they worked to rehabilitate him and with God's help he is talking, standing and walking.
"What protected Kerem Shalom is the true friendship that exists in the kibbutz between secular and religious people"
Amichai tells in his story about the special life in Kerem Shalom. His family settled in the kibbutz 5 years ago following the privatization of the kibbutz and the opening of the gates to religious people: "A special community of people who live together in true friendship was created, there are even families who bought a kosher set so they can cook when we, the religious, arrive, there is also a pool with separate swimming hours and this is an initiative of the secularists, no one requested this of them."
Amichai believes that this unity preserved Kerem Shalom: "We believe that this is what preserved Kerem Shalom. Kerem Shalom was saved in a special way, this message preserved this place from being lost. There are differences of opinion and that's fine, but in the end we are all brothers." Amichai and his wife bought a new and large house in the new neighborhood a few months ago.
Amichai goes on to describe the moments on Simchat Torah: "In the morning at six thirty there was an alarm and rockets started falling in the range of Kerem Shalom. We have a regular procedure at home that we go to the protected area, take out the red alert siren sweets, the children discussed among themselves which hotel to go to and where there is better morning cereal. Afeeling of another round like before."
"I am in the room, mortally wounded, and my wife and children are saying chapters of Psalms"
But soon they realized that this time it was different: "We heard the terrorists walking inside our house, they didn't walk quietly, they told us: "We are the IDF, open up." I shouted to them in Arabic, "Go away, I will kill you," we didn't know what we were facing. They approached the protected space. I held the door tightly and they placed an explosive device on the door. I was hurt by the explosion and from the impact I flew to the other side. My wife and children were not hurt at all. My hand was cut off and I started bleeding.
"Immediately after that, the terrorists went to the living room and shot at the members of the standby squad who were outside our house. Miraculously, they decided to leave the house and not enter the protected area, they went out through the window and engaged in a shootout with the standby squad. Two members of the squad were killed outside my house - Yedidya Raziel and Amichai Witzen, hy"d."
Meanwhile in the protected space, Avital, Amichai's wife, begins to understand what is happening: "My wife realized the situation was not good, she told the children, 'Don't look at Daddy, and now we will sing a thanksgiving hymn and everyone will think about what kind of candy and friends you will bring to the thanksgiving party when Daddy gets well." With greatness she sang psalms with the children, at the same time she was sure that I had finished my life. She told herself 'if I lost my husband, at least the children should have something left.'"
"Angels pushed the terrorists out"
Amichai describes the magnitude of the miracle in the war: "One terrorist had an RPG missile in his hand when he was killed, they had a very great military capability. A friend from the kibbutz told me: 'You had angels at home who pushed them out.' He further described the magnitude of the miracle of his healing: "I woke up on the first day of Cheshvan, a week and a half after the incident. The doctors defined me as being in critical condition and here I am standing here, alive and laughing, although I lost an arm and a half, but visible miracles accompany us."
Amichai describes the daily functioning in the new situation: "My parents come every morning at 6:30 and get me organized for prayer and my father places tefillin on me for the seven o'clock minyan. I still need help like with eating and everything, but I am slowly recovering. I saw pictures of myself from when I got here and I feel like I have been reborn." Amichai also got to light the Hanukkah candles, when he was flown in as a surprise to his wife and children who are staying at a hotel in Eilat, and excitedly lit the Hanukkah candles with the less damaged hand.
Amichai is a social worker by profession, and he notes that many tools from the profession help him mentally. "The Rebbe of Karlin came here to strengthen me. He himself was born with a deformity, he has two fingers on his hand. I asked him how it is possible to be the leader of a large community without three fingers, he told me: 'But I have two.' He did not see the reality of what is missing, only the reality of what he has! Looking at existing reality. My wife told me, 'You don't remember, but there were many intersections here where we could have ended our lives, but we stayed here. We must have a mission to do.'"
"I don't want the Schindlers to be a bereaved family again"
Amichai Schindler is a member of a bereaved family, as his brother Avishai was murdered 13 years ago in an attack in the south of Har Hevron. Amichai felt that his brother's story accompanied him throughout the attack on the kibbutz: "The paramedic who treated me lived in Otniel 13 years ago. He was a medic and was sent to my brother, when he arrived at the scene of the attack there was nothing left to do. When he arrived at our kibbutz and saw the name Schindler It brought him back to my brother's incident and he said: 'This time I'm not giving up on him.' The paramedic told me, 'I felt that your brother was kicking you out of the heavens so you wouldn't come to him, you should stay below, you have no place in the heavens, we tried very hard to bring you back to life.'"
Amichai adds that Amichai Witzan from the standby squad was also aware of the attack on Har Hevron. "My neighbor, Amichai Witzan, who was killed under my house, when he went to join the squad he told his team 'I am not willing for the Schindlers to be a bereaved family again.' He did everything to save me."
"Attributing great meaning to all the little things"
Amichai invites us to look at the positive side, at the miracles and the wonders: "In the personal aspect, there are many insights that I took from the injury, one of them is the ability to know how to be happy with the little things, when I woke up I couldn't move from the bed, I was awake and I couldn't move and I couldn't speak and suddenly the ability to speak came back to me. Then I realized what talking is, what eating is that is not in a feeding tube, even if it is crushed food that is easily digested and does not interfere with the trachea, walking in the ward, managing to go to the bathroom, I started to attribute meaning to the little things."
The treatment of Sheba is an attitude of love, the nation of Israel proves its greatness"
Amichai does not forget to praise the Sheba Medical Center: "They do everything to help me, I am full of gratitude, I went through several departments and in all of them they put in all their efforts to give me the best medical response. When they evacuated me, they said in the helicopter, 'Amichai should go only to Sheba, to Tel HaShomer, they will know how to help'. The medical staff encourages me: 'You will succeed, you will advance', their humane attitude, their love, goes far beyond the profession, they truly care from the bottom of their hearts for every wounded person lying here."
Amichai continues to describe the greatness of the people of Israel even during the recovery: "A sense of unity around you, the war made us all aware that the people of Israel are one people, unfortunately it came under difficult and unpleasant circumstances, in the end it was revealed and it can never be lost, we are all sons of Abraham Yitzchak And Yaakov, you can feel and think differently, but in the end we are all brothers. Every day, all day long, artists and singers, public figures and ordinary people come here with homemade food, gifts, sandwiches, they just want to make us happy, 'let's sing a song together with a guitar', the people of Israel prove its greatness," says Amichai proudly.
In conclusion, Amichai gives a message of returning home in complete safety. "We want to return to Kerem Shalom, we hope there will be quiet and peaceful security and we won't need a protected space and there won't be a fence, that there will be a strong enough deterrence that even the enemies will know not to disturb, and from our house we can go to the sea."
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