Rabbi Brovender (Chaim ben Sara Rachel) has asked us to thank all those who have sent their wishes for his health and well being. He is doing much better, and will be recuperating at home for a while.

While driving home from Efrat on Thursday night, Erev Shabbat Shuvah, he arrived at the tunnels just after they had been closed, around 6:45 PM. In the ensuing confusion of cars turning around to take an alternate route, he followed what he thought was a Jewish caravan of cars (the car in front of him had an Israeli license plate) being redirected through Beit Jala (the old "kvish okef"), which is what had been done on some previous nights. It's a little unclear how the army let his car get through that way, but once in Beit Jala he was pulled from his car by a Palestinien police, and beat on by a mob 20 or so Arab youths, while the police looked on. After the beating the police took him to the station house, where he suffered a second beating. At this point he was brought to a clinic of some sort, where Arab doctors doused him with a little rubbing alcohol and gave him 2 asperins. At a certain point Mrs. Brovender, trying to reach him on the cell phone, heard an Arab answer the phone! At around this time the Palestinian police contacted their Israeli counterparts, who came and brought him to Hadassah Hospital(around 10:30 PM).

He was bloodied from head to toe, and in terrible pain (although that typically didn't stop him from cracking a few jokes). Fortunately, there seems to be no permanent physical damage. He has bruised and broken rib, and had a puncture in his lung, which means he had a drainage tube from his chest. These things, along with the head-to-toe bruises are supposed to heal on their own.

Among the things stolen from his car were a few thousand shekels in cash, which he was to distribute before Yom Kippur for the tzedekah fund he has long administered, Keren Chaim ve-Chesed. If someone would like to make a donation to this fund, please  Click here...

For those that want to contact Rabbi Brovender, he can be reached at:
5 Yosef Gabbai St., POB 6365, Mattersdorf, Jerusalem 
Fax 02-567-1723 (office)
rcb@atidfellows.org

May he and we all merit a Shana Tova, and may this new year bring peace for us all.

Read Rabbi Brovender's remarks upon returning to Yeshivat HaMivtar for the first time after being released from the hospital. Click here...

UPDATE Oct. 16--Rabbi Brovender has been readmitted to the hospital to treat an infection in his leg which developed as a result of his injuries. He is expected to remain at Haddassah Ein Keren until after Sukkot.

UPDATE Oct. 18--Rabbi Brovender underwent surgery to deal with the
infection in his leg. The doctors say he's making good progress.

UPDATE October 26--Rabbi Brovender has been released from the hospital. He went directly to perform the wedding of a talmid from the Yeshiva! Rabbi Brovender will be resting at home, and hopes to resume his teaching and other activities as soon as possible.

UPDATE December 10--Rabbi Brovender has been readmitted to Hadassah Ein Karem to treat some problems that have arisen in the wake of his last hospitalization. He is in Intensive Care on the 8th floor.

UPDATE December 13--Rabbi Brovender was resleased from Hadassah tonight, after a quick recovery from the keto acidosis which landed him back in the hospital. He plans once again to resume his normal schedule as soon as possible.