Yeshiva Worker Nearly Crushed By 2,500-Pound Torah Safe
(JTA) — A haredi Orthodox worker at a yeshiva in Borough Park was nearly crushed by a 2,500-pound steel safe installed to protect Torah scrolls.
The worker at the Rabbinical College Yeshiva of Machzikai Hadas in Borough Park had just finished installing and cleaning the 8-foot-long, 3-foot-deep safe on Monday morning when it toppled over, the New York Post reported.
He curled himself up to the size of the safe’s opening, and avoided being crushed. He was trapped inside the safe, along with a large Torah scroll, for 45 minutes, until the New York Fire Department arrived to get him out, according to the newspaper.
He emerged bruised but smiling, in a rescue that was captured on video camera.
The safe was being installed to protect the Torah scrolls from being stolen, after a rash of robberies of Torah scrolls from area synagogues, including four stolen from the Yeshiva during the High Holidays.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
