Daily Miracles in Israel! "My tzitzit saved my life" & "I was saved from gunfire"

Yair Ben-Ezra, who was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in Ra'anana last month, sent a moving thank you letter to Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, in which he asserted his tzitzit (ritual fringes) had saved his life.

"My name is Yair Ben-Ezra," he wrote to the president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which has raised thousands of dollarsto help Israeli victims of terror.

 "On October 13, 2015, I was attacked and stabbed five times all over my body by a terrorist from eastern Jerusalem who came at me while I was waiting at the bus stop."

Ben-Ezra recounted how on the morning of the attack, he had debated about wearing the new pair of tzitzit he had purchased for his sister's wedding, to be held the next day.

"The morning of the attack, all of my tzitzit were hanging on the clothesline to dry, and I had only the new pair, folded in the closet, waiting for me. But then my yetzer harah (evil inclination) came and said to me: 'Nothing will happen - don't wear them today, save them for tomorrow and the wedding.'"

Ben-Ezra said his misgivings nearly prevented him from wearing the new tzitzit, until he gave in to wearing the garment. "I told myself, no! (...) I cannot let my yetzer harah dominate me. [The tzitzit] are my personal protector."

"In the minutes after I was stabbed as I waited for the paramedics," Ben-Ezra recounted, "the tzitzit that enveloped me were used by Hatzalah medics as a tourniquet for my stab wounds."

Despite his serious injuries, the brave Ben-Ezra struggled with the terrorist, preventing him from attacking additional civilians. 

Ben-Ezra concluded the letter by thanking Rabbi Eckstein: "I am moved to tears from the financial aid you have given me, which has helped me and my family in these difficult times. Thank you for your life's work and the activities of the fellowship you run."

Chani Apiryon, a mother of five and resident of Kida in the Binyamin region of Samaria, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Wednesday about her miraculous escape from death Tuesday, when an Arab terrorist fired on her car.

Apiryon was driving from Beit El to her home, and while riding on the Beit El-Givat Assaf road she was ambushed by an Arab terrorist who opened fire at her from the side of the road.

"At a quarter to six I returned from work and I spoke with a friend on my phone's hands-free device," Apiryon recalled, reenacting the harrowing moments for Arutz Sheva.

"Suddenly I saw a young guy with a kheffiyeh (Arab headscarf, ed.) coming up on the road, before Hazevel Route, and then I realized he had a weapon in hand."

Apiryon said, "I shouted on the phone that they're shooting at me, and then he really started to shoot. I continued driving and he continued shooting."

"I looked back because there was someone driving behind me, but I didn't see her. My friend from Kida contacted the (police) hotline in the meantime, and I signaled to other cars coming from the other direction to be careful. When I reached Givat Assaf Junction, I told the soldiers that I was shot at."

The mother found that a number of the bullets had struck her car but miraculously did not hit her.

"There is damage to the front and back doors, the bullets hit the back seat and a bullet was under my seat."

This coming Shabbat, Apiryon said she intends to hold a party at Kida thanking God for her miraculous escape from death, saying, "thank God for making a miracle for me, for making a miracle for my people and my family."

"I will say the 'Gomel' blessing and hold a party of thanksgiving," she said. "It truly is a great miracle."