Missing Child in Bnei Brak: "Hours of Drama Ended in Dance"

It happened on the night after Lag B'Omer when the residents of Bnei Brak were awakened in the middle of the night by loudspeakers touring the streets, announcing the search for the missing child - six-year-old Shimi Weiss from the Satmar neighborhood.

Shimi's father, Yerucham Weiss, who is still trying to recover from the drama and hours of worry, tells 'Hidabroot': "I was sure he had fallen asleep in the yard or on a street corner, but as time passed, my heart began to tremble."

How did it all start? When did you discover he wasn't home?

"At about eleven fifteen at night, we saw that Shimi wasn't in bed. I searched the whole house and didn't see him. It seemed strange to us since we hadn't seen him leave the house. We searched the house again and didn't find him. We went down to the yard, the garden, and the street, searching every corner, but Shimi wasn't there. After half an hour of searching, we began checking with my extended family and my wife's, and he wasn't there. The family joined the search, but we didn't find Shimi."

How long did you search before seeking public help?

"I don't know. I lost track of the hour and time; I started to be very stressed. We realized we needed help and began involving chesed organizations. Within minutes, all the organizations sprang into action in the middle of the night. The spirit of volunteering was amazing."

And where was the police in the story?

"In the meantime, the police hadn't entered the picture; we hadn't realized we're there yet. Especially since all the organizations were involved in the search. Everyone was really there: the ZAKA organization, the Shomrim, Yedidim, the Hatzalah Dan Region, but that didn't help either. At two in the morning, the police joined. They came to our house and turned over every possible corner. They searched the freezer, the refrigerator, the cabinets, the attic, under beds, on the building's roof, in the yard, in the gardens, turned over every stone, and the child wasn't there."

(Photo: shutterstock)

The Satmar Rebbe Told Me Not to Worry

Weiss shows signs of excitement. "At that time, I told myself, 'He's probably asleep somewhere, and in the morning, we'll find him,'" he says. When asked where his certainty came from that this would happen, he shares an amazing story: "In the middle of that horrific night, when the whole community was on its feet, our activists also got involved. The head of the institutions called the Satmar Rebbe in the United States, who was in the midst of a meal in honor of the Tanna Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. The Rebbe received the child's name for prayer and throughout the entire process mentioned him, praying that he would be found quickly. By dawn, the Rebbe himself called the head of the institutions to ask if they had already found the child, but the answer was negative. The head was in great dilemma; he didn't know what to tell me. He asked the Rebbe, 'What should I tell the parents?' There was a half-minute silence during which the Rebbe thought, and then he told him in these words: 'Tell the parents the child is sleeping well, in a good place, he will wake up soon, and everything will be fine.' It gave us faith and hope that the story would end well and quickly."

Due to the late hour and extensive searches that yielded nothing, the police realized there was potential for a major incident. All security cameras in nearby streets were checked; for this purpose, the police brought in shopkeepers in the middle of the night to provide footage. "In the footage, they saw Shimi leaving the house, but after seven minutes, he came back," Weiss says. "What particularly confused the police were images from a camera a few streets away; there was a child with the same body structure as Shimi. As a result, the searches began to focus more outside than inside."

How many volunteers participated in the search?

"Dozens if not hundreds. The searches weren't just in Bnei Brak; they spread to Givat Shmuel, Ramat Gan, and nearby Givatayim. The pressure began to mount."

Weiss takes a deep breath. "In the midst of all the commotion, I also had to go to the police station in the middle of the night, to officially open a case. They asked me the entire story again and detailed the sequence of events. Maybe it was an investigation, I don't know."

An interesting detail that Weiss adds: "The neighboring cities didn't exactly understand the loudspeakers, because the announcer spoke in Yiddish, the language Shimi understands, the announcer shouted 'Shimi, come home, Shimi, mom and dad are waiting for you,' but besides, there was also an announcer who called the residents to participate in the search."

In the current era, when residents' contact details are recorded in the municipality's records, this information was also used. "All city residents received a morning call from the municipality, asking everyone to search their yards to see if they might find Shimi," Weiss says. "It was amazing to see the mutual responsibility that the public showed us," he adds, visibly moved.

(Photo: shutterstock)

Very Difficult Moments

During all these moments, what was going through your mind?

"I told you that essentially I was calm due to the Rebbe's words. But the emotions were very mixed, and the worry was great. Especially when it reached eight o'clock in the morning and the child was not found. I told myself, 'If he's asleep in some corner, he should have woken up long ago, both from the loudspeakers and from the hour.' When that didn't happen, I lifted my eyes to the sky to the Creator of the World. I understood that everything is in His hands."

How did you eventually find him?

"At nine in the morning, one of the family members arrived at our house and tidied up the room; she closed the beds, and then she noticed the bed wouldn't close. She tried to apply more force, and Shimi was revealed and... woke up."

But you said you searched dozens of times under the bed?

"Correct. Not only did I search, everyone searched, the police searched several times. But the structure of the bed confused us. It's a high-rise bed that opens into three parts. The middle bed was open, and the bottom bed was almost closed, and Shimi was there. Everyone bent down under the middle bed and saw it was empty, moved on. No one noticed that the bottom bed wasn't closed all the way."

Weiss tries to recall the moments when he learned his son Shimi was found safe and sound. "I wasn't at home when Shimi was found; I was on the street and was very excited that it ended well. Naturally, we immediately burst into song and dance to the cheers of the neighbors."

Did you try to ask him why he chose to sleep under the bed?

"I tried, but every five minutes he gives me a different reason. One thing he repeated is that he was afraid of the police that were in our neighborhood that evening chasing residents who violated the health ministry's instructions. Maybe that's the real reason, I don't know."

In conclusion, Weiss wishes to thank, on behalf of himself and his wife, all the organizations that participated in the search. "I have no other way to thank them, so I'm doing it through you."