Not To Be Missed: The Reaction of a Man Who Lost 7 Million NIS in a Fire Near Jerusalem

The gigantic fire in the Jerusalem hills is still raging, and as a result, the veteran 'Metzada' winery, located in Givat Ye'arim and managed by businessman R' Eliyahu Bash, was completely burned. When he learned of the extent of the disaster and the fact that he lost 7-8 million shekels, Bash reacted by saying: "A person must bless the bad just as he blesses the good," accepting the judgment.

In a conversation with 'Kikar HaShabbat', R' Eliyahu Bash accepted the judgment and described what happened: "In the middle of the day we saw strange skies. The electricity at the winery went out, and the flames began to approach us. Outside there was a strong smell of smoke, I and the winery workers got into cars and immediately fled the place. After fifteen minutes, we tried to observe the winery from a distance and saw the winery going up in flames and heard the explosions of wine bottles in the winery."

"I have no insurance on the winery," Bash adds, mentioning that the damage is on the order of 7-8 million shekels. "I strengthened my faith and hope that from bitterness will come sweetness, and I believe that everything is from Hashem," he says.

"I really don't know how we will recover, but my faith has greatly strengthened at these moments," R' Eliyahu says honestly. "I heard from several residents in the area that because of the winery, the fire stopped, and this is why other houses in the settlement did not burn, which also strengthens me."

The man who lost millions in an instant adds: "I tell myself, the damage happened in the middle of the month of Elul, and while we watched from afar how the wind was consuming the winery, I remembered the prayers of the High Holidays, where we say, 'Who by fire; who shall rest and who shall move', if Hashem decided that the winery should burn, not an airplane or firefighters would help, we clearly saw that this is what Hashem wanted. The belief that what Hashem wants is what happens in the world - this is what encourages us."

Senior wine expert Ari Guthelf said in a conversation with 'Kikar HaShabbat' that when he published on social media about the burning of the 'Metzada Winery', he was immediately flooded with dozens of messages without exaggeration from people sharing in the sorrow of the winery people: "WhatsApp groups of non-religious wine people lamenting the grief of the winery people who are identified as ultra-Orthodox, and hundreds of group messages discussing ways to help the winery from donation suggestions to organizing group purchases of wines remaining in the store, everyone wants to participate and everyone wants to feel part of the disaster," he says with amazement.

"And I was just trying to understand what brings people from all corners of Israeli society to collectively grieve the tragedy of a 'business', even without loss of life. Until I realized that the grapes of the vine with the grapes of the vine are a nice and received thing, there is power in wine to unite and connect, and today we learned that not only in happy occasions," adds Guthelf.

'Metzada' Winery, which was located in Givat Ye'arim, was established in 2011 and produces about 40,000 wine bottles a year, and in recent years it has been considered one of the excellent boutique wineries in the world, and the wines produced at the winery were distributed to many places across the country and the world. As mentioned, it was completely burned yesterday.

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