‘My Heart Is With You’: ‘Shtisel’ Actress Shira Haas Mourns With Families of Meron Tragedy Victims
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men take part in a funeral for Rabbi Elazar Goldberg after he died during Lag B’Omer commemorations, in Jerusalem April 30, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israeli actress Shira Haas took to Instagram on Friday morning to mourn those injured and the 44 people who were killed in Thursday night’s Mount Meron tragedy.
“There are no words and no air. An unimaginable disaster,” Haas — who plays a Haredi Jewish character in the Israeli TV series “Shtisel” — said in an Instagram story.
“Everything hurts, it’s impossible to contain. Sending strength to all the mourners, to all of us as a society, and especially to the families. My heart is with you,” she wrote in Hebrew.
What began as a festival celebrating the Jewish Holiday of Lag B’Omer became a stampede that has left at least 45 people dead and another 150 injured. The incident occurred near the sacred burial place of revered second-century sage Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai in Meron, in Israel’s north. On Friday evening in Israel, authorities were still working to identify victims, and searching for people who had not yet made contact with their families.
United Hatzalah co-founder and vice president Dov Miesel, speaking from the scene at 3 am, explained that people were “literally crushed to death” and said “I honestly have no words. By far this is one of the worst disasters United Hatzalah was able to treat.”