Body of rabbi pulled from Mexico’s earthquake rubble

Haim (Jaime) Ashkenazi of Mexico City’s Kehillat Magen David was in an office building when it collapsed during Tuesday’s massive quake

Israeli rescue workers look for survivors in Mexico City on September 23, 2017, four days after the powerful quake that hit central Mexico; inset: Rabbi Haim (Jaime) Ashkenazi (AFP Photo, Facebook)
Israeli rescue workers look for survivors in Mexico City on September 23, 2017, four days after the powerful quake that hit central Mexico; inset: Rabbi Haim (Jaime) Ashkenazi (AFP Photo, Facebook)

The body of a Mexico City rabbi has been pulled from the rubble following a powerful earthquake on Tuesday that killed more than 300 people.

Volunteers for the Mexico branch of the emergency response organization ZAKA found the body of Rabbi Haim (Jaime) Ashkenazi of the Kehillat Magen David community on Sunday in a collapsed office building, ZAKA said.

The volunteers worked through the Jewish new year on Wednesday night and Thursday after receiving religious guidance from Mexico’s chief rabbi, Shlomo Tawil.

Jewish law prohibits any form of labor on this and other Jewish festivals, except when lives are endangered.

ZAKA International Rescue Unit Chief Officer Mati Goldstein said, “Immediately after the Sabbath went out in Mexico (early morning Israel time), we received an update from our team in Mexico that they had recovered the body of the missing Jewish man.

“The ZAKA team, which was on the scene at the time the earthquake struck, will remain until we receive an update that there are no more missing people.”

As rescuers dig through the remnants of 38 collapsed buildings in Mexico City, they have pulled dozens of bodies from the wreckage but numerous survivors, too.

A 71-member Israeli delegation from the army’s Home Front Command  has been working in Mexico since Thursday. Two Israeli aid organizations — IsraAID and iAid — also sent delegations to help with the search and rescue efforts.

Mexico’s marines, considered the nation’s most elite troops, said they have recovered 102 bodies and rescued 115 people in the aftermath.

Posted by ZAKA Search & Rescue on Saturday, September 23, 2017

With nature’s forces continuing to pummel Mexico over the weekend, a new, strong, 6.1 magnitude earthquake shook the country on Saturday, killing at least two people, toppling already damaged homes and a highway bridge, and causing new alarm.

The US Geological Survey said the new temblor was centered about 11 miles (18 kilometers) south-southeast of Matias Romero in the state of Oaxaca, which was the region most battered by a magnitude 8.1 quake on September 7, which killed 96.

Buildings swayed in Mexico City, where nerves are still raw from Tuesday’s magnitude 7.1 quake.

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