But a heavy burden fell on the ultra-Orthodox community in Manchester, England, when on Friday morning the body of Rabbi Yaakov Meir Silberger was discovered inside the mikvah of the Myrtle Holders synagogue in the city. According to estimates, the 70-year-old rabbi drowned, due to the fact that there was no one around him who could help him. Dozens attended his funeral, which was held before Shabbat.
The rabbi, who was divorced, left behind children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His family was supposed to celebrate a bar mitzvah for one of his grandchildren this week. The rabbi’s neighbor said in the “Maariv” conversation: “I am shocked. The rabbi helped the whole community. I have a son with disabilities, and every day the rabbi came and accompanied him to the synagogue. This is an unbelievable disaster, we will miss him.”
Another resident of the Jewish community in Manchester, who knew the rabbi, added: “This is a terrible tragedy. We saw him every day walking around the street. He always smiled and said hello. He loved everyone and helped everyone. Manchester lost a dear and kind person in such a way Sudden and tragic. We don’t know how to digest it.”
The synagogue where the disaster occurred was founded in 1925, and is one of the central centers of the ultra-orthodox community in Manchester.