URIEL Malka, who survived the fury of Hezbollah rockets in the Second Lebanon War, died Thursday, Dec. 2, in the largest wildfire in Israels history.
Malka, 32, a former DAT educator and leader of Denvers High Holiday Sephardi minyan, was one of 36 Prison Service cadets killed in a bus heading to rescue inmates, many of them Palestinians, from the Damon jail.
For many Denver Jews, the abrupt cessation of such a brilliant and comforting light during Chanukah darkens the world beyond their understanding.
Malka, who was a chaplain with the Israeli Prison Service, was riding with fellow cadets when a tree fell in front of the vehicle, trapping it in the inferno.
He was supposed to be off that Thursday, according to close friend and DAT office manager Linda Hamo.
But he called his wife Ortal and told her, Were going to evacuate the Damon prison, she told the Intermountain Jewish News.
Hamo said her husband Yaacov, one of Malkas best friends in Denver, was speaking with Ortal on the phone when police knocked on her door to inform her of his death. Yaacov heard her scream, I knew it, I knew it, Hamo said.
Rabbi Malka was always going out of his way to help people, she said. Im still in shock. And my children are devastated.
Malka and his wife, who were sent to Denver as emissaries by the Jewish Agency, taught at DAT from 2006-2008.
His arrival was delayed by 10 days due to the Second Lebanon War.
My ticket was booked and our suitcases were already packed, Malka said in a 2008 interview with the Jerusalem Post.
The Jewish Agency later told me that if I had explained the situation to the army, I would not have had to serve in the war. But I knew I couldnt go to Denver and leave my friends.
We are like brothers in my unit.
In Denver, Malka started leading High Holiday services for Sephardic and Israeli members of Denvers Jewish community.
Even after leaving DAT, he returned to Denver every High Holiday season including this past September to lead services.
Former students grieve, recount memories
I HAVE never seen so many middle school boys cry at the same time, said DAT head of school Rabbi Daniel Alter, referring to a grief counseling session he witnessed last Friday morning.
Younger students who never had Malka as their teacher know his children, he said.
They connected to the tragedy through his family: I was in class with his daughter. What is she going to do?
Students are in a place where they are feeling their emotions and trying to make sense of them, Alter said. Theyre still processing everything. And they are asking very deep, very difficult questions.
Right now, encouraging the questions is the most important thing. The answers well get to.
Friends, rabbis and students paid tribute to Malka at a community-wide service held Dec. 5 at BMH-BJ.
DAT scheduled its memorial service for Thursday, Dec. 9.
A website dedicated to Rabbi Malka had received over 25,839 hits by Wednesday, Dec. 8.
NAAVA Teitelbaum, 18, a 12th grade student at Yeshivat Shaarei DAT, studied Hebrew language with Malka when she was in the eighth grade.
He was the nicest person, she said of her teacher. If you were feeling bad, he always had something nice to say about you.
He had such a love for life, and the people in his life and he let everyone know that. You could really feel it.
DAT was draped in sorrow on Friday, she said.
Everyone was really upset during davening this morning. Almost all the students there had him as a teacher. We all knew what a great guy he was.
Naava, who regards Malka as a tzaddik, or righteous man, finds it almost impossible to rationalize his death.
Theres really no way to make sense of it, she said. No way at all. Heres someone who was such a great person, with five children, and he died.
Perhaps he is in a better place, but it still doesnt make sense to me.
Benji Mehler, 17, who studied Gemara and Hebrew with Malka in the 8th grade and is now a senior at the Skokie Yeshiva in Illinois, saw his teacher two months ago in Denver.
He gave me a big hug and told me a joke, Benji said. He always told me a joke.
His pupil said that Malka would enter the classroom with a smile on his face. He looked out for us; was always there for us; treated us like his own children.
Benji said he heard the awful news on Thursday.
It was rough. I was in class and I put my head on the desk. I was just so overwhelmed.
A guy like that a paratrooper in the war, a great teacher, a man who goes back to save people from a fire he does all the right things and then he dies.
Asked how hell cope with such a profound loss, Benji said that he has no idea. It hurts. Ill have to figure something out.
Mason Wedgle, who called the IJN from the Skokie Yeshiva on Monday, was noticeably subdued.
At first I didnt believe it when a classmate told me he died, said Mason, who also saw him in Denver during the High Holidays. I just couldnt believe something like this could happen to him.
At DAT, Malka was friendly with all the kids, Mason said. He never got angry. And he made sure we understood what he was teaching.
Because Malka often visited the Wedgle home for meals, Mason said their relationship extended beyond the classroom.
It was more than just being at school with him.
Mason said he spoke with his rabbi at the Skokie Yeshiva as well as a social worker.
My rabbi told me that if Rabbi Malka were here he would tell me to learn harder, daven harder and do more mitzvot.
It might be hard to keep my faith strong right now, but I need to do these things to honor him.
Three other students who had Malka as their teacher at DAT Chaim M. Goldberg, Ari Schreiber and Nathaniel Warren attend Skokie Yeshiva.
Love of every Jew
FOR Jeff and Linda Warren, close friends of Uriel and Ortal Malka, their pain somehow turned to sweeter memories of this past Sukkot.
Uriel came to one of the meals we hosted in our sukkah, and we were invited to other meals where he was a guest, Jeff Warren said of the man he described as amazing and charismatic.
He got everyone singing and talking and giving divrei Torah, Warren said.
Malka truly loved every Jew he came into contact with and accepted them at their own level of observance.
The Warrens, who would pick up Malka at DIA when he flew in for the High Holidays, said he would burst with excitement the moment his feet touched Denver soil.
He said, Lets do this, lets do that, Linda said. He was always smiling, always wanting to help other people. He was truly a giver from his heart.
Unaffiliated Israelis in Denver were drawn to Malka like moths to a flame, she said.
The High Holiday minyan, which began at BMH-BJ, grew so large that it had to relocate to Crestmoor Downs to accommodate the participants.
People with no ties to synagogue or religion packed the services just to hear him pray, Linda said.
The depth of his connection to people was unbelievable.
Yossi Manor and Barry Noam, two Israelis who now make Denver their home, spoke to the IJN over a shared cell phone as intense emotions battled for supremacy.
Being an Israeli, I have my traditions, but I dont belong to a synagogue, Noam said. But this man brought us all closer to our religion.
Israelis from all over Denver attended the services, which were not restricted to Sephardim, Manor said.
Everyone came because they felt comfortable being with Uriel, he said.
Noam said Malka conducted the services on an informal, accommodating basis.
He did it in such a mellow way, he said. It was a very down-to-earth service.
Echoing the sentiments of others, Noam said that Malka was the kind of guy who would do anything for anyone, no matter what. Even if no one had asked him to go and help the prisoners, he would have volunteered.
Manor said that people brought Malka their problems, told him their stories. He was open to everybody.
It was hard for me to call him rabbi, but not because I lacked respect. When he talked to you, he looked right into your eyes at the same level. He was my friend.
Malkas burial, postponed until his body could be properly identified, was held Sunday, Dec. 5, in the military cemetery at Yavne Cemetery.
Hundreds of people, including current and former Denverites, attended the shiva for Rabbi Malka, held in a large mourners tent in the backyard of his parents home in Yavne.
Inside the eye of the Second Lebanon War
MALKA, from Karnei Shomron, earned a bachelor of education degree from the Beit Midrash for Teachers of Judaic Studies in Rehovot, Israel.
He graduated from the IDFs hesder program, which combines study and military service within a Zionist framework.
Following his tenure at DAT, Malka became the principal of a Jewish day school in Winnipeg, Canada. Ortal also taught there.
The couple returned with their children to Israel around 2008.
Surviving the Second Lebanon War was nothing short of miraculous, Malka told the Jerusalem Post in 2008.
It is a miracle that I am alive, he said, as there were times in the war when I was shot at directly by Hezbollah terrorist fighters. I met them face-to-face. I could see their eyes.
Malka said the IDF underestimated the how well Hezbollah was prepared for us. They had better communications equipment than we realized; they knew the terrain; and they had built extensive escape routes, which made it hard to find them.
Many Israeli soldiers lacked sophisticated equipment, he said. Supplies lines were blocked.
A lot of things went wrong, Malka said. I dont like to talk about it.
At the start of the war, 12 soldiers from his paratroop unit were killed in a Katyusha rocket attack as they waited to be deployed.
Malka was already inside the eye of the storm when the incident occurred.
We did not find out that those in our unit had died right away, he said. Our commander had us take out the batteries in our equipment so we could not hear the names of those who died so we wouldnt realize they were from our unit.
Four days later our commander called us together in the deserted home of a Hezbollah terrorist and told us what had happened.
He told us we had to be strong.
In this dark hour of the soul, one can almost hear Uriel Malkas soothing voice urging his family, friends and students to stay strong now more than ever for him, and for each other.
Donations may be sent to the DAT Minyan Tzedakah Fund, Malka,6825 E. Alameda Ave., Denver, CO 80224.
Copyright © 2010 by the Intermountain Jewish News
