Moving tributes and empty seats, Heaton Park Synagogue remembers its fallen heroes
Rabbi Daniel Walker paid an emotional tribute to Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz who were killed not far from where he spoke during a terror attack last year
After the speeches of the great and the good, Rabbi Daniel Walker got to his feet and spoke quietly but with unmistakable feeling and emotion. The hushed congregation at Heaton Park synagogue in north Manchester listened in silence.
He was inside the same shul in October last year, when Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz were killed during a terror attack by Jihad Al-Shamie. The killer had stormed the synagogue on Yon Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The rabbi - standing not far from the spot where the two men fell - admitted he was 'somewhat overcome' after a ceremony to dedicate two new rapid response ambulances in Israel to the two men he knew so well. But he wanted to remember his friends.
"I look to my right and Adrian's seat even today sits vacant," he said, describing him as a 'kind, generous, dignified man'.
"I remember his goodness and his kindness and I remember how he reached the lives of everyone who knew him and I remember how, on that morning, Adrian.... ran to the door in the corner and closed it to keep all of us in here safe," said Rabbi Walker.
He looked over to Melvin's seat which he pointed out was also vacant, and went on: "I remember his lively, gregarious, friendly personality... I remember how when he walked through the door you knew he had arrived."
Members of his congregation laughed and he added: "I remember what a pillar of the community he was."
Although they were very different, they were connected 'in a terrible and tragic way' by the events of that morning, he said.
He spoke following a live link from Ramla in Israel where two new rapid response vehicles at the country's emergency response service, Magen David Adom (MDA), were dedicated to the two men.
TV personality Rob Rinder, ambassador for MDA UK, told the congregation that 'violence tried and failed to break that sacred prayer' on the day of the attack.
He said Judaism was 'never a faith that ends in despair' and added: "It's a faith that breathes amongst us here that insists stubbornly and repeatedly on life, on choosing life."
The congregation laughed when he said: "The real question is what's at the core of this extraordinary thing of not just 'they tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat' but something else."
The special guest speaker, however, was the first lady of the Israel Michal Herzog, the wife of President Isaac Herzog who arrived at the event amid tight security.
She told the congregation: "I am moved and humbled to be with you all today at a moment that holds in it so much both for me personally but for all of us as a collective.
"On personal note, coming to this beautiful community in Manchester feels very much like a home-coming. Not only because of the familiar and unmistakable warmth but also because this was our - the president's and mine - very first destination as a public couple all the way back in 1985.
".... I can very proudly say that some of our very close friends to this day we met here in Manchester."
She acknowledged the 'enormous grief for what has been lost, pain and hurt for what has been taken away'.
Later a certificate was handed to the Melvin Cravitz' widow Karen to mark the commemoration of the new ambulance. Adrian Daulby's family is in Israel, the congregation was told, and similar event is to be held there.
Afterwards, members of the congregation chatted as they walked out into the spring sunshine, remembering those they had lost.
Following the Heaton Park Synagogue event, Rob Rinder said in a statement: “There is a particular resonance being here today and representing MDA UK. The bravery and sacrifice that Melvin and Adrian made in saving others chimes particularly with the work of Magen David Adom’s first responders across Israel.
“Each hour of every day, MDA volunteers risk their own lives to save others; delivering emergency support and assistance in the most dangerous of circumstances, at people’s greatest hours of need. For each of us who visit Israel or who have friends and family there, knowing that Magen David Adom is on-hand, 24/7, is a comfort at all times.”
Daniel Burger, Chief Executive of MDA UK, said: "This was an extremely moving occasion which it was a privilege to attend. What particularly struck me was the love, respect and solidarity that was shown by our colleagues in Israel. They truly understand the horror and tragedy of what the Heaton Park community have been through and were determined to be there online to give their thanks and show their unity with the Manchester community."