Police officer Edwin Samuel
Police officer Edwin SamuelAhiya Tzobra

Rafael Tzobra is a bus driver with a mostly uneventful job – until a month ago, when a journey along one of his regular routes from Kiryat Arba to Kiryat Gat almost ended in a huge loss.

At the Kfar Zoharim junction, a few Arabs got onto the bus who wanted to be dropped off at the Kiryat Gat industrial zone. “There’s no official bus stop at the industrial zone itself, so I dropped them off at the stop just past it, at the entrance to Kiryat Gat,” Tzobra told Arutz Sheva.

“Apparently, they weren’t too happy about that,” he added, “because ten minutes later, I realized that my bag had disappeared – and inside it was my tefillin.”

Tzobra immediately reported the suspected theft to the police, who acted swiftly. Within just twenty minutes, the thief had been arrested and the bag recovered.

However, the tefillin weren’t in the bag. “I realized that I would have to go back to the scene and search for them,” Tzobra said. “I would have gone by myself, but when one of the police officers there heard that my tefillin were missing, he was totally shaken, and he told me that he’d accompany me to the area and help me to find my tefillin, even though he had already gone off-duty.

“We reached the area and found the tefillin thrown on the ground near the place where they found the bag. I want to convey my deep appreciation to the police who acted so swiftly and effectively, and especially to Officer Edwin Samuel, who went above and beyond to make sure my tefillin were found and really gave me the feeling that there is someone to rely on.”