Sunday, February 2, 2003
Local rabbi feels loss of Jewish crewmember
By IVONA LERMAN
NEWS-JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
ORMOND BEACH — When Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui met Israel´s first astronaut, he gave him a special present to carry into space.
The present – a blessed dollar bill – was supposed to bring Ilan Ramon safety. But it didn´t.
“It hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts,” said Ezagui, as he sat in his office at Chabad Lubavitch synagogue Saturday night and remembered meeting Ramon several months before his Columbia mission. “What hits me home is that I gave him something. I had an attachment to him. We had a connection.”
Ezagui met Ramon at a meeting in Melbourne set up to honor Israel´s first journey into space. He was there because his brother-in-law was a rabbi at the Kennedy Space Center.
Although a lot of important people were at that gathering, Ezagui said Ramon was immediately drawn to him and his brother-in-law. He said one of the first things they both noticed about Ramon was that he was very proud of being a Jew.
“He was very excited about his mission,” Ezagui said. “I asked him what clock he will follow (while in space) and he said: ‘Of course, I´m going to go by Israeli time.’ He was probably joking, but the fact that he said that says: ‘I´m a proud Jew.’”
On the day they met, Ezagui said Ramon was dressed in casual clothing and very humble about his achievements. He was also very proud that he would be taking kosher food with him into space.
“He was excited, happy and confident,” Ezagui said. “He looked like the right guy. He was the real thing – the real pilot. And he was very down to earth.”
Just before Columbia´s takeoff, Ezagui said, he was on the launch pad with several other rabbis, praying and singing Israeli songs.
“Israel was ready to be joyous. But the bubble has been busted in a sad way. I can imagine the bitterness that´s going on in Israel,” Ezagui said.
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