Jewish families were unaware of the brutal terror attack on their synagogue on Thursday – because Yom Kippur forbids the use of phones, TV and other devices.
Members of Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, ran door-to-door to stop other worshippers from heading into the unfolding danger.
One said: ‘Those who are really religious would not even answer their landline phones today because it is the holiest day.
‘We are supposed to stay at home and pray. I wanted to warn them not to go up to the synagogue because most would not be watching the news.’
Members of other local synagogues also had no idea what had happened.
Samuel Bass, 43, head of Ner Chodosh synagogue in Prestwich, told how he had heard ‘whispers’ of a terror attack.
‘It was only when I walked past a newsagents and saw on a television that two people had died that I realised,’ he said.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a solemn day of fasting, prayer, and reflection for Jews around the world.
Police and first responders can be seen on the scene of a reported stabbing at a synagogue in Manchester
Members of the community comfort each other near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall following the terror attack
Dave Rich, of the Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, said Yom Kippur has a similar significance to Christmas Day for Christians.
‘In an orthodox community many people will not use their phones until after the festival is over,’ he said.
‘This is especially the case on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year and a solemn day of fasting and prayer.’
A full timetable of services had been expected to take place at the synagogue in Crumpsall. By midday, it would have been packed with families.
