No leads in Vienna: "We went over all the lists and cameras – they are not there"

The disappearance of Meli and Liel Yahalomi has plunged the Jewish community in Vienna and the Israelis staying in the city into a state of worry and uncertainty. Rabbi Reuven Timsit, 29, a native of Or Akiva, a Chabad Hasid and one of the Chabad emissaries in Vienna, is following the developments closely. For the past two years, he has been working in the city with the younger generation of the Jewish community, and previously worked as a shochet at night and as a rabbi at Maasiyahu Prison.

"The surprise was great," he says. "On Sunday, the pictures of Liel and Meli began to be published in local WhatsApp groups, and people asked if anyone had seen them. Very quickly, it moved to an official announcement by the authorities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they were missing. At first, they only mentioned Meli's name, and then they also published Liel's picture. It was very strange. A case of missing adults without any problems is something exceptional here. About a month and a half ago, there was a case of an elderly person with dementia who accidentally ended up in another place, but for healthy people to just disappear in Vienna — that is not something we see. It is worrying."

Privacy delays information

One of the things that makes it especially difficult for those trying to understand what happened to them is the lack of details. "The hardest thing is that there are no details. We haven't reached or found where they are yet, and we haven't understood the motive for the disappearance. One of the things that causes a lack of information is also related to Austria's internal procedures, which place an emphasis on privacy, and the information is released in a controlled and gradual manner," explains Rabbi Timsit.

At first, the lack of information left room for imagination, and in such a situation, thoughts go in all directions. "As time goes by, the imagination works overtime and thoughts go in bad directions. There is also a thought that maybe they are no longer here at all. Slovakia and Hungary are less than an hour away from Vienna, Slovenia is also not very far, it is impossible to know where they are."

Fear of a security incident

The possibility that this is a security incident also comes up in conversations, as the fear of Israelis being harmed because of their identity does not disappear even in this case. "There is a fear that they were kidnapped and this is a security incident — after all, all options are being raised. But it doesn't add up in the head. Vienna is a city with high and individual personal security. A patrol passes by us all the time, there is security.

This disappearance touches the sensitive nerve center of Israelis. The fear of kidnapping or a terrorist attack is part of the existence of Israelis, even when they are in another place in the world. But because it is in Austria, and in light of the circumstances, the fear is still smaller and people connect it less to national security, and understand that perhaps there is something here in this case that is beyond the security issue. The worry is worry, but we do not identify a broad phenomenon of harm to the sense of personal security of the Israelis who come here."

Checking security cameras

In the Jewish community, they have meanwhile tried to check every possible lead. At the Chabad House, which is well known to Jewish and Israeli tourists arriving in the city, they went over the lists and security cameras. "There is someone responsible for the meals and registration. They were not on the lists. We went over the security cameras and did not see them. They did not order food and did not take food — in fact, there is no known contact with them. A tourist here has two main options to get kosher food: the Chabad House or a kosher restaurant in the first district. Most people choose Chabad, but as far as we know, they did not order food from the kosher restaurant either. We are trying to help as much as possible, but in the end, it is a complex case that police and intelligence agencies need to handle."

"Israelis are giving up museums to help"

Alongside the helplessness, Rabbi Timsit describes a broad and moving mobilization. According to him, large WhatsApp groups were activated, and the public was asked to be alert. "And not only in the Israeli WhatsApp group, where people are more alert, but also in the local groups. We see that Austrian Jews who do not know Meli and Liel at all are really worried. They are taking actions to find the missing persons and have really taken the issue to heart. Business owners in the city are checking security cameras, sharing information, asking customers if they have seen them. Many Austrian Jews are checking individually how they can assist in locating Liel and Meli.

There are Israelis here who came for a trip, and the center of their trip has turned into a mobilization to find them. They are literally coming to us and asking how they can help. They prefer to see how they can assist in finding them than to go to museums and other activities. It is very moving. In the end, the people of Israel are one body — when one hand is lost, the body acts together to find it. We very much hope for good news, that they will be found soon and safely, and we call on those who are not here to think of them in a good way, perhaps read a chapter of Psalms, and hope together that this case will end well. Thought creates reality, and we hope that they will be found soon."