By Rebecca Shalomoff
Last Sunday, Sokolow, a Cedarhurst resident, was blessed, again. He and his family survived a terrorist attack when a Palestinian woman carrying a bomb blew herself up in downtown Jerusalem, killing one other person and injuring at least 150.
I have to thank God I was saved both times, but this time was a lot closer, Mark Sokolow told reporters.
Mark, his wife Rena and their children Jamie, 12, and Lauren, 16, were on a vacation in Israel visiting their daughter Elana, 18, who is studying in a Jerusalem yeshiva for a year.
The family was coming out of a shoe store on Jaffa Street when the explosion rocked the neighborhood. Mark, 43, a corporate attorney, has already been released from the hospital after being sprayed with shrapnel. Rena, 44, suffered the most serious injuries and has undergone extensive surgery and skin graphs. Jamie suffered an eye injury, while her sister Lauren sustained shrapnel wounds to the face and ear. The oldest sister, Elana, was in class.
Back in the Five Towns, members of Woodmere's Congregation Bais Tefilah, of which the Sokolows were one of the founding families, held a prayer vigil for the injured family members during a special service Monday night.
[Mark] is a very dedicated Jew and supports Israel very much, said Rabbi Shaya Richmond, spiritual leader of the close-knit Woodmere congregation. He made a point to take his family to visit his daughter in this most difficult time.
We believed in divine providence. I was very proud when Mark, who has survived WTC and survived this tragedy, said on CNN that it should not deter Jews to visit Israel and show their solidarity, he added.
Rabbi Zvi Bajnon, principal of the religious studies at the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns (HAFTR) where Jamie and Lauren are currently enrolled, said, We encourage students to go to Israel with the understanding that the parents have to make the decision. In general, we do uphold the concept that it's a wonderful thing to do.
Sokolow's 74-year-old father, Al, who lives a block away from his son in Cedarhurst, has spoken with Mark since the attack and both reaffirmed their conviction to continue to visit Israel despite the terror brought upon their family.
We give each other strength to live our lives the way we want it and not to be dominated by fear, he said.
The family had been planning to go to Disney World in Florida for their vacation, but after the World Trade Center attack they switched to Israel because we decided this would be more meaningful to us, Mark Sokolow said.
He and his family were waiting outside on the sidewalk to meet a relative when a powerful blast knocked them apart.
With blood pouring down his face and neck, he was put in an ambulance, then realized that his family was missing. Emergency workers took his wife and daughters to other hospitals.
Four months ago, Mark, a partner in the law firm of Thatcher Proffitt and Wood in Manhattan, had another brush with death. When the first hijacked airplane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, he ran down the stairs and was in the lobby when the second plane smashed into his building.
On Sunday, he said he was stunned that he narrowly escaped another terrorist attack. On one hand, I've been saved. But I've been through this two times, said Sokolow, a graduate of Yeshiva University and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Maybe there's a message here.
