He kept the prayer book throughout his captivity and eventually brought it back with him to Israel, determined that the extraordinary miracle he had experienced would be remembered for generations.
By Hezy Laing
A Jordanian sniper’s bullet was aimed directly at the chest of army medic Moshe Kamera during the 1948 battle in Gush Etzion—but it was stopped by the prayer book in his pocket.
Seventy-eight years later, his children have come full circle, entrusting the prayer book that saved their father’s life to the Gush Etzion Archive.
The bullet was fired at Kamera during the battle for the Russian Monastery in Gush Etzion.
It penetrated the olive-wood cover of the prayer book that Kamera had been carrying in his shirt pocket, but stopped in its final pages.
Kamera, a fighter in Company B of the Mikhmash Battalion, arrived in Gush Etzion at the end of March 1948.
His unit was stationed at the Russian Monastery, a strategic position overlooking the Jerusalem–Hebron road that became the site of several fierce battles.
His fellow soldier, Shmuel Bazak, witnessed the dramatic moment.
“Moshe would run with his medical pack straight into the heaviest fire.
One night, when we were called up against Jordanian Legion forces, he filled his pockets with bandages and had no room for his tefillin and prayer book.
So he pushed the prayer book into the chest pocket of his uniform.
As we moved, we saw him take a hit, clutch his chest and fall. We were certain he had been killed. But suddenly, he got up and continued running.”
It was only after the battle that they discovered what had saved Moshe’s life.
The bullet had pierced the wooden cover and come to rest in the final pages of the prayer book.
Years later, Moshe’s grandson told his lecturer about the battle and the extraordinary incident.
Deeply moved by the story, the lecturer asked exactly which page the bullet had stopped on.
The grandson called his mother to find out, and she opened the prayer book to the precise page where the bullet had been halted.
She was stunned to discover that the bullet had stopped beside the words “King who causes death and gives life,” while piercing and completely obscuring the word “causes death.”
Kamera was among the few men to survive the final battle at the monastery.
Wounded, he was taken captive by Jordanian forces.
At one point, a Jordanian soldier took his prayer book from him, but Kamera seized an opportunity and risked his life to recover it.
He kept the prayer book throughout his captivity and eventually brought it back with him to Israel, determined that the extraordinary miracle he had experienced would be remembered for generations.
Moshe died 16 years ago, but the story of the medic and the prayer book that saved his life has remained deeply woven into his family’s memory.
This week, his children came full circle.
They returned to the Russian Monastery accompanied by Aryeh Rotenberg, a veteran guide at the Kfar Etzion Field School, who reconstructed the course of the battle for them.
His son, Yair, also shared memories he had heard from his father.
They later visited the Dov Knohl Gush Etzion Archive, where they met with members of the archive and its director, Dr. Shuki Shair.
During the emotional meeting, the family decided to entrust the unique artifact to the archive, ensuring that the prayer book—and the extraordinary story behind it—will be preserved for future generations.
“The prayer book is returning to the place where its story is woven into the history of Gush Etzion…”
