Severe Head Injury for Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter After Fall

Rabbi Eliyahu Medina, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City, suffered a serious head injury after falling down the stairs of a synagogue early in the morning. The incident occurred shortly after he completed the morning Shacharit prayer at sunrise, when he was the last worshipper to leave the prayer hall. For reasons not yet clarified, Rabbi Medina lost his balance on the synagogue stairs, fell, and sustained a severe head wound. Since the next prayer quorum was scheduled much later, he remained injured and bleeding for a long time without anyone noticing.

The synagogue's caretaker eventually discovered Rabbi Medina in a critical state, suffering from heavy bleeding and increasing confusion. Emergency medical teams from Magen David Adom provided life-saving first aid on site and urgently transported him to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He was admitted in very serious condition, intubated and sedated.

Family members and close associates have called on the public to recite Psalms and pray for his recovery, referring to him by his full Hebrew name, Rabbi Eliyahu Rafael ben Saada. The circumstances of the fall remain under investigation, and updates on his condition are awaited.