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The first thing Rabbi Daniel Walker can now see when he walks into his synagogue is two seats. Two seats that belonged to Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby. His congregants, members of his community, his friends. Tragically, the seats are empty. "There's a big hole, we miss them a lot", Rabbi Walker says. The lives of Mr Cravitz and Mr Daulby were cruelly taken in the terror attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue in Crumpsall on October 2. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE The atrocity happened on Yom Kippur - the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, drove his car at those gathering at the place of worship before attacking others with a knife and trying to storm the synagogue. He rang 999 during his deadly rampage, pledging allegiance to the so-called Islamic State terror group. Mr Cravitz, 66, and Mr Daulby, 53, lost their lives. Three other men were injured. Rabbi Walker, who has been in charge of the Heaton Park congregation since 2008, is still grieving. The emotion of what happened almost four weeks ago is still raw, and is still difficult to talk about. But today, on the day the inquest into the deaths of Mr Cravitz and Mr Daulby is due to open before a coroner, Rabbi Walker paid a heartfelt tribute to them. He spoke fondly of his friends, describing them as 'family men' who were loved by their community, friends and neighbours. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Rabbi Walker said: "They were both very, very special men. Adrian was a very quiet man, a man of great dignity, always with a smile, always kind and very much loved by his family and his neighbours. "We had messages from his neighbours when they heard about what happened. And Melvin was also a wonderful man, a family man. "He was well known across the whole community he was much loved and known by everyone. He was always happy to help and always with a smile, loved by his neighbours and his friends. "They both are going to leave a massive hole. Their seats were very close to where my seat is, so in the synagogue, when I walk in one of the first things that I see is where they should be. There's a big hole, we miss them a lot." Rabbi Walker also spoke of the terrifying moment he realised Al-Shamie was trying to storm the synagogue. His voice broke as he said it was 'still difficult to talk about'. "So I was inside, inside the main part of the synagogue when the attack began", Rabbi Walker said. "The first thing I heard was a very loud bang, which I didn't know what it was at the time. It came to light afterwards it was the attacker driving into Bernard our security guard into the wall. "Then men ran into the main part of the synagogue shouting to close the doors. We have doors at the front and we have doors at the back." One of Rabbi Walker's most prominent memories from the day of the atrocity is Mr Daulby's reaction. "He was sat at the door and he moved at a speed I've never seen anyone move", he recalled. "His reaction time and instincts, reflexes, he leaped up and closed the door closest to where he and I where and I think that possibly saved quite lot of lives. "I think the attacker tried to get in that entrance at the back. One thing I will always remember of Adrian is that quiet man suddenly becoming that hero that needed to do the right thing. "Then we began to process and I moved forward in the building that's when I became aware of Andrew, a very very brave man, who was outside on volunteer security who intercepted the attacker and delayed him. That gave time for another very very brave man Alan to close the doors and locked them. "He was in the foyer and he was very badly injured, thank god he is in the process of recovery now. The attacker was throwing himself against the doors, and all of the doors were shaking. "A large number of men came from outside and held the doors to make sure he wasn't able to break through them." Reports have suggested that attacker was shouting about 'killing our children' during the attack. "I remember it as 'these are killing our children'", Rabbi Walker said. "It all happened very fast. It was hard to make sense of." But he added that he has no time to waste on thinking about Al-Shamie. "I'm not wasting any time on him, that is not my job. My function is to try and make sure we can respond as a community. I have no mental space to think about him." When asked about anti-Semitism and how 'come through this', Rabbi Walker described the issue as 'not a Jewish problem, but as a society problem'. "Society has to deal with hate. But of the things that I've really been heartened by is the amount of support. "We have a principle that a little bit of light washes away a lot of darkness, we can't give up." He said when leading the service again after the attack, he felt safe despite the atrocity. "We definitely wasn't frightened. "We felt safe. The festival of Sukkot followed, which is a festival of happiness, we danced and cried at the same time. "We had a service with 1,000 people. There were people here from every single synagogue in the town to support us. We are resilient and we're going to continue living." He also thanked the community for their support in the wake of the attack. "I've had very good support from my community. Therapists, from the Chief Rabbi", Rabbi Walker said. "I think we felt very alone, then we very quickly realised we were not alone. The King spent time with every single person who was in the synagogue, with the families of the victims and of the first responders, that meant so much to us all." Today (Wednesday, October 28) inquests into the Mr Cravitz and Mr Daulby's deaths are due to open at Manchester Coroners' Court. Brief hearings will be held in front of coroner Zak Golombeck, the senior coroner for Manchester this morning. The hearings are expected to be brief and be adjourned ahead of full inquest hearings at a later date, but may see further details revealed. Mr Daulby was inadvertently shot by police as they scrambled to stop the carnage. Mr Cravitz, from Crumpsall, also 'courageously' helped stop the attacker from entering the building. A police counter-terrorism investigation is continuing. More than 50 witnesses have so far been interviewed as part of the investigation. The inquest opening into the death of Syrian-born Al-Shamie, who was granted UK citizenship in 2006, has been listed to be held at the same court on Friday, October 31. It's thought, however, that a full inquest into his death will be held separately to those for Mr Daulby and Mr Cravitz.
