NEWSZAK A April 2012 / Nisan 5772 / No 22

MICHAEL MIRILASVILI, Chairman, ZAKA International Board Of Directors

RAFAEL AHARONI President, ZAKA, Hong Kong Macau and China

YAACOV PERI Chairman, ZAKA Board of Trustees

CHIEF RABBI LORD Jonathan Sacks Patron of British Friends of ZAKA

YEHUDA MESHI ZAHAV ZAKA Chairman and Founder ZAKA HELPS TOULOUSE VICTIMS IN AND FRANCE To donate: http://www.zaka.us/Donations.asp Dear Friends of ZAKA,

Welcome to another edition of NewsZAKA, bringing you up to date with some of the latest activities in the organization. The horror of the terror attack in Toulouse will remain in our minds for a long time. Once again, the ZAKA International Rescue Unit was able to offer assistance to the grieving families at their hour of need, dealing with all the logistics and bureaucracy of Jewish halacha in a foreign country. For many of us in ZAKA, the events of March 2002 will never be forgotten, as you can read in this newsletter. Thank you in advance for your generosity which allows ZAKA to continue its operations. Secure donations can be made via our websites www.zaka.us (dollars); www.zaka.org.uk (sterling) or www.zaka-fr.org (euros). Please forward this e-newsletter to family and friends. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a Hag Pesach Kasher veSameach. Yehuda Meshi-Zahav ZAKA Chairman

www.zaka.org.il Main Office: 234 Jaffo St. P.O. Box 36060 91360 ISRAEL | Tel. 972-2-5015120 | Fax. 972-2-5015121 Email: [email protected] USA: 1303 53rd st. #170 Brooklyn N.Y. 11219 USA | Tel: 1718-676-0039 | Fax: 1718-865-0948 Email: [email protected] France: 20 bis rue Louis Philippe 92200 Neuilly sur Seine | Tel. 01-74-900-600 | Fax. 01-73-049-207 Email: [email protected] England: 233a Golders Green Road London NW11 9ES Registered Charity No. 1099639 | Tel: 020 8458 5391 Email: [email protected] Canada: 6 Stormont Avenue Toronto, Ontario M5N 2B8 Canada Email: [email protected] HK, Macao & China c/o The Jewish Community Centre One Robinson Place 70 Robinson Road Mid Levels Hong Kong E-mail [email protected]

NEWSZAK A 2 ZAKA HELPS TOULOUSE VICTIMS IN ISRAEL AND FRANCE

When the shocking news of the shooting attack at the Otzar Hatorah School in Toulouse broke on 19 March, the volunteers in the ZAKA International Rescue Unit moved swiftly to deal with the situation. ZAKA volunteers in Israel and in France assessed the situation to determine the level of assistance that could be given to the families. ZAKA Chairman and Founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav worked with Israel’s National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) to ensure that the state would indeed cover the significant burial costs for the father, who was not an Israeli citizen (unlike his two murdered children). By reacting swiftly to this bureaucratic nightmare, Meshi- Zahav was able to save the grieving family additional heartache and thousands of shekels in burial costs. Meshi-Zahav: “ZAKA received a request from the family to assist

NEWSZAK A 3 them in ensuring their loved ones are buried in Israel. After a delay, we were successful in procuring burial plots for them in Jerusalem.” A special delegation from Israel, headed by ZAKA International Rescue Unit commander Mati Goldstein, joined the volunteers from ZAKA France at the school, where they worked, clearing the scene and assisting in the forensic identification of the victims. The ZAKA volunteers from France, working together with the delegation from Israel, assisted the local burial society with all matters relating to honoring the dead, collecting all the body parts from the scene of the massacre. After a short memorial ceremony in the courtyard of the Otzar Hatorah school, the bodies were transferred to the local airport where an army plane flew them to Charles De Gaulle airport. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in attendance at the airport in Paris. ZAKA volunteers flew with the bodies to Tel Aviv, where a short ceremony was held, in the presence of government ministers and visiting French Foreign Minister who came specially for the funerals. ZAKA volunteers transferred the bodies in ZAKA ambulances to the cemetery in Jerusalem, where thousands paid their respects to the victims of a shooting attack that shook the world.

NEWSZAK A 4 MERCAZ HARAV YESHIVA STUDENTS TRAINED AS ZAKA YOUNG COMMANDERS

28 students of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem recently completed a course initiated by the ZAKA Rescue and Recovery organization, training them to become Young Commanders in times of emergency in the volunteer organization. In order to ensure that civilians, who will be on the front line of emergencies such as earthquakes, terror attacks and building collapses, are able to offer emergency first response, the ZAKA volunteer organization has just completed the first ever course of its type, in cooperation with the Home

NEWSZAK A 5 Front Command, , and Israel Fire and Rescue Services. The final drill, which took place in the school on the fourth anniversary of the deadly terror attack that claimed eight lives, simulated a rocket attack in which the students themselves had to help the casualties as they awaited the arrival of the emergency services. ZAKA Chairman and Founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav: “To stand in the same place, four years later, with the young commanders taking control of the situation, is the answer to our enemies. By training civilians to become emergency first responders, we can maximize our ability to save lives.” Yeshiva director Rabbi David Simchon, who was the only staff member in the building on the night of the terror attack in 2008, noted that the idea behind the course “is to have a group of students who, no matter what happens – be it an earthquake, a terror attack or any other emergency – can take charge.”

NEWSZAK A 6 DEADLY FIRE IN REHOVOT KILLS FATHER AND FIVE CHILDREN

A residential fire broke out in Rehovot on Monday 26thMarch, claiming the lives of six people – a father and his five children, ages 2-11.ZAKA volunteers were amongst the first on scene to help with the casualties. The ZAKA volunteers entered the apartment as soon as they were given clearance and an escort from the fire department. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done to save the children and their father. The bodies were recovered and transferred by ZAKA ambulances for burial and a short memorial service was held at the scene to honor the victims. Initial police reports revealed that the source of the fire was likely an overheated laptop that was left on a bed. The event was extremely shocking and traumatic for everyone involved, even the ZAKA volunteers, who have witnessed many horrific scenes, were seriously shaken and found it very difficult to speak about what they saw.

NEWSZAK A 7 Get Me To The Hall On Time!

When your wedding hall is situated next to Kiryat Vishnitz in Bnei Brak on the day that thousands blocked the street to pay their last respects to the Vishnitzer Rebbe, how can you get to your wedding on time? Thinking outside the box, the bride called the ZAKA hotline and, within minutes, a ZAKA ambulance had arrived at her door to drive her through the crowds and get her to the hall on time. ZAKA volunteer Berele Yaacovitz : “I have been volunteering as a ZAKA driver for the last ten years and this is the first time that I have been involved in a joyous event. It is truly an emotional moment for me to see my vehicle, which has seen such sorrow and tragedy, take a bride to her wedding."

NEWSZAK A 8 REMEMBERING THE PARK HOTEL SEDER NIGHT MASSACRE

With so many events taking place on carrying a suitcase filled with explosives. a daily basis for the ZAKA volunteers, He walked straight through the lobby they have little and into the dining room time to stop where 250 people and reflect were gathering on the major for the Seder. He terror attacks detonated the that took place explosives, killing ten years ago 30 and injuring in the Second 140, many of them Intifada. A wave seriously. of shootings, In a recent interview grenade attacks in the Jerusalem and suicide Post, long-time bombings ZAKA volunteers killed more Yossi Landau and than 130 civilians in March 2002, Moshe Vaks recalled the events that making it the bloodiest month of the took place a decade ago – with chilling . The Park Hotel Seder clarity. Night massacre in Netanya was the Landau, who was born in the United deadliest of them all and served as the States and raised in Israel, remembers: “I catalyst for the Israeli government’s was living in Bnei Brak. It was a time of decision to send troops into the West a lot of terror in Israel. I was on my way Bank to root out terrorists in Operation home from the synagogue to celebrate Defensive Shield. the Seder and the radio said that there At about 7.30 pm, a Palestinian terrorist was a huge explosion at the Park Hotel in disguised as a woman entered the hotel Netanya and they needed a lot of help.”

NEWSZAK A 9 “Blood up to my knees” the funerals in Israel. We are waiting for Landau, an ultra-Orthodox Jew, had peace and true redemption.” no hesitation in answering the call and leaving his own family to celebrate the “It’s not for everyone” Seder without him. “I didn’t think twice. I The local police knocked on the door told my kids to go on ahead of me, took of Netanya resident and veteran ZAKA my car and flew to Netanya. I got there volunteer Moshe Vaks to inform him in 17 minutes. We saved a few people, of the Park Hotel attack. Vaks, together thank G-d. I was there the whole night”. with other local ZAKA volunteers, This year, as every year, Landau will immediately left their family Seder to tell the assembled participants at his help at the scene. family’s Seder that the bondage “is not “Everything was dark; the electricity over. We know the king of Egypt in those was gone. There was lots of water and days killed Jewish children and we still it was full of blood. We worked our way have this issue today.” through, little by little, until 2:30 a.m. “I was going into blood up to my and then went back home to finish our knees. I’ll always remember the blood”, Seder.” recalls Landau, noting the symbolism in Vaks explains how he deals with the relation to the Ten Plagues recounted at unspeakable horror: “When we are busy, the Seder. “Two people died in my arms, we think of nothing else but saving hoping I could help them.” lives, where possible, and taking care Referring to the recent tragedy of the of the dead. The police and ZAKA help Toulouse shooting attack, Landau us, providing group therapy for those continues: “We’re not free. We have who seek it. I have been doing this for 15 missiles every day…murder in France, years. But it’s not for everyone.”

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