Philippine Ambassador to Israel Visited the ZAKA Headquarters in Jerusalem
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NEWSZAK A Rosh Hashanah Annual Summary FOR OUR ENEMIES, NOWHERE IN ISRAEL IS BEYOND REACH FOR ZAKA, NOWHERE IN ISRAEL IS BEYOND COVER Dear Friends of ZAKA, Welcome to this Rosh Hashanah Summary edition of NewsZAKA, bringing you up to date with the latest ZAKA activity. We are proud to highlight in this newsletter both the domestic and international aspects of ZAKA's work. In August, ZAKA was honoured at a tribute evening for the volunteers who served throughout Operation Protective Edge. The President of Israel, Mr Reuven Rivlin, thanked the ZAKA volunteers for their dedication and selfless work throughout the long, hard days & weeks of the operation. The President said: "As always, ZAKA volunteers are pioneers, leading the pack. We see you at every incident, helping others, saving lives, honouring the dead. Your dedication has become world-renowned. ZAKA and its volunteers are the best example of sharing the burden in Israeli society." Please read on for an in-depth feature of ZAKA’s work during the Gaza conflict as well as a selection of stories – some happy, others sad or serious – all with one common thread: the 1,650 selfless ZAKA Volunteers who give up everything, at a moment’s notice, to help others in their ultimate time of need. Wherever in the world they may be. They happened at different times over the last year and highlight a small section of our activity at ZAKA. ZAKA relies solely on donations from the general public both in Israel and throughout the Diaspora. If you are able to make a donation at this time please visit one of our websites. Secure donations can be made via: www.zaka.org.uk (£), www.zaka.us ($), or www.zaka-fr.org (€). All that remains is for me to wish you a year of happiness. Shana Tova! Yehuda Meshi-Zahav ZAKA Founder & Chairman www.zaka.org.il Main Office: 234 Jaffo St. P.O. Box 36060 Jerusalem 91360 ISRAEL | Tel. 972-2-5015120 | Fax. 972-2-5015121 Email: [email protected] USA: ZAKA NORTH 1232 38ST. BROOKLYN N.Y. 11219 www.zaka.us / [email protected] / Tel: 718-304-5322 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: 99 Burncrest Drive, Toronto, Ontario M5M 2Z6 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 IN OPERATION PROTECTIVE EDGE and beyond Israel's Gaza periphery - but it also took place on the home front throughout Israel. There was virtually no area of Israel where sirens were not heard, and where families had to change their daily routine in order to be within range of a protected space within anything from 15-90 seconds, depending on where they were situated in the country. As in times of emergency and routine, the ZAKA volunteers were on full alert, 24/7, responding to every emergency incident and working in full cooperation with the emergency forces on the home front. Recognized by the Defense Ministry as an 'aid organisation in times of emergency', ZAKA volunteers were involved in everything from emergency medical assistance and saving lives to honoring the dead and The 1,650 volunteers in the ZAKA Rescue and Recovery organisation are used to being on call 24/7. But the demands of Operation Protective Edge, as this summer's Gaza operation was dubbed in English, stretched them to their limits. Not only was the operation nationwide - albeit with most of the action happening in NEWSZAK A 3 even distributing thousands of emergency and head down south to distribution points supplies and care packages to soldiers and around Gaza. reservists stationed in the Gaza periphery, donated by Israelis and Jewish friends and The donated goods came from workers in hi- supporters overseas. tech and hospitals, from supermarkets and grocery stores, and - most of all - from regular Here are some stories from the hotspots of Israelis and Diaspora Jews anxious to express Summer 2014 in Israel... their gratitude and support for the men and women soldiers down south protecting the rest of the country. Enter ZAKA, with their network of volunteers, to distribute and deliver, to sing and raise the spirits of the soldiers. As one ZAKA volunteer put it: "Every time there is a siren, we just stop at the side of the road, follow Home Front Command instructions and then carry on to the next distribution point." ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav added: ZAKA VOLUNTEERS BRING "It is so heart-warming to see the gratitude and excitement on the faces of the soldiers PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL when they receive the parcels. It is our NOURISHMENT privilege at ZAKA to be the ones to connect TO THE FRONT LINES between the generous spirit of the people of Israel and the Diaspora and our brave soldiers ZAKA volunteers and ambulances were often on the front line." called into duty for a very different type of war effort than the emergency and routine work they typically carry out. From the time that the massive reservist call-up began in Spiritual nourishment early July, dozens of ZAKA volunteers would ZAKA also assisted in bringing spiritual collect parcels of donated goodies for the nourishment to the soldiers and reservists IDF soldiers from points around the country, on the front lines and in the staging camps. pack the ZAKA ambulances to overflowing ZAKA volunteers, led by ZAKA Chairman NEWSZAK A 4 Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, distributed tens of ZAKA volunteer Berele Ya'acobovitz (27) and prayer books. The 128-page pocket-size a marriage proposal, complete with banner, .which ring, music and joyful IDF soldiers צידה לדרך books, aptly called entitled translates loosely to "For the journey", "I wanted to bring some joy and good news into the stressful situation down south" explains Berele, who had only recently been introduced to his future wife and was forced to put their meetings on hold due to Operation Protective Edge. Margalit was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the timing and location of the public proposal. "I saw the joy and smiles on the faces of the soldiers - it was worth it just for that! I never expected a public proposal - this included morning, afternoon and evening is not normally the way in Haredi circles - but prayers, Torah readings, grace after meals, it seemed to me to be the most natural thing prayer for a journey and much more. The for Berele." prayer books were warmly received by the soldiers, and many soldiers who are not religious asked for explanations on which ZAKA BEDOUIN VOLUNTEERS prayers were suitable for which situation. RECEIVE PROTECTIVE GEAR ZAKA VOLUNTEER PROPOSES Thanks to the generosity of ZAKA supporters MARRIAGE UNDER FIRE around the world, life-saving protective sets of helmets and vests were distributed during When ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav the height of Operation Protective Edge to invited Margalit Shmulevitz to travel south volunteers in the ZAKA Bedouin unit in the with him to deliver packages to soldiers, little south. did she realize what was really waiting for her. These volunteers offer assistance to the Undeterred by the two "Code Red" sirens that Bedouin communities in the south, who are caught them mid-journey, they continued continually exposed to rocket and missile fire. south. As she stepped out of the ZAKA One Bedouin was killed and several others ambulance, waiting for her was veteran seriously injured from rocket and missile fire NEWSZAK A 5 almost exactly 13 years ago to the day when Bus no. 2 was blown up at that very same spot and 24 people were killed and 130 wounded." Weingarten was one of the first on the scene of the terror incident, in which Mohammad Jabbis, a resident of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, used his heavy construction vehicle to run down and kill an Israeli and then overturn a bus. Several people in and into the Bedouin villages, where illegally- near the bus, including the driver, were erected dwellings offer little if any protection lightly injured in the attack. The terrorist was against incoming rockets. shot and killed. "These life-saving protective sets are our "When I arrived at the scene, followed almost protective edge", explains ZAKA Chairman immediately by fellow ZAKA volunteers, we Yehuda Meshi-Zahav. "Thanks to these vests began tending to the wounded from the overturned bus, " continues Weingarten, his voice still fraught with emotion. "Suddenly, someone screamed out that there was another, more severely wounded victim in the side street from which the excavator had exited. We ran over to him, worked on trying to save his life but, tragically, it was too late and he died of his injuries." Weingarten and the ZAKA volunteers scanned the site for human remains to ensure and helmets, so generously donated by ZAKA a full Jewish burial and transported the victim supporters around the world, our volunteers to the Abu Kabir facility. The terror attack no longer have to risk their own lives to save was reminiscent of two incidents in July others." 2008, when construction vehicles driven by Palestinians hit Israeli buses and pedestrians, killing a total of three people. TRACTOR TERROR IN JERUSALEM While the ground operation in Gaza continued, terror returned to the streets of Jerusalem on August 4th- and once again, ZAKA volunteers were among the first on the scene to assist and offer emergency medical aid to the injured.