A delegation of the Zaka organization visited Crown Heights last week and described the emotion and the intensity of the first few days after the Simchas Torah attack.
The group was led by Dobi Wissenstern, CEO of Zaka and joined by Simcha Greiniman, Moshe Rosenberg, and Chaim Rabinovitz. They were hosted at the home of Chanina and Orly Sperlin.
Wissenstern was informed after Yom Tov and rushed to the scene to begin work immediately, but only gradually learned the enormity of the losses that had occurred on that day.
In the first 24 hours, often under fire and with only seconds to take cover as missiles were literally exploding over their heads, they were confronted by a scene where hundreds of victims needed to be attended to.
He recounted the total dedication of Zaka’s thousands of volunteers who, while used to responding to difficult situations, such as the Meron disaster and the Har Carmel fires, had never seen anything of this scope.
The first group of responders worked for 48 hours, as more and more volunteers came to help. Eventually they were able to set up shifts. Some were able to return for a second shift, while others could not allow themselves to return. Many volunteers were so affected that they have sought treatment for the emotional and psychological scars.
The massive number of victims and the need to work in an active battle area meant that they often had to work more quickly than usual, first on the roads, where they had to clear victim remains before the tanks were headed down on the way to the front, then in the villages and at the site of the concert, they were able to move methodically, eventually reaching approximately 700 victims.
The sight and stories of thousands of frum Jews, who have acted with tremendous courage and self-sacrifice has inspired all Israelis and created a massive kiddush Hashem and unity that is so necessary in these times.
The result of all this work has weighed extremely on the Zaka volunteers, and the organization. There is an urgent need for assistance to fund the care for the victims, as well as to replenish the supplies that were used up in the course of the initial response.
The leadership of Zaka has been meeting with communities all over the US to invite them to participate in the great mitzvah of Chesed Shel Emes.
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What they do requires almost super-human capacities. All the power to them.