Storm hits Joburg, SA dials Jerusalem
While South Africa voted against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, it did not hesitate to call the Jerusalem-based ZAKA headquarters when the ‘Mother of all Storms” hit the city on New Year’s Eve.
No matter how inebriated Jo’burg folk were on the 31st December 2017, nothing could have dulled awareness of the storm that ripped through the city leaving a trail of destruction. There were two fatalities, homes were damaged as well as many injuries.
While many in South Africa read how paramedics attended to emergency calls, including the structural collapse at a mall, few outside the Jewish community would have been aware of the contribution of the Jerusalem-based Israeli organization, ZAKA.
Known for dispensing critical medical aid during terrorist attacks, accidents, and mass-casualty incidents, ZAKA (a Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim Identification) has more than 3,000 volunteers in Israel and another 600 highly trained volunteers in some 20 countries, including South Africa since 2015.
Over the Edge
If most South Africans – outside the Jewish community – are unfamiliar with ZAKA, Israelis tragically know all about this wonderful organisation, mainly staffed by Orthodox Jews.
On the way to Jerusalem- Terrorist attack on bus line 405 in Israel on the 6 July 1989.
The organization started when a group of volunteers gathered to assist in the recovery of human remains from a terrorist attack on bus line 405 in Israel on the 6 July 1989.
It was an extraordinary terror attack.
Abd al-Hadi Ghanim of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was a passenger on a crowded bus traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem when he seized the steering wheel of the bus from a surprised driver, and steered it off a steep cliff into a ravine in the area of Qiryat Ye’arim.
He devilishly chose his spot well.
The bus tumbled terrifyingly, and sixteen civilians were killed – including two Canadians and one American. A further twenty-seven were wounded.
Out of this tragedy ZAKA was born, and over the years the organisation has grown, responding to emergencies in Israel and abroad.
In late 2004 and early 2005, members of ZAKA provided assistance in Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.
ZAKA volunteers – Japan, March 2011
Forensic teams reportedly dubbed the group “the team that sleeps with the dead” because they toiled nearly 24 hours a day at Buddhist pagodas in Thailand that had been transformed into morgues to identify those who died in the tsunami.
In November 2008, ZAKA volunteers went to Mumbai, India following multiple terrorist attacks that included targeting a Jewish centre.
ZAKA Volunteers in Haiti – 2010
Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake , a six-man ZAKA International Search and Rescue Unit delegation were dispatched from Israel to assist with search and recovery efforts. Working with the Mexican military delegation and Jewish volunteers from Mexico, eight students trapped under the rubble of the collapsed eight-story Port-au-Prince University building were rescued by ZAKA on the first day after their arrival.
Teams of ZAKA volunteers were sent to Japan in March 2011 to assist in search-and-rescue after the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
A ZAKA team went out with an Israeli mission to Nepal in late April 2015
A ZAKA team went out with an Israeli mission to Nepal in late April 2015 to help search for casualties in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent avalanches.
Teams of ZAKA volunteers were sent to Japan in March 2011 to assist in search-and-rescue after the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
ZAKA in Mexico 2017
Following the September 2017 earthquake in Mexico, 70 ZAKA volunteers assisted in search, rescue, and recovery. Within hours of the earthquake, ZAKA volunteers were the field with emergency ambulance-bikes and providing first aid. They remained on the scene until they receive an update that there are no more missing people. Said ZAKA International Rescue Unit chief officer Mati Goldstein: “The team continued to work throughout Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and Shabbat (Sabbath) in accordance with a ruling by the Chief Rabbi of Mexico, Rabbi Shlomo Tawil.” Such is the commitment of ZAKA.
Jo’burg Calling!
ZAKA volunteers in Johannesburg Help with disaster relief following severe storms in South Africa (credit The Jerusalem Post).
On the 31 December, as the storm rampaged, Jerusalem received a call from Johannesburg. Over the next few days, 40 ZAKA rescue and recovery volunteers assisted thousands of Johannesburg residents as well as taking part in relief and clean-up efforts together with city officials and several other NGOs.
“The local emergency services, who were familiar with ZAKA from joint exercises and other natural disasters in the region, knew that there are dozens of trained local ZAKA volunteers to call upon in times of emergency,” the organisation assured.
ZAKA volunteers under the command of ZAKA South Africa commander Daniel Foreman, working together with the local Home Front Command, erected tents, and other facilities for the homeless.
Addressing the South African media, Johannesburg Mayor, Herman Mashaba, encouraged the public to donate to ZAKA, among other relief NGOs and civil organizations that helped with the relief efforts.
While born out of the need to address the halachic and dignified manner of treating the dead and their remains after a terror attack, the organisation has grown substantially over the years, opening its doors to a wide range of people and skills.
Today, ZAKA is made up of a network of volunteers who are rabbis, doctors, businessmen, doctors, rescue technicians, and paramedics, who when the call arises, will excuse themselves from a business meeting at “a drop of a hat” to setting down the glass of champagne at a New Year’s Eve party which is exactly what happened in Johannesburg on the 31 December 2017.
“For me,” says Foreman, “ZAKA is an exceptional organisation. We run on heart. I watch the dedicated volunteers jump at any opportunity to get involved. Every drop of work that we do is done leshem shamayim (for Heaven’s sake). What people don’t always realise is that there is a whole extra element that happens when paramedics leave a scene. We come in, when everyone has left. Families are looking for answers and closure. We handle the period during the lull of incident to normality, give support to the living, and maintain the dignity of the dead. It’s a sad, yet moving opportunity to do for someone who can’t speak for themselves.”
Next year will be 30 years since that terror bus attack in 1989.
Since that fateful day, a barrier has been erected along that stretch of highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; a stone memorial erected; a song composed – the Israeli singer Ruhama Raz, wrote and recorded “As Rachel Waited” (כחכות רחל) in memory of her sister Miriam Tzerafi who was killed – and ZAKA was born.
And as Jews pray towards Jerusalem for over 2000 years, when the storm struck Johannesburg in December 2017, it was to Jerusalem that Johannesburg sought salvation.
*Message to South Africans:
In times of need, ZAKA SA can be activated by contacting the CSO 24-hour emergency control room on 086 18 000 18
