In a spontaneous explosion of Jewish pride, a theater full of Jerusalemites erupted into an emotional standing ovation while welcoming back the IDF and ZAKA medical and rescue missions from a harrowing and exhausting expedition to save the people of Haiti. 

 

Hearing about their harrowing journey, fresh and firsthand, made this extraordinary mission tangible and personal. “I have never been so proud to be a Jew," said Aryeh, an eighteen year old New Yorker here in Israel for his year abroad after high school. “It made me want to contribute and give of myself for Israel and the Jewish people.”