Hamas bombers don't use dynamite anymore. It's not destructive enough. So the conservative, Wahabbi-type radical Muslim terrorist chooses a more modern, military-grade product that is far, far more deadly than is its civilian counterpart. Because the blast wave from C4 explosives propagates at more than five miles per second, when the Hamas bus-riding bomber ignites the C4 explosive belt she is wearing, the resulting destruction is caused by the most powerful non-nuclear detonation known to modern military technology. In the aftermath of the devastation, there's not much left to clean up except pieces?sometimes very, very small pieces?of former living human beings. But somebody has to gather the dead for burial. And that brings us to ZAKA, Inc.. Come, my friends, and let us meet the healer of souls....
Who is ZAKA?
The name ZAKA is a Hebrew language acronym. According to Shaule Wassertheil, their marketing director, who works out of this international non-profit organization's Brooklyn, New York office, the organization's name may be loosely translated as "Identifying Victims of Tragedy," though the word ZAKA is not, strictly speaking, a true modern Hebrew word. ZAKA operates an extensive Hebrew language web site as well as a more limited English language web sponsored courtesy of the folk at Virtual Jerusalem. I met Mr. Wassertheil via a telephone call that I made to ZAKA's Brooklyn headquarters on Tuesday, March 9, 2004. I had just read about their work in an email sent to me by folk who publish a weekly internet magazine called The Jewish Times, so I called them to get acquainted.
ZAKA was founded to provide rescue and recovery services to the victims of Muslim-based terror attacks in Israel. To that end, it provides emergency first aid services through a network of more than 900 highly trained volunteers, many of whom employ specially-equipped motorcycles to weave their way to the scene of a terror attack through streets that have been clogged as a result of the confusion following the attack.
ZAKA helps transport the wounded to medical facilities and offers comfort to the afflicted. ZAKA personnel also provide help to victims of non-terror accidents and natural disasters. On a purely American level, Director Wassertheil informs me that ZAKA operates in tandem with America's Department of Homeland Security, standing by to help in times of terrorist emergency. And, given their experiences of late in Israel, it looks like the folk at ZAKA are uniquely equipped to assist America's terror response teams.
ZAKA has not rendered its services only in Israel, either. Mr. Wassertheil informed me that ZAKA has also seen duty in Turkey, Bali, and South Africa as they worked on behalf of the victims of Muslim terrorism worldwide.
Front Lines of Terror, Front Lines of Risk
ZAKA emergency personnel are often the first to arrive at the scene of an attack by a conservative, Wahabbi-type radical Muslim terrorist. ZAKA personnel offer first aid services to every victim on board the buses attacked by the terrorists. As true humanitarian servants, ZAKA personnel rescue Jews, Muslims, Christians, secularists, and anybody else who needs their help, without regard to whether they're Jewish or not. As triage experts, their only discrimination is on the basis of the medical severity of the wounds.
Meanwhile, Hamas bombers, operating under the direct support of Yasser Arafat's 'security' organizations, often kill more than a dozen others in their attacks. All too often, the bomber is only the first wave of two deliberate attacks, the second attack timed to occur after rescue teams (such as ZAKA's personnel) have arrived to give comfort to the wounded. On more than one occasion, ZAKA volunteers themselves have become the victims of Muslim terror attacks as the rescue workers find themselves targeted by second wave killers.
The Healer of Souls
I'm sorry to say that ZAKA is most well known for its recovery operations, not its rescue operations. You see, rescue operations are for the benefit of the living. Recovery operations are for the benefit of the dead. ZAKA volunteers, working quickly and quietly in their bright lime green or orange vests, piece together the remains of Muslim terror attack victims so they may be afforded a lawful burial in accordance with Israeli custom and Jewish propriety.
And by "piece together," we mean the term quite literally. The powerful C4 explosives now being used as the primary blast component in a Hamas bomber's attack is so powerful that the 5 mile per second blast front wreaks its destruction in about 1/100th of a second. One second the bus is whole. The next second it's in pieces. C4 generates virtually no flame front when it ignites, so there is rarely a fire afterward?unless the explosion ignites a fuel tank or some other flammable material. Then, for a brief moment, a quiet residential neighborhood looks like a scene from Dante's Inferno.
Mostly, C4 just blows things apart. Into tiny fragments. It even destroys finger nails so thoroughly that sometimes it can take a few days just to figure out how many people were blown apart in the blast. Body fragments can be rendered into pieces half the size of a dime. The bones of the Hamas bomber are rendered into shards that themselves inflict damage on others.
Jewish law requires that the body be buried within 24 hours, if at all possible, and that it be buried as whole as possible. Without ZAKA personnel to do the dirty work of reassembling the bodies of the victims, the pain to the soul of the victim's families can be inconsolable.
And so, my friends, ZAKA serves primarily as a healer of souls, helping the families of victims to be laid to rest in a manner befitting the custom and law of Eretz Yisrael. Recovery for the surviving families is slow, of course, but the folk at ZAKA help make the process slightly more bearable.
ZAKA could use your financial support. Why not visit their web site in the window below and say "Thank You" in a tangible way? Or call today (toll free in the USA) at 1-877-ZAKA-911 to make a donation. I recommending ZAKA as a public service to the people of Eretz Yisrael.)
Who is ZAKA?
The name ZAKA is a Hebrew language acronym. According to Shaule Wassertheil, their marketing director, who works out of this international non-profit organization's Brooklyn, New York office, the organization's name may be loosely translated as "Identifying Victims of Tragedy," though the word ZAKA is not, strictly speaking, a true modern Hebrew word. ZAKA operates an extensive Hebrew language web site as well as a more limited English language web sponsored courtesy of the folk at Virtual Jerusalem. I met Mr. Wassertheil via a telephone call that I made to ZAKA's Brooklyn headquarters on Tuesday, March 9, 2004. I had just read about their work in an email sent to me by folk who publish a weekly internet magazine called The Jewish Times, so I called them to get acquainted.
ZAKA was founded to provide rescue and recovery services to the victims of Muslim-based terror attacks in Israel. To that end, it provides emergency first aid services through a network of more than 900 highly trained volunteers, many of whom employ specially-equipped motorcycles to weave their way to the scene of a terror attack through streets that have been clogged as a result of the confusion following the attack.
ZAKA helps transport the wounded to medical facilities and offers comfort to the afflicted. ZAKA personnel also provide help to victims of non-terror accidents and natural disasters. On a purely American level, Director Wassertheil informs me that ZAKA operates in tandem with America's Department of Homeland Security, standing by to help in times of terrorist emergency. And, given their experiences of late in Israel, it looks like the folk at ZAKA are uniquely equipped to assist America's terror response teams.
ZAKA has not rendered its services only in Israel, either. Mr. Wassertheil informed me that ZAKA has also seen duty in Turkey, Bali, and South Africa as they worked on behalf of the victims of Muslim terrorism worldwide.
Front Lines of Terror, Front Lines of Risk
ZAKA emergency personnel are often the first to arrive at the scene of an attack by a conservative, Wahabbi-type radical Muslim terrorist. ZAKA personnel offer first aid services to every victim on board the buses attacked by the terrorists. As true humanitarian servants, ZAKA personnel rescue Jews, Muslims, Christians, secularists, and anybody else who needs their help, without regard to whether they're Jewish or not. As triage experts, their only discrimination is on the basis of the medical severity of the wounds.
Meanwhile, Hamas bombers, operating under the direct support of Yasser Arafat's 'security' organizations, often kill more than a dozen others in their attacks. All too often, the bomber is only the first wave of two deliberate attacks, the second attack timed to occur after rescue teams (such as ZAKA's personnel) have arrived to give comfort to the wounded. On more than one occasion, ZAKA volunteers themselves have become the victims of Muslim terror attacks as the rescue workers find themselves targeted by second wave killers.
The Healer of Souls
I'm sorry to say that ZAKA is most well known for its recovery operations, not its rescue operations. You see, rescue operations are for the benefit of the living. Recovery operations are for the benefit of the dead. ZAKA volunteers, working quickly and quietly in their bright lime green or orange vests, piece together the remains of Muslim terror attack victims so they may be afforded a lawful burial in accordance with Israeli custom and Jewish propriety.
And by "piece together," we mean the term quite literally. The powerful C4 explosives now being used as the primary blast component in a Hamas bomber's attack is so powerful that the 5 mile per second blast front wreaks its destruction in about 1/100th of a second. One second the bus is whole. The next second it's in pieces. C4 generates virtually no flame front when it ignites, so there is rarely a fire afterward?unless the explosion ignites a fuel tank or some other flammable material. Then, for a brief moment, a quiet residential neighborhood looks like a scene from Dante's Inferno.
Mostly, C4 just blows things apart. Into tiny fragments. It even destroys finger nails so thoroughly that sometimes it can take a few days just to figure out how many people were blown apart in the blast. Body fragments can be rendered into pieces half the size of a dime. The bones of the Hamas bomber are rendered into shards that themselves inflict damage on others.
Jewish law requires that the body be buried within 24 hours, if at all possible, and that it be buried as whole as possible. Without ZAKA personnel to do the dirty work of reassembling the bodies of the victims, the pain to the soul of the victim's families can be inconsolable.
And so, my friends, ZAKA serves primarily as a healer of souls, helping the families of victims to be laid to rest in a manner befitting the custom and law of Eretz Yisrael. Recovery for the surviving families is slow, of course, but the folk at ZAKA help make the process slightly more bearable.
ZAKA could use your financial support. Why not visit their web site in the window below and say "Thank You" in a tangible way? Or call today (toll free in the USA) at 1-877-ZAKA-911 to make a donation. I recommending ZAKA as a public service to the people of Eretz Yisrael.)