By Marlene Risman
SAN DIEGO — Beth Jacob Congregation hosted a rare and deeply meaningful gathering on Sunday, August 11. Rabbi Simcha Greinman, commander and spokesman for ZAKA Israel Search and Rescue, shared his experiences saving lives and retrieving the dead so that they could receive a proper burial. His words fell on our ears, while we, the audience, were utterly silent. His words completely capturing our attention.
ZAKA, the Hebrew acronym for Disaster Victim Identification, was founded in 1995.
It is a preeminent non-governmental rescue and recovery organization, and the only one. There are approximately 4000 civilian volunteers, each with a specific professional specialty. Each volunteer has training in forensics, halacha (Jewish law) regarding the dead), and as a medic. ZAKA is on call 24/7, responding both to disasters within Israel and in countries around the world. It is regarded as a highly esteemed international organization.
ZAKA also has special units to protect the elderly and those with dementia. By monitoring their use of water and electricity, volunteers are dispatched to any home where there has been no observed use in 24 hours.
ZAKA volunteers include Jews, Christians, Druze, Bedouins, and Muslims; men and women; young and old. They provide their services to all, regardless of religious affiliation, race or creed.
In 2005, ZAKA received United Nations recognition as an international humanitarian volunteer organization. It truly is a model for emergency services and “a light unto the nations in the darkest of times.”
Rabbi Avram Bogopolsky introduced Rabbi Simcha Greinman, who has been a volunteer with ZAKA for the past 32 years. More than that, being a carpenter by trade, he mentors others in carpentry in order to give them a skill to support themselves and their families.
At age 16 Rabbi Greinman was an EMT with Magen David Adom, responding to terror attacks in Israel, and a volunteer for ZAKA. His years of service to humanity are many.
He spoke of his first-hand experiences following the horrific October 7th massacre. He described how he was torn away from his family and the Simchat Torah, Shabbat celebrations. A call came telling him to take his special truck used for shiva and head toward Ashkelon, where there were 22 bodies waiting. But, then orders to proceed directly to Sderot came and he headed there. Highway 34 was littered with bodies and overhead were continued threats of attack by terrorists all around the area. Weaving in and out of bodies lying on the road and stopping to hit the ground when an attack was expected, made for a nightmare ride.
But that was only the beginning. Once he reached his destination he loaded his truck with 22 bodies, normally the maximum allowed to show respect for the dead. He was about to go and bring the bodies to be prepared for proper burial when he was ordered to keep loading more bodies. His truck carried 72 bodies away from the gruesome scene.
He and his team went to the kibbutzim, and as they went, they cleared bodies and body parts that were littered everywhere on and off the road. At the kibbutzim, it was indescribable what they saw, what the victims had gone through. They went house to house retrieving victims, discovering who had been murdered. They went through every house, and every car, removing every drop of blood, ashes, and human fragments to help identify the dead. It took 2 ½ weeks just to retrieve all the bodies. Then, for 18 weeks, he and his team cleaned the houses inside and out, what could be cleaned, so that the people who returned would not have these obvious horrible reminders of what had happened.
ZAKA is charged with never distributing pictures of the scenes of the disasters to which they respond; always giving respect to the dead and the families of the dead. But, this was different. Since Holocaust denial is a real thing, the chief Ashkenazic rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau, told him that it was essential to have a record of what really happened there. These pictures have been shown to various government officials around the world and at the UN. There are approximately 200, 000 images documenting what is so inhuman and so unbelievable.
To my mind, such gut-wrenching work takes a very, very special person!
After the 2021 Meron stampede disaster to which ZAKA responded, Rabbi Greinman was made a commander, and then spokesman for ZAKA. He is the international speaker for ZAKA and has spoken at the UN, the US Congress, and the parliaments of Germany, France and England. He spends two weeks at home in Israel and two weeks abroad gathering support for this amazing organization, on an on-going basis.
His talk ended with these thoughts. There is darkness in this world which we cannot understand. There is no answer to the question “why?” Our job is to do the best we can, to be united as Klal Yisreal, caring for each other.
ZAKA’s U.S. West Coast director Efrat Barzel, addressed the audience with closing words and thanked Rabbi Bogopolsky for hosting the event.
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Marlene Risman is a Speech and Language Pathologist living in San Diego. She is a member of an Orthodox congregation and is a strong supporter of ZAKA Israel Search and Rescue. Those wishing to donate to ZAKA may click here.
Marlene, thank you for such thorough coverage of such an incredible organization and presentation. As horrible as it that we experience tragedies such as October 7th, it is equally beyond comprehension that we have so many brave, compassionate individuals who answer the call.