 In 1989, while studying in a yeshiva, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, the founder and chairman
of ZAKA, and his fellow students were startled into reality by a thunderous boom,
2 minutes of silence and then scores of bloodcurdling screams. The number 405 bus
was steered over the mountainside by a terrorist. The bus exploded and 17 people
died and scores were injured. Yehuda and his colleagues rushed to the scene and
began to care for the wounded and dead. It was chilling and horrifying chaos, Yehuda
relates. For six years after this incident Meshi Zahav and a dedicated group of
volunteers continued this work of Chesed Shel Emet, the work that "makes God smile".
The volunteers of ZAKA selflessly overcame the horror of terrorist attacks to recover
human remains - fulfilling the biblical commandment to bury the dead "on the same
day."
ZAKA became an official organisation in 1995. It began as an organisation that
was responsible for the recovery and identification of body parts, Chesed Shel Emet.
Since its inception, the organisation has grown to include its Motorcycle Unit for
Rapid Rescue, the Search and Rescue Unit and departments handling public education
and community services. |
